"What I did over Spring Break" by themama

Day one here at Pajara Dunes
(for those not in the know this is a gated beach community of sorts. there are many condos as well as homes on a private stretch of beach in Watsonville-about 1 hour from my home with no traffic).

Pops took the kids out on the beach in the am and ran them. In the afternoon Pops, kids and I headed over to The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I hadn't been there since I was on a date there with Pops about 13 or 14 years ago. Kind of a nostalgic-hip-tacky-fun place all wrapped up in one. It was VERY quiet as it is not summer yet. Only a few of the rides were open. Aj wanted to go on one of the roller coasters-so he and I did. He said he wasn't scared, but about 2/3 of the way through his "ahh,ooo" screams of joy changed to more of an "AAAAHHHH" quality and I could tell he was scared. Luckilly, the ride ended quickly and he was fine. I asked if he wanted to go again and he said no.
I had Pops take my picture by the cart that sells FRIED TWINKIES. Now I eat a lot of crap, but the thought of that makes me cringe. They weren't open-so I can't pass on any meaningful description of what they look like. I'll leave that up to your little mind.
There is a carasel built in 1911 there. It is beautifully painted and has horses with real horse-hair tails. They also still have the arm that holds rings you can grab as you go by. Grab a ring and then try and throw it into the mouth of a huge clown on the wall.
And then there is the beach. It is wide and the whole image is so "California". I am fairly certain that my temperature-challanged son was the only person in this or any nearby conunty that enjoyed swimming. We had to haul him out of the water before his little fingers start to freeze and snap off in the 50ish degree water.
Aj was SO excited to call jennyalice and tell her all about his day. She kindly listenedand queried about his escapades.
Then back to the dunes and the usual daily bath to cleanse the salty, sandy Aj.
Ki and I then made a cake (cake mix for us). Last time we were here she declared it Tiggers Birthday. So since we are back-it is his birthday again. There is not much regard for time, as I think it has been only 9 months. However, his age marches on appropriatley, last visit he turned 5 and this visit 6. After returning from a dinner of mexican food she frosted the cake. Tigger and his best friend Water, the penguin (not currently in his cop outfit) joined us at the table. They were each propped in their own chairs. Tigger required max assist propping. He is absent of any head or trunk control due to severe low tone as a result of his stuffing shrinking and shifting over time. Using recently discovered toothpicks as pretend candles, Ki spelled out a "T" on the cake. We rounded the table and sang happy birthday while Ki lovingly held Tiggers head up to blow out the candles.