Santa Cruz

We wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather on Saturday, so we packed up the kids and some lunch and set out with GPS in hand. We had no idea where we wanted to go so we headed south and finally picked Santa Cruz. We didn't want to go to the Boardwalk because we knew it was going to be way overcrowded, so we looked up some parks on the GPS and headed there instead.

We started at Natural Bridges State Beach, which actually didn't have any bridges of any kind, though it was a beautiful beach. We walked along the coast for awhile, but it was windy and cold. Jon was the only one of us with a jacket, so we packed up and left.

Matthew looking really small in his new big boy carseat.

Isn't it so pretty?

And cold!We left the beach and headed inland. The GPS directed us to another "park" which ended up being a lagoon with a wooden walkway all through it. We were hungry, so we decided to just stay. I'm so glad we did.

Emma loved running along the bridge
There were lots of ducks who were more than happy to come up close in the hopes of getting some food

Oh, and carp too. We threw some bread in for the ducks (I know, don't tell anyone!) and these fish jumped up out of the water to get it. It was a little scary, really.

Happy to be out of the stroller and exploring!

We found some grass in the shade and sat down to eat our lunch.

These flowers were eveywhere. I love the color.

On our way out, we saw this little guy taking in some sun.

We really enjoyed our little adventure. It was fun to go explore the non-touristy things and spend time with the family, AND it was completely free. :)