Corwin and Charles were good boys Tuesday through Thursday, while Mom and Dad suffered through endless meetings at corporate headquarters. On Friday it was the boy’s turn and off we went.
We drove down to Santa Cruz to look at the boardwalk, but it was all closed up (probably since it was October and a Friday). We walked out on the beach, but Corwin didn’t want to go - he refused to get close to the ocean. Charles was fine and played near the waves (it was too cold to actually go in the water). Corwin managed to get so much sand in his shoes that I couldn’t figure out how his feet still fit.
Next stop was the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. Corwin and Charles had much fun. There were quite a number of good exhibits. The highlighted creatures were jellyfish, which Corwin found very interesting. What he liked best, though, was an interactive tidal pool simulator. This had water, plastic fish and water jets. What more could a boy want?
For Charles there was a special section for smaller children (it was a new experience for Corwin to be told “you can’t go there, you’re too old”). There was an interactive water section there which Charles found to be very interactive.
We went shopping a bit afterwards and of course Charles got a new car. As we walked the aisles Charles looked around until the car aisle. Then his eyes latched on. It was like a sprite from an old video game - no matter how Mom moved the stroller forward and backward, Charles head stayed in the same position, staring at the cars. Mom made the mistake of getting too close and wham Charles’ grasping appendage lanced out and siezed its prey! His prize was a blue VW beetle. Despairing of rescuing the car from Charles’ predatory grasp, we had to get another one to show to the shopkeeper to get the price. But Charles had cars for both hands and all was right with the world.