A San Joser in Santa Cruz

Last Saturday we took the boys to one of the beaches in Santa Cruz. From San Jose on a warm day the trip can be as little as 30 minutes, or as long as two hours. It really depends what time you start out.

Since our boys are notorious early risers, we were able to get on Highway 17 by 10 am. We left Santa Cruz at 2 pm, missing traffic on both ends of the trip.

The last time we went to the beach was April. At the time we didn’t have the right beach accoutrements. All we brought was a beach blanket, snacks, change of clothes, SPF 50 and some beach towels.

Our little Caleb is a pale little flower, and although he was lathered in SPF 50, and we did prevent him from getting sunburned, I really did worry about the sun.

So, we went right out and stocked up on beach things at Target. We now have an umbrella, and four beach chairs (two for kids). We are still learning, so next time we’ll bring our cooler.

We are new to going to Santa Cruz, although I can see us making the trip several times during the summer to beat the heat. For this trip we went to the beach by the Boardwalk. There is plenty of parking, either on the street (bring quarters) or in the parking lots (about $10 for the day).

In the future we will venture out to Natural Bridges or Capitola to avoid the Boardwalk crowd.

It was an incredible day. Our beach gear was perfect, it enabled us to comfortably spend three hours there. There were also three seals hanging out close to beach as well.

I may be an overly concerned parent, but I insist that our boys hold our hands while playing in the waves. The California beaches have a really strong undertow, and it is possible for them to be swept out to sea. I don’t think I’ll loosen up on this rule until they can swim. Xander is in swimming lessons right now, and Caleb will start next summer.

We also were able to get Caleb to play in the waves for the first time. He is not yet three, and is scared of the “big water.” We didn’t force it, but allowed him time to get closer and closer to the water. I have a great photo of him with his foot in a bucket of water … he wanted to play in water, but was still too scared of the ocean. Once he finally splashed in the waves, he loved it …

He had a major meltdown when it was time to leave. My rule of thumb with two year olds and meltdowns is that the intensity of the meltdown is equal to how good a time my preschooler had… So Caleb had a fabulous time.

On the way home we stopped by the Falafel House on the way out of town and had a late and yummy lunch. The boys napped the whole way home.

We had a lovely day, and I’m certain that we will head back to the beach the next 90 degree day in San Jose.