Carmel invaded by Ella

yesterday was my last day in my "mini-vacation" and so lena and i had originally wanted to get out of town with our little Ella Banana (yeah that's what i call her) for those that don't know, ever since we got ella she's been cooped up in the house waiting to be cleared of all her shots before we take her out (we've been pretty good about protecting her because she's so loved in this home)

so her first road trip me and lena drove all the way down to Carmel-By-The-Sea because the city is heavily touted to be Pet Friendly. Think of one giant dog park and even dogs are allowed on the beach.

so we wake up in the morning and it being norcal its freezing so we had to find a way to fight our laziness and get our asses ready to get going. we eat brunch at Main Street Bagel, packed up our things and of course Ella likes to ride on lena's lap and not in her crate (something about being in a car she ALWAYS falls asleep on lena's lap) very well behaved, doesn't like to stick her head out the window or bother me as i drive. She knows to behave herself when the car is in motion and maybe the only thing she's ever guilty of is she will lick the straws of drinks we have in the cup holder when me and lena are not looking (seriously, she can be pretty ninja at times.

so an hour and half later with ella sleeping and me and Lena playing our patented Alphabet game (its the funnest game ever when we are on a road trip) we arrive to Carmel and first stop?

a cute little doggy boutique store just to see if we want to buy anything new for ella. we end up getting her a new toy, a rain-coat, and a very pretty pink dress. walked around the outdoor mall and the stores were very kind and open to allowing ella in the store and ella behaved herself very well (tho she will still occasionally bark at ladies with large purses or shopping bags.... i like to think its because ella doesn't want to get stolen away in a bag)

after the mall we decided to go to the piece de resistance for the day.... Carmel Beach!!!! it was a tuesday afternoon (in January also) so the beach was pretty much empty with some people walking by maybe once ever 2 minutes but almost nobody sitting down so we pretty much had the whole beach to ourselves... we probably saw as many dogs as there were people on the beach!!!!

this will be the first time (at least I think it is... we rescued her at 4 months old....) that ella has ever seen the beach and me and lena were excited to what she would think:

Emo Ella

oh she loved it alright.... we laid out a picnic basket and she dug holes around the basket like a little moat and threw the sand up onto the banig and even onto us all the time

every now and then a dog would stop by and say hello and of course ella is still shy and hides behind me or lena.... then lena and i noticed that almost every dog was unleashed... lena and i looked at eachother worried (we have never unleashed ella outside of the house) and wondered what would happen and if Ella would enjoy it....

we made sure we had treats in our hand and tested out if she is still responsive to our "Come here" calls and can pick out our voices when we try to get her attention...

I think ella was also ready to run around free... and this was her way of showing it to us:

so the scared parents that we are, we finally mustered up the courage to unleash her in the beach. I was ready at any moment to have to dart through the beach if Ella were to run off unsupervised but instead Ella surprised us yet again.... she just ran around in circles around us.... in my head i'm thinking she was screaming out FREEEEDOOOOOMMMM!!!!!! but always stayed near her mom and dad

i think lena and i could tell that ella was very happy to be at the beach and unleashed:

but every now and then we made sure she would come back to me or lena and listen to our commands and practice our "Sit" "Stay" and "Down" commands:

this was my failed attempt of trying to get her to listen to my Down command.... if u ask me, it looks more like a Reverse Sit

but our puppy just seemed so happy running around the beach... she would run back and forth between me and lena with the look of happiness and joy:

SUPER ELLA!!!!! i need to buy her a cape now:

and as for me? i got my dream come true with owning a dog... being able to run around together on a beach... sunset... unleashed... and the look of fun and elation on both of our faces:

she was hyper and loved to run with me but with her mom, she is very calm and is just curious:

Ella even met some other doggy friends that wanted to stop by and say hello:

but i think she's still shy.... always ends up getting chased:

i think it's pretty obvious... i love this little brown thing that has entered our lives:

if you notice in those last two pictures, ella will look at the camera when i'm not looking, and she will turn away when i tell her to look.... typical little girl

yesterday was probably one of the funnest days of my life:

and after about an hour and a half of running around ella (and including lena and myself) was pooped out:

we think ella really loved the beach and want to come back here at least once a month to let her play:

after everything was winding down the temperature started to drop... and of course started to get cold and like a worrisome mother, lena wrapped ella up like a little burrito:

our happy family:

Thank you Carmel

see you again in 4 weeks.... i thought it would be interesting to point this out... this entire post as i typed it up, ella has been sleeping on my lap with her head resting on my left forearm and it surprises me she can still sleep eafter all this typing

=)