The Bears on Barson have added a baby bear! It has been eleven weeks and we are quite pleased with our tiny offspring- he is adorable and he fits into our family in such sweet and unexpected ways. Living in Santa Cruz as a mom has been a new thing- I have scoped out the best places on Pacific Avenue to nurse and change a diaper as well as which stores have narrow aisles with a terrible turning radius for our Uppababy Cruz.

Anyway, Jon and I decided that it was lame that we live 3 blocks from the Pacific Ocean but we never ever go to the beach. SO! My fair skinned partner and myself have decided that we will visit every beach in the county in the next year. Our first stop was Moran Lake Beach on a super windy Monday. Honestly, we mostly hid inside our beach tent staring at our baby, but I can see why this beach is such a nice spot away from the busy chaos of the Boardwalk. There is free parking across the street, and the waves aren't crazy. You know what is crazy? Setting up and packing up a beach tent with two adults, one of whom has a 13 pound baby on her chest. In between bickering about tent protocol muttering things like "push the pole, don't pull it" and "fold it in thirds not halves," we only lost one stake in the sand.

Here's to new traditions, new tent skills, and new babies!