Santa Cruz 2013

A few weeks before Thanksgiving we headed down to Santa Cruz to celebrate Sunny's birthday and show off Clara to the relatives who hadn't met her yet. It was a warm, relaxing, wonderful time.

In preparation for the long, cold winter ahead of us in Moscow, we made sure to visit the ocean a few times and soak up the sun. 

There was an incredible gathering of birds down at the Santa Cruz pier.

As well as sea lions:

Lucy thought they were pretty incredible

We also visited a beach in Capitola:

My two beautiful nieces:

Lucy borrowed a wetsuit and bravely strode out to meet the ocean:

And then changed her mind and played in the sand the whole time instead.

Clara enjoyed bird watching with Grandma:

Really, she did. Don't let this face fool you.

Perle braved the waves:

As did a.... heron? He seemed a little lost:

Lucy did pose for me in her wetsuit though:

Photo op!

Does Clara look nervous to be so close to her energetic older sister? Perhaps:

This is more her cup of tea. Solitary digging in a backyard garden bed:

We also snagged some yummy local ice cream:

And a few shots from the birthday bash. It was a lovely party.

Howard narrating the story of the special birthday ring that we presented to Sunny:

Admiring the ring:

Silly cousin time:

 And the only picture I got of Daniel and his fiancee Ashley. It's an action shot, true. And it's from behind, sure. But at least I got something. In my defense, Clara was sick most of the trip and pretty needy, so my photo opportunities were limited. But it was really great to get to meet Ashley. Nicely done Daniel, nicely done.

Really the trip was just too short! We miss our California family a lot!