Thursday, August 02, 2007

August 1st, 2007 at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk for Noah's 4th Birthday!

We thought we would start with this picture even though we ended the day with his birthday cake. He loved the hamburger and french fry birthday cake. I have to say that it looked a little disgusting, but it was good. Noah thought it was great. He woke up in the morning like this, bright eyed and bushy tailed--he always wakes up this way. Notice that Jonah is still having a hard time realizing where he is. He always takes a long time to wake up. Both of them sharing a bed is always interesting. Noah was excited to get a start on the day.


We did allow Jacob and Jonah to give Noah their gifts, because they all couldn't wait. They gave him a game that shoots out butterflies and you have to catch them. They wanted to play it in the hotel room, but it really wasn't the best place for it. They decided they will play it at uncle Tim's house on Friday as we spend the night with him. He is in for a surprise.




Since it was foggy still in the morning and because we had been up early, we took Jacob and Noah to get haircuts. They were way overdue, and so we thought, why not. Everything we did today, Noah was so excited and asked if we were doing this because it was his birthday. From haircuts to the beach.


Between getting to Santa Cruz at 10:30 to an hour later, the sun came out and it was kind of hot. This is a perfect picture of Noah. Always the little clown. They ran around the boardwalk saying that they wanted to go on every ride. As boys do, they all one-uped each other and said how none of the rides would scare them. As we started going on some of them, the truth came out. Noah wanted to go on everything and Jacob and Jonah were scared of most things when it came down to it. Jacob went on the pirate ship with Rebecca and half way off said he wanted to get off. Can't do that buddy. He learned the theory of toughing it out. Jonah and I went on the bumper cars and he really is a good driver. He was weaving in and out and smashing or 'T-boning' everyone. We had a great time. It is another reason why Jonah won't be getting his drivers license until he is at least 18 years old.


We also went on the tram that carries you from one end of the park to another. I got stuck with Jonah, who wanted to rock the thing, and Jacob who was saying, "Jonah, that is against the rules". Reba had a nice talk with Noah on the way over. She did say it made her nervous because she felt like he could slip through. It was great to see the beach and boardwalk from the air.



Then, it was off to the beach. We grabbed our bathing suits and ran down there as fast as we could. The kids were blown away by the waves. When we thought about it, the other times we have gone to the ocean, they were really little. Since we go to the lake every year, this was new for them. They had so much fun running from the waves. Noah ran from them while Jacob and Jonah ran towards them. As you can see by the picture, Jacob was pointing at the waves in awe and Jonah was pointing in amazement, all for different reasons. Jonah took it one step further, of course, and he found someone who had a boogie board. That and learning how to body surf were the highlights of his day.


These action shots of Jonah really tell it all. He had so much fun that he exfoliated the sun screen right off his body and ended up burning his face and back. He hooked up with two other locals (6 year olds) and they played for a long time. Jacob and Noah made a huge sand castle on the beach, but did venture out in the water quite a bit.


After this shot down below, he ran up the beach and said he wanted to move to Santa Cruz and surf with the locals. Everywhere he goes, he always tries to get the lingo down. At one point, we overheard him actually turn to the boy he borrowed the boogie board from and said, "Hey, dude, I caught a wave!" No kidding. He really asked us if we could get him surf lessons when we get home. First, he wanted us to buy him a surf board. He had worked out all the details and said we could tie it to the roof on the way home, plus it would look cool that way. I told him that I was certain a surf board tied to a white Honda Oddessy wouldn't have the same effect he was going for. When he saw the beach patrol go by in their huge pickup, he wanted to know if he could ask them to borrow one of the boards on top. He actually thought they would let him...
'

This is a time during the day that Noah normally naps. He has missed his naps all week long. This look shows it all. He pushed himself to the limit everyday on this trip. Also, notice in the picture that you see Rebecca's shoe surrounded by a thick blanket. Yes, she was cold and had a blanket on. Anyone who knows he though should not be surprised.


On the way home, we gave Noah the choice to pick for dinner. He picked Cocos, which is an upscale Denny's. He wanted to go there because he wanted hot chocolate. During the meal, they were all so tired and they had all burned their backs today. They were wearing their swim shirts that keep the sun off, but they all peeled them off at the end of the day and since they are white, they burned. They were all so tired again. We made it home and did cake and one more present, then it was off to bed. We did squeeze in one final pool run for 15 minutes, but I was so tired, I could hardly move my body. I was done with kids jumping on my body in the pool. the kids were asleep quickly and so were we. We had a great day for Noah's birthday.
RnR

We thought it good to end the day with the same picture we woke up to.












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