travel log: some Santa Cruz for your soul

every year since I was a wee babe

the entire side of my mom's family crammed their small selves into

a house on the beach

in rio del mar

and I will say this

 most magical week of my life

as a child this meant 

cousins

as many otter pops and licorice as we could consume

{seriously, our dads told us our otter pop quota for the day was like 10, and we HAD to meet it}

boogie boarding, sand castles, paddle ball

bonfires on the beach with smore's and songs

and the absolute most glorious

SKITS! 

that's right, every year the 

kids did a skit

the mom's did a skit

and the dad's did a skit. 

and without fail, aunt Julie's MJ glitter glove made an appearance

ooowwwww.

the mom's skit usually revolved around American Idol

the dad's skit usually revolved around making fun of the mom's

and the kids skit usually revolved around 

A) making fun of everyone

B) the Office

C) singing songs from this ridiculous CD my mom picked up at a yard sale with songs from the 1920's which were all pretty much politically incorrect

sadly, since i've become an adult and got one of those ridiculous things called "jobs" 

I now can usually only go for part of the week. 

but OH. 

that part of the week is butter. 

and this year, Kev got to melt in all that goodness with me. 

 { spike ball, check}

{dad and cousin playing some baseball} 

{my love being handsome and reading Unbroken, which FYI you MUST read!}

{mmmm beach food!}

{mr. beard, you can read his excuse here}

 {this boat is rather iconic for me. When we were small you could actually walk out to the end of the boat, as we grew we could walk out to part of the boat, and now the boat is closed off and you can only walk to the end of the pier. It used to be an old party boat in the 1920's used for dinner and dancing. During WWII it actually was recruited in the navy, and now it sits holding many memories as well as birds}

{off for a bike ride to Capitola with kev, pete and dad}

oh santa cruz. i love you. 

The glory of God—let it last forever! 

Let God enjoy his creation!

psalm 104:30