President's Day at Live Oak Beach, Santa Cruz

It was another beautiful day on Monday. Brad had the day off, so after Ava's nap we decided to head over the hill to Santa Cruz again and soak up the sun. We picked Live Oak beach, which is a beach Brad took me to on one of our first dates to have a bonfire. It's a great spot where dogs are allowed to run free, there are tide pools to explore, and it's safe to go in the water, most days. On this day it was too rough (and of course too cold), but watching the waves was exciting!

this is Ava's new favorite mode of transportation. She calls it "piggy wide" (piggy ride, as in piggy back ride). It's actually really comfortable for me too!
Ava asked to get down, of course, when she saw people and doggies playing in water.
And within minutes her bottom half was soaked! She is crazy in the water. She kept pulling Brad as hard as she could to get him to go further in! Doesn't she get cold?!
I love this picture of them.
We stayed until 5 and headed home for dinner. It's so great to be so close to Santa Cruz. We're lucky to be on the beach in February. There is still an east coast part of me that just can't believe it's true.

It was a Happy Valentine's Day :)

We had a really nice day together as a little family. I bought myself some tulips, which have been really nice to watch bloom over the course of the last few days. (It's amazing how a bunch of flowers can brighten my day.) The girls woke to a pile of Valentines and little gifts from Brad and I, and we spent the day out on the sun at Oak Meadow park exploring and playing. We also took a trip to a sweet little toy store for the girls to spend the money that their great-grandpa slipped into his sweet valentine cards for them. What a treat!

the girls valentine's...
They got valentine's t-shits from Brad and I. Oh my goodness did they look cute!

Our sweet little Valentines...xoxox

thank you for all the valentine's you sent our way! It made the day so special for all of us :)

We love you!

Amazing day on the coast!

It was a beautiful, awesome day! 1 layer on the coast, which means it was close to 70 degrees there in mid-February! It's amazing. Brad picked up Hailey at noon and as soon as Ava woke up we had lunch and got on the road to Santa Cruz. We went to West Cliff to watch the surf because we had heard it was 6-8 foot swells, and was it ever! (The Mavericks surfing competition was in full effect today at HMB with 40-50 ft. swells!) The waves were unbelievable, so powerful, and just beautiful to watch. We watched the sets roll in from up on the paved trail on West Cliff and then headed down to a beach off West Cliff to play. All four of us were in awe when we saw the surf and smelled the fresh air. Even Hailey said, "I just love Santa Cruz. I am so happy we are here." It touched me to hear her say that. Though she may not remember, Brad and I spent many of our visits with Hailey as a toddler on the beaches in Santa Cruz. She would nap in our beach tent. Both our girls are total beach babes. They can't get enough. There is never a hint of whine or fuss unless it's time to go.

Here is a shot of West Cliff Drive coastline
Cass, Ava and Hailey walking along West Cliff taking it all in
Look at those waves rolling in. They just kept getting bigger...
See all the people who came over the hill to watch? So many people standing on the cliff's edges
A peek through the cypress trees to the ocean
The girls headed straight for the water, of course. Not too cold for them, no way! They were both soaked within 5 minutes and Brad had his work cut out for him on Lifeguard duty.

Here's a sweet photo of Brad and Ava
And another great shot. (I was in picture taking heaven on this beautiful day in santa cruz with my new camera. I am so grateful for this camera. It makes this passion of mine so much more fun because it captures the moments, and the quality of them, the way I see them through my own eyes, sometime even better.)
Sea foam and foot prints in the sand
A happy beach girl
reflection in brad's sunglasses

Brad taking his girls to check out the cave
Hailey
Hailey and Ava playing together
Running wild! They really love being at the beach. It's like it unleashes total freedom.
surfers heading in...

surfers heading out

time to go.
We headed over to The Crow's Nest for dinner with the girls and ate outside while we watched the sunset. It was so nice- and the girls were so good even though they were really hungry :)
Our view from our table. Ava kept pointing and saying "beeech! pay sand?" We had fish, fish and more fish for dinner. It was good food and great company.

I love our little family and I love where we live.

Our little reader

I think I've mentioned before how much Ava loves to be read to and how I find her reading to herself sometimes, picking her favorite books off the shelf. It is amazing how much she can remember! I realize how much she is learning from reading-- new words, new emotions. An especially exciting book, filed with emotions from a little bird who is off on a walk to look for his mother is by P.D. Eastman and it's called Are You My Mother? I read this book to her with great enthusiasm because it's fun :) You'll see in the video Ava imitating the way I read it, or rather the way she sees the baby bird expressing himself! I am posting this video for my mom and sisters. My Mom read this book to all three of us when we were young and we loved it. It's a joy to read it to Ava and see how much she loves it too! Listen for words like "baby bird", "Mother, Mother! Are you my Mother?" "SNORT!"etc. You'll see how much she understands if you know the story...

Here is what she is saying:

baby bird. You have a mother baby bird.

Mother, mother, are you my mother?

Big thing said, SNORT!

Cry, mommy! mommy! see my cry? waaa waaaa

Snort back baby tree (The snort put the baby bird back in the tree)

You have a mother baby bird

(you are) not a cow

not a boat

not a plane

not a snort

bird, mother (you are a bird and you are my mother)

the end

An afternoon together

Brad and I had both been feeling a little run down. Brad from the stresses of work, and I from losing some sleep from staying up too late at night and being up early with the monk (that's Brad's name for Ava- short for monkey). We had planned to go out and look at some real estate together without Ava on Sunday and had Brad's mom and Dad coming down to watch Ava. When we saw the forecast and really thought about it we threw those plans out and opted to have a date together. I am SO glad we did. It was beyond beautiful in Capitola on Sunday, almost 70 degrees sitting out in the sun. I haven't been so relaxed in a long time. It was so special to do something we used to do every weekend together, take a ride over the hill and roam the beaches, shops and restaurants in the beach towns with no concept of time in our minds, just enjoying nature and each others company. perfect date. Our first stop was a sushi place that our wonderful neighbors have been talking about for a long time, Pink Godzilla. If you haven't been, it's delicious! Such good, fresh sushi! The green tea was so full of flavor and the steamed pot stickers were melt in your mouth, satiate your taste buds good. We will be going back, especially since I noticed they have a children's menu ;) (always thinking of little A)



Monterey Bay Roll was my favorite!
contentment.

Next, we walked down to the end of 41st street to Pleasure Point. The surfing was on and Brad gave the lowdown on all the territorial stuff. Let's just say I'm glad I don't surf. Sounds tough. But watching was amazing. I can see why so many people do. What an adrenaline rush! And how powerful to be riding the forces of nature.

we walked a little ways down the beach and onto the rocks, sat in the sun and soaked it up. Talking, not talking, resting and watching the waves crash. sooooo relaxing.
Isn't is just beautiful here?

We noticed the rainbows that formed in the spray off the top of the waves as they rolled in. can you see?

So happy to have a date together. It's so important. We both felt so refreshed and connected.
Before we headed home we strolled through the shops and stopped in for a coffee at Verve. Very unique shop, a nice change of pace from our local starbucks. I really enjoyed the art on the wall and the ambiance of the place, so I took pictures, of course :)
And isn't my latte pretty? And it was so yummy.
The best part about all of this is that Ava was happy as can be with Grandma and Grandpa. They said she was a perfect angel for them! Of course, as soon as she saw us the fuss fuss began :) Thanks Mom and Dad. We really appreciated you watching Ava. She loves you!

Ava learns...

Ava is learning so much! Sometimes it's hard to keep up with her. She amazes us daily with what she has remembered, or repeated back to us. Brad and I share stories nightly. I've been lucky to capture some of it on video over the past couple of weeks, so I thought you might like to see too!

The first video is Ava using my iphone pretending to talk to someone. She used to just say "hiiii" when she put it to her ear, but she hears Mama saying more than that and has learned how to say it too! So now she says "hii, how you do? goooood." I just about fell over laughing when I heard this for the first time!

The second video is Ava reading to herself. Often times I'll be picking up around the apartment and find Ava reading to herself from one of her favorite books. In this video I found her reading from Goodnight Moon. It's amazing how much she is really listening and processing what she sees and hears and that she remembers what words go with what page! I am just in awe of her sometimes! Such a smart cookie :)

And here is a fun new development...Ava is really trying to learn how to jump. She was inspired by Elmo asking her to try. Again, she is really listening to what she is watching on Sesame Street too! She is somewhat successful at this gross motor skill, but it still needs some work ;)

just a cute little munchkin

Funny, my friend Sarah just posted on her blog that her daughter, just a few months younger than Ava, loves to spin in the office chair. We had just spent the morning doing the same at our house when I read her post! Funny to think we were doing the same thing with our munchkins almost at the same time (and taking pictures of it too!) :) Anyway, I couldn't resist trying to capture the smile that it brought to Ava's face!

She is developing such a distinct laugh too. When I see these pictures I hear that little laugh too. She brings me joy :)