Boardwalk

We went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk last week. This is turning out to be an annual summer tradition that pleasantly echoes my own childhood.

And there were some important milestones at the Boardwalk!

First, some history. The first time Isaac went on a carnival ride was at age two, at the Santa Cruz County Fair; we rode a little train together. His first solo ride was six months later on the little cars at the Oakland Zoo. Since then he has gone on a lot of kiddie rides by himself, and even a few kiddie thrill rides (like spinning teacups) with his dad.

At the Boardwalk this year, Isaac got stuck in a rut and only wanted to go on the little kid rides for most of the afternoon. Despite my encouragement he didn't want to ride the Ferris wheel, the kiddie roller coaster, or the Cave Train. Or maybe my suggestions didn't help, because, temperamentally, along with being cautious he dislikes being told what to do.

He was having fun on the kiddie rides, but then after his relatives were already in line for Ghost Blasters he decided he wanted to ride with them after all. (I think he was intrigued that riders get to use laser guns to shoot ghosts.) As they were already at the front of the line, there was very little time for me to consider; we quickly handed him over the barricades and he climbed into the car and disappeared into the ride.

Then I was a little apprehensive. It isn't a haunted house, exactly, but it is a dark ride with ghosts and spooky stuff. He had never been on a ride like that, and I felt like I should have accompanied him the first time. But at least he was riding with my cousin's husband David and his four-year-old daughter Freya, and I knew they would take excellent care of him.

The upshot was, as you may have guessed, that Isaac loved it. It was a little scary, he said, but also silly. He got the high score for shooting the most ghosts, which he also loved.

(Lest you think he is growing too confident, on two occasions I couldn't even get him to sit on a horse on the carousel! Even after his Ghost Blasters triumph, he insisted on sitting on the bench seat on the carousel instead.)

What were the other milestones from the Boardwalk? Well, Laurel went on her very first carnival rides ever, at age 18 months. Together we rode the carousel (unlike Isaac, she sat on a horse, even though it didn't go up and down) and the semi-truck kiddie ride. She didn't whoop with glee, and she was more interested in pointing out seagulls than steering the truck, but she seemed to be having fun.

And as you can see from this photo, she rode on the kiddie boats with Isaac! Without me! After Isaac was already in the boat I put Laurel next to him on impulse, prepared to rescue her if she got upset, but it turned out she did just fine.

I don't know why any of this surprised me. Millions of children enjoy carnival rides, and mine are no exception.