Ahh…sun, surf, and caramel apples can only mean one thing: it’s summertime at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. This classic seaside amusement park advertises its free admission, but sometimes the best things in life aren’t free. You aren’t going to go all the way to the Boardwalk for your kids to just walk and watch all the other kids have fun. If you go on any ordinary day, you can expect to pay $2.25 to $4 for each ride, or if you’re staying for a while, you can get the unlimited rides wristband for $29.95. That’s not taking into account what you’ll pay for parking ($10 in the lot) and food.
Don’t throw in your beach towel just yet. There are some ways to make this California kid dream come true. During the summer, my favorite way to save money is to make this an evening affair by going on “1907 Nights” or “Pepsi Nights”. Every Monday and Tuesday after 5 p.m., you will pay only one dollar for each ride and also for hot dogs, Pepsi, and cotton candy. On Wednesday and Thursday evenings after 5 p.m. you can get an unlimited rides wrist band for $9.95 if you bring in a Pepsi can.
I save the most money when I go on “1907 Nights” because my young child can’t go (or won’t go) on over half the rides. It doesn’t make sense for me to buy the unlimited rides wristband when I’m going to be mostly hanging around at Bulgy the Whale or Cave Train Adventure. Besides, I can’t pass up one dollar hot dogs.
As a bonus tip, I’m going to let you know that they only sell the specially priced hot dogs and Pepsis in certain lines of the dining areas. This always bugs me, because if you want anything else besides hot dogs (I just gotta have my fried artichoke hearts) you have to stand in two lines. This is so not what a tired mommy wants to do when dealing with whiny, hungry kids. I find that the best thing to do is be there right when the big hand hits the 5 on your watch. That way you’ll get shorter lines for the food, and still have time give those hot dogs in your tummy a spin on the rides.
Parking Tip: The parking is also cheaper or free in the evenings. You don’t have to pay the parking meters after 6 p.m.
Good to know: “1907 Nights” are from June 21 to August 31 and “Pepsi Nights” are from June 23 to September 2.
Even if you’ve never been camping before, or your last camping trip is a distant memory, you can still plan a great family camping trip. I’ve made a handy list to help any of you camping newbies who are hesitant to embark on a camping adventure with kids. I’m not going to pretend camping is easy, but with a bit of planning and practice, you can take your kids out for a night under the starry skies. Read on, campers.
When I dream of getting away from it all, I usually picture myself on a quiet beach with a good book and the lull of the waves. In other words, I don’t picture myself on Doggie Beach with a bunch of canine friends, sandy poop, and frisbees whizzing past my head. Yet, this is one of the stops I will have to make on a road trip to Southern California this summer. Why? Because my son is in love with Cooper the dog. We will be visiting a family friend and her pet wonder dog while we’re in San Diego, and that can only mean that we’ll also be going to San Diego’s premiere beach for dogs. My son is in the I-want-a-cute-doggie stage, so he could spend hours playing catch with Cooper. In fact, that’s the part of the trip he’s probably the most excited about (sorry San Diego Zoo pandas). So I will have to accept this part of our itinerary and hope that there won’t be any black fur balls landing on my lap this time. Seriously, there was this little guy that flew over my shoulder and landed on my lap last time we were there. It’s no Hanalei Bay, but Doggie Beach is still a pretty cool place to spend an afternoon.
One of my favorite summertime trips is to 
The thing about living in dry and thirsty California, is that you don’t often get a chance to see rushing water. Only during the spring and early summer months, does the water gush down the mountains to the rivers of Yosemite National Park. These rivers may slow to a trickle by the end of summer, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the white-water flow in spring. It certainly wasn’t safe for my little guy to wade and skip pebbles this time of year, but he seemed impressed by the roar. This photo is on a bridge crossing the river near Happy Isles.
Yes, this week marks the blog’s five-month anniversary, and I’m ready to celebrate. I would invite you all over for a killer fiesta, but since I can’t, here’s some of your favorite posts so far (well, at least that’s what the stats say).
