Last year in March of 2020 we were supposed to go on a big family cruise with Justin's whole family. I was really looking forward to a fun-in-the-sun family vacation. And then Covid hit....... and the whole cruise industry shut down along with the rest of the world. It kinda felt like time stood still. The kids were abruptly pulled out of school for the extended spring break that turned into virtual school for the remainder of the year. I began working from home for what I thought might be 4-6 weeks. It's very sad and funny to look back and think about how wrong we were about so many things. And might I add, a good reminder that we often think we know "what's what and who's who", and we can all be wrong wrong wrong. We don't need to be high and mighty know-it-alls. That's mostly a word for me, but I digress.
Instead of going back to school or work in Texas we ended up moving to beautiful Northern California in the summer of 2020 and continued the "everyone at home" for both work and school family rhythm. When I said it could have been worse, I mean from the bottom of my heart that we are so blessed. It was hard and easy. Hard in that we went from having space from each other by going out of the house for the lives we were living, to all being in the same house all the time. Oh, and did I add that the house we bought in CA is half the size of what we had in TX? So yeah, we are all up in each other's business. But it was also easy in that we maintained our health and wellness and we didn't lose jobs or income. We have housing security, food security, and income security. Even so, the mental struggle can be tough and the days at home can be long.
In December of 2020 Covid was piquing again and we made the tough decision to not travel home to MN/WI for Christmas with family. In my sadness I began looking for something that we could look forward to as a family. I targeted spring break and crossed my fingers that by that time we would be in a better spot with Covid. I didn't want anything too crazy, but thought that a few nights away would do the family good. To my surprise I found that the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz was running a buy 2 nights, get the 3rd free special. I splurged on one of the nicer rooms since we were getting a night free and booked the trip.
Right before our trip the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk Amusement park opened up again. I was elated to add tickets to the Amusement Park to the kids Easter baskets.
Not only was this Family trip needed, it was also nearly perfect. I don't know if it's because our kids are entirely out of diapers or naps, or if it's because we didn't over do it with activities, but I can't think of anything that could have gone better on the trip. The kids got along for the most part. They didn't really complain. And Justin and I managed to really enjoy ourselves too. I have to remind myself that me and Justin's mood can really set the tone for the kids, and we maintained pretty great moods on this trip, so that undoubtedly affected them as well.
Family vacations don't need to be long, expensive, or glamorous. Driving 2 hours for a 3-night getaway was just what we needed.
So, here's how the trip went down....
Day 1, Monday. We hit the road at about 8:30 a.m. and drove through Starbucks. It is absolutely not a family vacation for us until we have grabbed a coffee treat. By 11 a.m. we had arrived and parked. I had packed lunches and snacks so we ate lunch in the van before we went into the Amusement Park. It was a little bit of a slow start with rides, but once we got going we were having a tons of fun. Silas was afraid of everything at first, but once we got to the smaller rides he was all in too. By about 3:00 p.m. we were ready to call it quits and get over to the Dream Inn to check in. This is where it was a little sketchy, they didn't have our room ready for us at 3 p.m. and it was a little chaotic because we were tired from the park and didn't have a place to chill or change into swimsuits etc. So, tiny bit of chaos. But once we got into our room we were good to go! The room was perfect with a huge bathtub, a gas fireplace, and a balcony overlooking the pool and ocean. They keep their outdoor pool heated to 82 degrees year round, so the kids got into their suits and we went down to the pool. Justin and I grabbed sodas for the kids and cocktails for ourselves. We sat poolside bundled up in the chilly April weather while the kids had a blast in the pool. We ordered pizza and snuggled up in our room by the fire while we ate. Watched a movie and all fell asleep. Justin, Silas, and I in the king size bed with Via and Soren on the pullout sofa. I wonder where and how we will sleep when Silas is too big to sleep with us. 5 person family probs.
Link to Dream Inn: https://www.dreaminnsantacruz.com/
Link to Beach Boardwalk: https://beachboardwalk.com/
Day 1 Pictures
Day 2, Tuesday. This was a pretty chill day. Right away in the morning the kids wanted to do pool time which means by 10 a.m. Soren wanted to play in the room and warm up by the fire. Silas and Soren spent a good time playing in the room while I sat on the balcony with a mimosa and enjoyed the ocean. Justin walked to pick up lunch from the Picnic Basket Santa Cruz, a really yummy organic shop near the Dream Inn. We spent some time on the beach. Did some more pool time. I walked to pick up dinner from Las Palmas Taco Bar which we ate in our room. Everyone was tuckered out, so the kids watched a movie while Justin and I had a nightcap on the balcony. Then we all crashed. I actually loved watching Silas crash each night. Since we were sleeping in the same room he would basically just get so tired that he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore. We didn't try to stick to bedtime and it was so much easier that way.
Link to Picnic Basket: https://www.thepicnicbasketsc.com/
Link to Las Palmas Taco Bar: https://laspalmastacobar.com/
Day 2 Pictures
Day 3, Wednesday: One of Soren's classmates had us over for a family hang out a few weeks before spring break, and we found out they were also going to Santa Cruz. So we had a blast meeting up with them for some beach playtime on Wednesday. After a morning swim, we spent the mid-morning into the early afternoon with them on the beach in front of the Dream Inn. One of my co-workers and friends lives close-ish to Santa Cruz so she and her cute pup met up with us for dinner. We walked to Hula's Island Grill for dinner and it was so fun! We let the kids get mocktails and it was nice to walk and see a bit of Santa Cruz since we mostly stayed close to the beach and pool. That night we did a little more swimming (duh), another family movie and then crashed (duh).
Link to Hula's: https://www.hulastiki.com/scdinner
Day 3 Pictures
Day 4, Thursday: Before we checked out of the Dream Inn we walked down the Santa Cruz Wharf to choose a souvenir and see the sea lions. It was a nice way to wrap up our spring break trip before heading back home.
Day 4 Pictures
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