Two swimming pools full of inflatable tubes, floats, and beach balls awaited Jessica Alba as she rolled up the driveway to ELLE’s cover shoot locale—a midcentury home in Beverly Hills—in her hybrid GMC Yukon. Sipping fresh-squeezed juice made from her own backyard oranges, Alba worked her way through rack after rack of whimsical brights by Yves Saint Laurent, Dior, and Louis Vuitton and tried on accessories by Tom Binns and Alexis Bittar, while her two-year-old daughter, Honor Marie, took advantage of the property’s sprawling backyard. With Drake, Kings of Leon, and My Morning Jacket blaring in the background, Alba talked about wanting to work on a film that her daughter could enjoy—perhaps Spy Kids 4: All the Time in the World, out next summer, will do the trick?

The family was fresh from a getaway in France, and Honor proudly showed off a prodigious French vocabulary, as Alba coached her to trill “s’il vous plaît” and “merci” for the crew. Then it was down to business: The actress gravitated toward a Miu Miu printed blouse and tap shorts and a hot pink Z Spoke by Zac Posen dress. After the shoot wrapped, she tweeted a candid pic of herself in a Chanel dress posing with ELLE’s creative director, Joe Zee, and photographer Carter Smith, adding the line “I luv working with @mrjoezee and Carter Smith!” Jessica, the feeling is mutual!

Head over to ELLE.com for tips on how to create Alva’s cover look.