Big Trees & Sea Adventures

Over the 3-day weekend we decided to take the little man on an adventure to see the redwoods in the Santa Cruz Mountains and have a little seaside fun down in Capitola, CA. Good times!!! Jake has always loved trees and really enjoys just looking at them. We're not exactly sure why, but trees just seem to captivate Jake's attention and we thought it would be a fun for him to see some BIG trees. We originally wanted to take Jake for a train-ride through the Santa Cruz mountains on the Roaring Camp Railroad steam train, but decided the hour plus open-car ride might be too overwhelming for him. Alternatively, we decided to take a nice walk through the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Jake LOVED it!!! He was totally enthralled walking through the forest and laughed out load a few times. We also got a chance to watch the steam trains while stopping by the Roaring Camp Railroad area (right next to the state park). For anyone with little kiddos, I would highly recommend this weekend adventure.

Ba -- na-- na--SLUG! We found a fake banana slug in the visitor center, so we posed him with Jake.

Jake and Momma checking out the trees

Jake and Daddy standing by the BIGGEST tree in the Henry Cowell Redwood State Park

Checking out the view from below

Daddy insisted on having a caricature picture drawn of Jake by the "fastest draw in the West"

On Saturday evening, we headed out for dinner at the Santa Cruz Wharf and saw a mother otter with her little pup snuggled up on her chest just floating along. It was soooo cute and reminded me of snuggle time with the little man! After dinner, we enjoyed a nighttime walk along the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. Okay, I admit it...Jake's baby sister-to-be really wanted a caramel apple (hehe)!! Even though it was well-past Jakers bedtime, he was wide-awake and kicking his legs in the stroller as we walked past all of the bright lights and enjoyed the sounds of the whizzing rides. We were amazed at how well he did with such a long day of fun!

Boardwalk at night with a nice bright full moon

The next day we took off for Capitola, which was wayyyyy overcrowded because of the 3-day weekend and the Begonia Festival. Jake was pretty fussy in the car, so we pulled over to feed him and switched up our game plan a bit. Thanks to the iPhone, we found out that New Brighton State Beach was only a few miles away and headed there. The weather was fantastic! Josh scoped out the beach and found a nice spot to set up our beach tent. Special thanks to a kind man named Henry who helped set up our (not so easy to assemble) tent. Once we settled into our cozy beach tent, I guess Jake felt pretty relaxed because he pretty much snoozed the entire time we were there. The long beach snooze helped a bit with the longggg ride home and fortunately, our new beach pal gave us some tips for a beautiful scenic shortcut that helped us bypass a couple extra hours of weekend traffic! Jake definitely has a difficult time riding in the car, but we have just learned to make several stops along the way to ensure that he is as comfortable as possible. As soon as we got home that night, he was instantly put at ease and was all smiley...home sweet home.

Overall, another great adventure!