Santa Cruz/ Thomas the train

This week Grammi and Grandpa Mike are in town visiting so we decided to head to Santa Cruz. We spent the afternoon playing at the beach and then headed on to the board walk to check out the rides. Our first stop was the carousel always a favorite with Kenzie. Grammi was excited to revisit this ride after almost 40 years. She sat on the outside so she could toss the brass rings. The rest of the time was spent with the kids riding airplanes, boats and spinney rides ( Daddy's favorite). In the evening we headed out to the pier for a seafood dinner. Kenzie had requested shrimp for dinner and we were happy to oblige. After relaxing for a while we headed back to the boardwalk to use up our ride coupons. Jim and I had one request...the roller coaster. Since we have been together we've always enjoyed going on roller coasters, especially the wood ones. When we first moved to San Francisco we visited Santa Cruz with friends and road on "The Giant Dipper".  It was just as much fun this time. We laughed so hard all the kids around us were staring. Its happened we've become "the parents on the roller coaster"! It was just the diversion from our daily lives we needed a 5 minute date on a classic "woody" roller coaster.

 
Our second day was spent visiting Thomas the Train at Roaring Camp Railroad. Finn is our lover of Thomas so he was ecstatic about this part of the weekend.  We rode in the front car right next to Thomas and we were one of the first people on the train. The car was an open top so the right ended up being really pretty. We headed into a state park through a redwood grove. After we finished with Thomas Finn and Grandpa Mike rode on the shuttle train for a couple of runs. It was a great weekend for our family especially my little man.