One of my all time favorite vacations finally came this year which was to New Brighton Beach. I love this place for a million different reasons. The first is because the second we drive into the campground- it smells like Eucalyptus trees and a bazillion different memories come flooding into my mind. It is seriously memory overload... but a good overload. We were able to hang out with our friends The Edwards which is always tons of fun.
The first evening looking over the cliff and here is the view: 
I swear it never changes.
It is exactly like it was when I was 6 years old (my first trip to New Brighton).
This is me... with my man..... at my happy place (the beach).
A lot of beach time was spent doing this over and over again.... Those waves just kept coming back.
Out of all 3 of our kids~ Macie was the only one who wanted to be buried. I was amazed that she held still as long as she did.
Elliot (a.k.a the master hole digger) spent much of his time digging huge holes for the kids to play in.
The rest of his time was either reading on the beach or looking like this (in deep slumber). :)
Ellie was ecstatic when she found her first whole sand dollar. She thought she was rich.
We also let her get her first feather in her hair which is always fun.
Explorer Scot always finds the coolest sticks and rocks to add to his collection. He was one happy kid on the beach. We hardly saw the guy because he was so busy with his friends, digging holes, playing in the water, etc.
One of our favorite stops in Santa Cruz is Maryann's Ice cream.
I think the kids were trying to see who could get the most messy. 
I think they all won :) 
Capitola was a favorite stop as well since the kids brought their own spending money. They love to visit the Rainbow shop and see what fun things they "need".
We love Capitola too. It is such a cute little town filled with fun shops and Pizza My heart (of course).
The Taffy shop is a place we must stop in and load up for the beach. 
and then finally the kids favorite..... The Boardwalk.
Everyone can get in on the fun here... (even the grown-ups).
But the kids smiles are priceless...
and the weather could not be beat.
Who doesn't love going on rides while overlooking the beach?
We found a new "favorite" this year.... Humongous Doughnuts.
They were seriously so good.
This year we cheated a little and drove out to the ship. We had a good time learning about it and walking on the "rickety" dock.
We were all so exhausted by the time we had to go home. Is it possible to have too much fun? It really was great to be there. I love that my kids love Santa Cruz as much as I did when I was their age. It is a tradition that I hope to continue as long as I'm around! :)
