In September the three of us made a weekend trip down to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  Aubrey Ann was VERY excited and kept talking about how she was going to play in the sand.  So we headed down early Saturday morning, and got to our hotel room.  We ended up getting to the beach right as the sun decided to come out, and the weather was PERFECT.

Immediately Aubrey Ann ran straight to the water.  This child has NO FEAR and apparently doesn’t feel cold either, because she just kept running out to it and getting deeper and deeper.  Waves were knocking her around, and she couldn’t care less.  This girl is a water baby for sure.

Here is Aubrey Ann and her 'Monster' named Sally!

Then we started building sand castles.  Brandon dug a big deep hole which Aubrey Ann loved climbing in and out of,  and Aubrey Ann and I focused on building a “Monster”.  Aubrey Ann collected all kinds of seaweed and pieces of seashells to make the Monster more authentic.  When I asked Aubrey Ann what her Monsters name was, she told me, “Sally, NOT Alice in Wonderland!”  Where does she come up with this stuff? 

Aubrey Ann started to get a little tired, so we decided to build her a little couch to lounge on.  She definitely appreciated it!

After several hours playing in the sun, sand, and surf, we headed back to the hotel and took a shower, then headed back out to the boardwalk to ride some rides.  It never ceases to amaze me at how much this little girl loves rides.  Aubrey Ann kept saying, “I’m gonna ride the rides at the fair!  Maybe have a corn dog too!”  Well, she is her mothers daughter!

She rode the rides until we couldn’t take it anymore!  That night she slept like a log, which was awesome because she had to stay in the same room as us, and most of our family knows that our little girl needs her own “space” to fall asleep.

The next day, we headed straight back out to the boardwalk and rode a bunch more rides.  Aubrey Ann even rode her first real roller coaster with her Daddy!  She was pretty tough, although I saw a hint of fear in her eyes at one point.  But she told her Daddy she had fun and even patted the head of the dragon on her way out and named him “Iggy”.

After a few more rides, we headed back to the beach.  When we had had enough, we decided to head home.  We made a stop at Casa de fruta, where Brandon found a crawdad, we chased peacocks, pretended to drive a train, and looked at lots of yummy fruits and veggies!

It was a fantastic time, and I can’t wait till our next trip to the beach with our little beach bum!