I Love You, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz

We went to the Cruz over the weekend. We got there on Saturday afternoon and left Sage with the grandparents and took Roan to the boardwalk. Is it just me or is it weird calling a place “the Boardwalk” when it has no boardwalk anymore? We walked around the arcade and then got some tickets so Roan could go on the merry-go-round. Roan loves merry-go-rounds. Roan hated this one.

She wanted me to go on it with her. Luci was going to do it, but I guess Roan figures I have more experience with horses, so I should be the one to take her. I put her on a horse, then I saw two vacant ones next to each other so I put her on one and I got on the one next to her. I figured she’d be fine, since she’s ridden carousels before and wouldn’t need me to stand next to her. The ride starts and she starts screaming. I jumped off the horse and tried to talk to her but she wouldn’t turn her head towards me. I did hear her crying that she wanted ice cream, though. When the ride finally stopped she had a red mark on her face from squishing it into the pole.

After the carousel, Luci got a chocolate dipped, soft-serve cone to share with Roan. She wasn’t too keen on sharing, but faced with the choice of sharing or getting none, she choose to share. Next we went to check out the little kid rides. Roan decided she wanted to ride Bulgy. Luci stood in line with her, walked her to a Bulgy, started to put her in and then she started screaming. So, Roan didn’t ride the Bulgy. Luckily, they were able to get the tickets back. Here is a photo essay. I call it, “The Bulgy not to be ridden, In Three Photos.”





After the Bulgy incident, Luci and I wanted to ride the Cave Train. Roan was kind of scared of it, but she said she wanted to ride it. Then, when we were in line buying tickets, she said she didn’t want to ride it. Being the great parents we are, we bribed her to go on it. We agreed she could have cotton candy after the ride.



We got the very first seat on the cave train and Roan sat between us. She was holding on to me the entire time. When the train goes in the cave, there's a part where you go through a sort of tunnel and it is lighted and spins around you. That part made her scream. As we were riding the train I kept thinking how nightmare inducing it was. The cavemen were not cute and neither were the dinosaurs. It was really loud. I kept trying to see if Roan had her eyes open. The few times I could see (it’s really dark in the “cave”) she did. After the ride, I asked her what she thought of the Cave Train. She exclaimed, “It was AMAZING.” Then we went to get cotton candy while her dad rode the Giant Dipper by himself.