Daughter Roller Coaster Trip Day 4: City of Ventura, Calabasas, and Santa Monica Pier

Roller Coaster Trip Day 4

Day 4 of our Roller Coaster Adventure Trip was spent sleeping in (until 8 am) and relaxing. Even in vacation mode, I don’t sleep in.  Sleeping in until 8 am is a big deal for me.  Please keep in mind,  we hit two amusement parks in two days and needed a bit of a break from our adventures in California. Instead of a roller coaster amusement park on Tuesday, we went to the beach in the City of Ventura, had ice cream for lunch, and then met up with my old college friend Julie and her twin three year old sons in Calabasas, California.

 

This is the first time we have had a chance to meet her twin sons. She is married to my other friend Chris who happened to be out of town working. I’m pretty sure he planned to be out of town on purpose.  Chris likes to mess with my head that way.

I do miss that age of youth and discovery with three year old kids. Julie thought that was amusing because sometimes her boys drive her nuts. But honestly, what kids don’t drive their parents a little bit nuts once in a while.  My kids drive me nuts all the time.  The dog and cat drive me nuts.  Heck, I think you have figure out by now that everyone and everything drives me nuts.  But I love people, really, I do love them.

Time flies by and it was fun to have a glimpse of the past (when my kids were younger) and I enjoy the three year old twins.  We had a great time with Duplos.  I discover that I am by far still a lot better at building than some twin crazy three old boys.  Ah ha!  Old age wins again!

Now, you know what doesn’t drive me nuts?  This whole Dad and Daughter Roller Coaster Trip!  One of my clients mentioned he did a Dad and Daughter trip and had an awesome time with his daughter to Disneyland.  It inspired me to do this trip.  I was delighted that I could take my daughter (the only one that really enjoys roller coasters and scary rides) on this trip.  I finally had someone in my family that wanted to do the rides with me!   I’m selfishly happy she is now 11 years old and likes to ride the scary rides.  Roller coasters all the way, everyday!

On a brief side note: She has always loved those scary amusement rides since she was a little toddler. For the past two summers, as a family we have gone to Silverwood Amusement Park in Idaho, and she is my thrill ride partner. Silverwood is very affordable and well worth the visit to Idaho if you have the time, that’s my worthless advice for northwest amusement parks.

Ok, back to California and our roller coaster adventure. Julie and I and figured out earlier that we wanted to go to Santa Monica Pier and have dinner down there. We rode the Ferris wheel with the kids, spent some time in the arcade, and had a great pizza dinner. We had a great time (well, at least I had an awesome time!). I forgot how much I miss my friends that have moved out of Washington State. This dinner and catch up session was well worth the flight to California. Plus anytime I can tell other parents how to be a better parent (because I’m an awesome parent role model and everyone wants to learn from the master of worthless parenting advice…..that’s me by the way).

I liked Paradise Park on Santa Monica Pier. Besides it being a bit windy and cold that evening, the Santa Monica Pier was fun to visit. It has a small amusement ride area, a boardwalk with shops, an arcade, and some food booths. It only has a few homeless people to bother you as you walk around; not too different from over beach towns we have been too. Nothing like the warmth of Southern California to keep you in a reality check of everyday life, am I not speaking the truth?

Overall, Day 4 was a great day to relax and catch our breath. Day 5: Knott’s Berry Farm!

Thanks for reading and pretending to care.

Artwork by the twins….