Since our Disney annual passes are blacked out every Saturday from May to August, we had to find something else to do.   Thanks to my Mom, I was reminded of the Santa Monica Pier.  What a fun place to take your kids.  We started our afternoon with lunch at a GREAT Mexican restaurant at the end of the pier.  Highly recommend them.  The best enchilada's I have had in a long time.  The kids behaved so well.  We defiantly discovered the best seating arrangement for our children!
After lunch, we walked out to the end of the pier.   Here is the plaque that showed the details to the dedication of Santa Monica as a historical landmark.  Notice the date Aubrie is pointing to.  The month after I was born!

After some family shots at the end of the pier, we headed over to the fun park.  The kids had a blast here.  We gave each kid 20 dollars to spend how they wanted.  
We all rode the famous Ferris wheel.  (Parent's treat:)

Then Aubrie got a little more daring!
Here is the after picture! LOL
Then the kids tried out the rock wall.  Well, Ethan wasn't up for it because he wanted to save his money for other things.  Both kids reached the top!

After the rock wall, the kids played carnival games for stuffed animals.  Just what they needed....NOT!!  We walked out of their with 5 new "buddies", which included two stuffed snakes, and 3 stuffed dogs!  It was actually nice that the games weren't rigged like the fair and that they gave descent prizes!   Yeah for the fun park!!

  After the park, we spent several hours down at the beach relaxing.  The kids  threw a football and Frisbee around, and had fun playing in the sand and running from the waves.  I just had fun sitting in my chair an watching them have fun!  What an amazing day!