Summer Fun

We met up with some friends at Scooter's Jungle on Monday, after Violet attended Vacation Bible School. Cora played with Lucas and Cole; here, they're playing handball.

Violet and Liana occupied the air hockey table for so long, I had to encourage them to run along and let other people have a turn. They had lots of fun sliding on the giant slides, too.

Kelly came, too, with Noah and Ethan. Violet and Noah were buddies, and it was great to catch up with Kelly.

On Tuesday, we met up with our swim team friends at Sky High Sports, a trampoline gym. Cora and Violet played dodgeball basically the entire two hours we were there.

On Wednesday, it was Violet's turn to have some friends over for a pool playdate. She had a lot of fun, and her friends did, too.

On Wednesday night, Cora and I went up to see her friend Ashley at her neighborhood's food-trucks-and-movie-night, in their pool and clubhouse area. Ashley and her family are moving to Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, later this summer for her dad's work. We'll miss them!

And on Thursday, after VBS, we met up with friends for bowling. Bowling alleys across America offer the "Kids Bowl Free" program, where we pay just $4 each for the shoe rental.

My girls bravely decided to bowl without the bumpers, and Violet did brilliantly her first game, scoring a 53 to Cora's 29. The luck turned in their second game, with Cora bowling 44 and Violet getting just 15. That soured her mood, sadly.

Still, a fun outing for all. We're home for just 3 1/2 weeks this summer before our big trip to England, so we're trying to soak in the fun!

Swim Meet

 These four kiddos (and some others) represented Valencia Glen very well at their first swim meet of the season Saturday morning, at the Santa Clarita Aquatic Center.

 The meet started early, and thankfully our friends put up a shade tent on this hot Saturday.

While our own kids weren't swimming, we got out our Boggle word game, which Cora is setting up here.

Cora was a bit nervous before her first race.

Getting ready...

Third place in her heat for the 50 yard freestyle (crawl), not bad at all for her first-ever competition. She also competed in the backstroke.

Then, Jack and Trent joined in the Boggle fun. Both boys took home first-place prizes, and Trent scored a hat trick - first in each of his three events. Little stud!

Ventura

We had a free Friday, and Colleen and Rigo invited us to join them at the beach. Gosh, I love summer!

The kids had a great time together, and we caught up on the last few weeks of life.

 This dynamic duo spent time in the water, and then got busy creating. When we asked, we didn't get a clear answer on what exactly they were doing, but they were having fun for quite some time.

 Cora led me over to the tide pool area, and we found this friendly, colorful crab, along with some sea anemone and hermit crabs.

Yes, those clouds were thick, and never burned off. It was in the 60s our whole day. But, when it's been over 100 at home, it's all good.

Cooking Success!

Thursday was officially Cora's Big Cooking Day. She woke up in a great mood, and decided she wanted to make crepes. Not only that, but she wanted to teach Violet how to make them, too.

She made the batter, and helped Vi pour in the right amount, swirl it around the pan, and determine when to flip it.

Violet also helped make the banana sauce. Listening to the two of them talk and laugh without bickering was certainly music to my ears!

 Violet's joy when she tossed the crepe into the air, catching it upside down in the pan, was contagious.

Such a delicious start to our day!

Later, Cora made a batch of banana chocolate chip muffins on her own, and made Violet bacon and eggs for lunch. What a girl!

 She earned a bit of time on her Kindle, don't you think? Sophia had introduced Cora to a new game, and Cora was excited to show it to Violet.

Cora has joined the Valencia Glen swim team, where we have several friends her age swimming, too. On Thursday the photographer was there, taking the team photo. Cora's in front, in the middle, next to Trent.

The team practices every day for an hour, and it's a tiring hour for the swimmers! But, it's a nice hour for us moms, chatting on the sidelines.

Birthday Boy

 We celebrated Stacey's birthday Wednesday evening with dinner at Kisho, a lovely Japanese restaurant where the food is cooked right in front of you. Our chef put on a little show, and we had a great experience. Delicious, too!

 Time for presents and cards - my girls are so lucky to have a daddy as wonderful as Stace.

 And I'm a lucky lady, too - mainly because he shared his birthday cheesecake with me!

Stace's birthday wish was to have some late-night swimming fun with his girls.

They're getting bigger, but he can still lift them both.

Happy Birthday, Stace! We love you dearly.

Start of the Summer Fun

And this is the exact photograph of what summer mornings should look like.

Monday was a nice, calm first-official-day-of-break. We were home relaxing, and then did some shopping for Cora's pool party on Tuesday.

 I regret not getting a real group photo, but this one does show everyone in the pool at once.

Cora bought all the food and snacks, and we had 15 kids in total, including my girls. It was great fun to see the pool alive with chicken fights, thrown balls, imagination games and general noisy craziness.

 Violet was happy to have her own Sprite.

 Here are a few of the girls relaxing in the hot tub...

...and a few of the boys relaxing on the slide. They were making a train; Wylie is the conductor.

Sophia stayed over for the night, and we watched the Lego Batman movie.
The best thing to do after watching a Lego movie is to dump the Legos and begin building. Obviously.
Love watching them play, screen-free!

On Wednesday, we took Violet to Grandma's house to hang out, and met up with friends to watch the latest Pirates of the Caribbean in the theater. It was the first PG-13 movie Cora's seen in the theater; she enjoyed it, despite the intensity.

End of School Tidbits

We're here, at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. Here are a few tidbits from the final week...

Our crossing guard this year was Rhonda. She is very conscientious and friendly.

The girls rode their bikes to school together one day this week. It was Violet's first time riding to school. I followed them on foot, and when it was time to go back home, they rode on ahead and had a few minutes at home on their own. So grownup!

Their bikes so clearly show their different personalities - Violet's pink-flowered beach cruiser, and Cora's black mountain bike.

In our fifth year in the Newhall School District, we finally attended the annual art show. Mrs. Hawthorne has always encouraged parents to check it out and look for their students' work, and we just never made the time.

But since Cora started on the Valencia Glen swim team this week, we were in the neighborhood of the school that hosts the show. I took the girls over, and we were able to hear Cora's friend Ellie play the piano, and we found Violet's flower painting.

Cora was a little bummed that her class wasn't represented on the walls - maybe next year. It's a teacher's choice whether to submit artwork from his or her class.










I helped out Mrs. Hawthorne for the final time this week, squeezing in an hour between the sixth grade promotion and fourth grade field day Thursday.

After three years, it will be strange to not see Mrs. Hawthorne regularly! We're grateful for her influence on our girls.

I sat with David and Chris's family to watch David promote from 6th grade earlier on Thursday. I know so many of these 6th graders, so it was enjoyable to watch their special moment.

I went out to lunch with the friends I walk with each morning on Tuesday; it was one last kid-free bit of fun before our darlings are with us every morning (and our walks are put on hold).













On Friday morning, my fellow room mom Dinorah and I presented Mrs. Shafarman with a gift from the class, and from Dinorah and myself.

She purchased the planter, and I had my sister-the-florist fill it with beautiful succulents. Then, Dinorah put in paper flowers she'd made, attached to gift cards from many students' families.

Later on Friday morning, Violet had a "promotion" ceremony of her own, since she was in the kinder split. Yes, she is on her way to second grade!

Both girls earned top marks on their report cards; we are blessed with such bright students who love to learn.

And that was the end of the school year! It was too hot to stay long and picnic at the park, as we have other years.

Field Day

Thursday was Field Day for fourth grade, with an afternoon of outdoor games and water play.

This game was a variation of "Duck, Duck, Goose," with the kids using a water-soaked squishy ball to drench the person they chose to be chased around the circle by.

Next was a relay game with water balloons, where kids lined up and had to pass the balloon either over their heads or under their legs.

The final person in line had to break the balloon over their own head.

Got it!

Then came the traditional water balloon toss.

Cora and Sophia made it pretty far along in the contest.

Then, all descended into a water balloon free-for-all. Cora is ready to attack Jason, her desk partner of the past month...

...when Cooper comes in with a weapon aimed at Cora.

Mission accomplished.

When the balloons were gone, the squishy water bomb balls and disks were popular ways to soak each other.

Cora and Cooper were just a little bit wet. Thankfully it was a hot day, so it felt great.

Popsicles were the next way to cool off - yum!

Finally, Cooper and Brandon helped splash the water-filled buckets onto the class.

It was such a fun-filled day to nearly close out fourth-grade for Cora and her classmates!