Santa Cruz Staycation

We had so much fun in Napa that we decide to do another local weekender and hit up Santa Cruz, home to the world famous Boardwalk. It didn't disappoint.

We booked a hotel on the beach, which is good and bad. Good because it's so close. Bad because it's "good" for Santa Cruz. We lucked out and had amazing weather the entire time. Sunny and no fog. Amazing!

These two gave the trip two thumbs up!

B is a total Norcal beach baby. She knows what's up. She was talking about the ocean, beach, sand, waves, sandtoys, and boardwalk all weekend long. She had a blast with us.

We had quality family bonding time. We built castles, played in the waves, and lazed in the sun. B chased seagulls pigeons, and barked at the sea lions.

Since we were in SC, we had our fair share of weirdies and burnouts. This one guy was innocently trying to enjoy a day on the beach with his son, and their kite.


But Drunkie McBurnout had different plans. He bugged the family for a solid 20 minutes before the dad came up with a solid plan. He tilted his head to the side, and with a disguised voice, yelled "Go away! You're bugging everyone!"

The drunkie was totally confused, but heeded the advice and scrammed. Lance put this trick in his back pocket. On Friday night, Flock of Seagulls was playing a free show on the Boardwalk. A different Drunkie kept asking if the show was over. We ignored him, but he kept asking. Finally, Lance turned his head and yelled "Go away weirdo!" GENIUS! The guy hit the pavement.

On the way home, we hit up Big Basin, and spent the day hanging out with the majestic trees. We had never been yet, and I'm glad to have it checked off my CA list. It's worth a visit.

B walked tall and carried a big stick

I can't believe we're in August! I'm hitting the rest of summer hard, and not stopping until it's time to bust out the leaves and pumpkins, and put Ashley to shame again.

What's a Little Breaking & Entering Among Friends?

Kristine came up with a fabulous idea a few months ago--a weekend at a beach house in Santa Cruz. Sign me up! The weather was a bit on the blustery side, and I was feeling a little on the lay around in pajamas side--good match. All in all, it was a great weekend that got off to a bit of a rocky start. I'm starting to wonder if I'm a GNO curse.

Here's Kristine going for the key in her pocket

Here's Kristine not getting in the door because the owners of our amazing house had accidentally deadbolted the door from the inside. The deadbolt has no key. After some serious negotiations with the owners, we got permission to break into the house.

The kind neighbor came over with a hammer and some rugs to help us bust into the garage.

I volunteered to break and enter, having been the only one in the group with experience in doing so. Don't ask. I posted this photo to shame Sharla, WHO SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER THAN TO TAKE IT.

One leg in

Dropping down to the garage floor

We're in!!

A few necessary items--trashy magazines...

...and craptastic movies and the karaoke machine. I love me some Dirty Dancing!

We kicked off the evening with some tasty fondue. **Someone** may have caused me to giggle during their prayer by praying that we would have a "super fun weekend."

Cheese fondue and pizza fondue followed by chocolate fondue. We were stuffed.

Here's the beautiful morning on our deck--killer view!

Hanging out on the couches in our jammies...

...by the roaring fire!

Saturday night we had a taco bar with all the fixins.

No taco bar would be complete without my cheesy white trash dip. It's delish.

Here's our poor hack job on fixing the window. At least we tried.

Bye-bye gorgeous and spacious beach house!

And bye-bye to 4 lovely girls--thanks for a fun and relaxing weekend. Maybe next time I will get dressed and leave the house. But I truly enjoyed my time on the couch watching Mean Girls with you and eating copious amounts of food.