Beach Fun with Alison and Tyler

My cousin Alison and her husband Tyler are visiting, so we spent Saturday on the beach in Ventura with them and Bill and Patty.

The wind was chilly when we got out of the car, but we soon warmed up and had a great day together.

 Of course, the water was a bit too cold for most of us to enjoy, other than from the relatively dry confines of the kayak. Stace and I went around the harbor, and then Stace and Cora took a ride.

Cora also took a nice walk down the shoreline with her great-aunt and great-uncle, looking for aquatic life (and death, like that deceased pelican).

Violet decided to check out the napping situation inside Auntie Patty's sit-inside kayak.

Then, she did a bit of practicing for when she gets big enough to go out in the boat.

This was an interesting game to watch - a lot of serving, not much returning, and a lot of chasing down the tennis ball.

Happy Violet enjoyed her beach trip.





















 Stace and Uncle Bill relaxed on Labor Day weekend, after Bill's first weeks of work as principal of a junior high school.

Cora had fun creating her sand castle.

Stace was inspired by the work of art behind him, to the right, and came up with this masterpiece.

After the beach, it was time for baths at Auntie Patty's (so nice to not take home sandy girls!) and homemade pizza for dinner. While the pizzas baked, Tyler provided music for a daddy-daughter dance session. Cora really likes dancing right now, especially twirling.

I'd like to find a casual, low-stress dance class for her, maybe a short session, because I know she'd love it. But I also don't want to overschedule our family, as she's in Pioneer Club on Wednesdays and soccer on Saturdays, and that feels like enough for the school year.

Alison and Tyler spent Tuesday at our house, and we had a great time together at the pool and barbecuing in the back yard. 

Alison, who is very creative, spent some time helping Cora with her fairy house. 

This fairy house is a big deal to Cora. Ave and Maya also have helped her with it, making little decorations out of sticks, leaves, buttons and rhinestones that the fairies might like, should they ever visit. 

(Speaking of which, Cora remains sad that she has yet to see a fairy. She's told me that when she loses her first tooth, she will leave a note asking the Tooth Fairy to bring her "a real live fairy" instead of money. This is because the Tooth Fairy brought Ave real pixie dust for her latest tooth. THANKS, Genia!)