Santa Monica Pier

On Sunday, we had a nice family day down at the beach. We opted for Santa Monica so Zach could also enjoy the rides on the pier. I apparently don't get out much, because I had no idea the side with rides even exsisted. Go figure. They also have (for those of you who don't know) carnival games and food...it's like a fair. Jeff had taken Zach there once before when I was on bedrest.

Zach on the choo-choo. Jeff was going to ride with him and the carni-guy told him to get off. Ha ha. This is the first ride Zach has ever gone on by himself! I was afraid my 2-second attention span kid was going to climb out of the car in middle of the ride. He surprised me, though and stayed put until the very end!













Zach and I and my chins on the car ride. It went up and down as well as going around in a circle....Zach wanted to go "high, high!"













Jeff and Zach on the balloon ride. The were giving each other high fives the entire time!













The submarine ride. This went up in the air and back down again. Pretty lame.













After the rides, we went to the beach. It was packed and we thought we'd accidentally gone over the border to Rosarito. There were people selling anything from beach umbrellas to sand toys to cut up fruit. It was just like being at the border waiting to cross...the people walk inbetween the cars selling all sorts of stuff. This takes place on the Mexico side.
Now, I don't want to sound like a racist...I don't care who is at the beach with me. I just didn't care for the salesmen, the spanish speaking kids taking MY kids toys, (my spanish is not good enough to explain to a 5 year old that he has to bring my kid's stuff back), the dead seagull lapping in the waves (while all the kids stood waaaay too close to it, daring each other to touch it...yuck!), and the homeless people hanging out....right next to us...and they smelled like pee.
Note to self...go to a different beach.
But it was a nice day, nonetheless.