On the pier in Santa Cruz...

Ella loved watching all the sea lions playing and laying around under
the pier. The sun began to set and the light was just beautiful.

bathing bunny...

Our little bunny loves taking baths... Here are a few pix from yesterday.

Ella fed the ducks this morning...

Ella Valentine is 5 months old today!

Looking out our front window in Santa Cruz

Its a cool foggy morning here in Santa Cruz and Ella and I started things off early with a walk to get daddy a sunday morning latte. We are staying in the most wonderful house (thank you Arline, David and Evelyn!!!) and it's just a short stroll across the river to get to Pacific Ave....the colorful pedestrian area filled with cafes, bookstores, street musicians and theaters. Today Ella and I watched ducks splashing in the misty water below us, she in her fuzzy pink hat and me trying to keep her little hands warm with my own. Babygirl sure loves to be cruised around these days so that she can look at (and hopefully touch and taste!) everything in her big new world. There is a wonderful vegetable and flower garden in front of our house and she's been happily exploring the scents and textures of fresh corn, tomatoes, peppers and lavender. We've also taken her to check out the beach boardwalk; her eyes were big as saucers as we strolled along with roller coasters wooshing by and kids screaming everywhere. She much prefers the quiet garden at this point, as do I!

Ella & I in the morning

Aside from cruising around, Ella's favorite pastimes are rolling onto her tummy, being tickled, and hopping in her Johnny-Jump-Up. We've heard that the jumper is bad for her hip development, but its such a ridiculously good time for all of us that we've decided to risk it :-) We'll post a video soon of the little Irish jig she likes to do when she's in there. She's also been enjoying long luxurious baths in the Italian marble sink that graces the gorgeous kitchen here. It's a regular Roman bath and I think our little girl is going to be a spa-junkie someday just like her mamma.

We sure are feeling lucky to have the entire month of August in this special home, enjoying the family, friends and ambiance of Max's home-town.

Ella's in Santa Cruz...

We're staying in Santa Cruz for most of August and we're having a great time. It's been so fun to be able to walk and stroll to get places. Where we live in the Oakland hills, it means a car ride to get anywhere. We're wondering if we can ever go back to the hills after this experience.

Click here are a few pix of Ella in Santa Cruz...

This is my most favorite picture ever taken of Ella