Tracy and Maya

Despite the dismal state of California and being deeply cautious of COVID exposure to any of us, I decided to visit my best friend Tracy at the beach today.  She drove up with her daughter to stay with friends in Aptos. Being outside and in the sunshine works in our favor in this situation.  Other than for a quick hug hello (with masks) and this picture, we chatted with distance between us.  The kids got a chance to spend time together and Mousse got to be at the beach, which is quickly becoming one of his favorite places.  

 Leo demonstrating how not to wear a mask.

 Mousse in his element. 

 These girls have known each other since they were tiny.  When the schools closed and the kids got cut off from friends, they started FaceTiming almost daily.  They would spend time making jewelry and slime while talking on the phone.  They are still talking several times a week.

 They were so happy to spend time together in person. 

 This picture pretty much sums up Leo and Serafina's relationship currently. 

Keeping busy

We are trying to stay busy and stay sane.  The numbers in California keep getting worse and worse and it is very worrisome.  We continue to stay home to stay safe.  

Several nights a week, Serafina watches the musical Hamilton with her bestie Sunny on FaceTime.  Hamilton on the TV, Sunny on the iPad.  

 Mousse and I took a hike together on Friday.  It wasn't too hot out yet and the trail wasn't very crowded.  He's an excellent hiking buddy. 

 Serafina gave herself bangs by tucking her hair. 

 Serafina was feeling down so we decided to bake a cake to cheer her up.  Serafina decided she wanted to do it by herself. 

 Leo didn't want toppings so Serafina was nice enough to limit her decorations to just half the cake. 

 Here are the kids playing different sounds on the iPad to see how Mousse reacts. 

Here's a video of Mousse being a super silly puppy.  This is one of his favorite games.  

Bean Hollow State Beach

Tom had the "day off", which means he had a few free hours in the middle of the day.  We took advantage of it and headed to the coast.  It was pretty mellow there on a Monday, which is what we need to find parking and maintain plenty of social distance.  We ended up south of Half Moon Bay at Bean Hollow State Beach. 

Lunch time before heading down to the sand. 

 Serafina found herself a little seat.

 It was cloudy but not particularly cold or windy, so we were comfortable. 

 Mousse enjoys walking on the beach. 

 There was plenty of cool exploring.

 Mousse loves the beach but not getting into the ocean.  Here he is trying to run away from the water. 

 This was a little cove where we were all alone so we let the dog off the leash for a little bit. 

Tie Dye-palooza

On Saturday, we had some fun tie dying shirts and plain white face masks.  Here's all our items ready for dye. 

 Serafina wore a tie dye shirt to do her tie dying. 

 Mousse didn't pester us too much.

 The gloves got in my way so I didn't use them at all.  Serafina gave up on them after a while. 

 Here are the masks. 

 And all the shirts. 

 Leo is modeling one of the masks he made. 

 Mousse smile. 

Mousse's first beach trip

Tom played hooky from work for a few hours this afternoon and we headed to the beach in Santa Cruz.  We managed to find parking and people were pretty spread out on the sand.  

Mousse loved the beach.  He didn't even bark at the water like he did in Lake Tahoe.  

Dig, dig, dig! 

 Her legs are a mile long.

Six Months Old

Mousse is six months old today.  He's a handsome, sweet boy.  He loves cheese and stealing socks.  He loves to meet people and other dogs but doesn't get to do a lot of it because of Coronavirus.  

 Waiting for cheese. 

He still likes to cuddle on my lap, but only on his terms.  And he barely fits anymore.  

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 He's grown into his bed quite nicely. 

 Couldn't get him to sit in the chair. 

Here's a little video of him carrying around a giant stick on our neighborhood walk. 

Fourth of July Weekend

We had a very low-key Fourth of July, which is very different from years past.  If we aren't out of town for the holiday, we host parties with tons of food and plenty of pool chaos.  This year it was just a red, white and blue(berry) pie and a short visit from my mom.  

Here's Serafina decorating the pie with fruit.  

 End result.

 Cream cheese and whipped cream on a graham cracker crust.  Very easy and very yummy. 

 Serafina likes solo bike rides around the neighborhood.  I think it gives her some nice solitude and independence during all this madness.  She likes to take my bike. 

 The dog gets very stressed when anyone is in the pool, even when the person is fully dressed on a float.

 Tie dye twins!

 Mousse and Leo. 

 I haven't feeling very patriotic because of the sad state of our nation, but instead of just complaining, I've been channeling that frustration into writing postcards to voters to encourage them to register to vote by mail.  It's a comforting past time for me. Right now I've been sending postcards to Florida.  The organization is Postcards for Voters. 

 And here are some glamour shots of Mousse.