Violet's Birthday Cruise

Violet is a teenager!! Our youngest celebrated with a birthday cruise to the Channel Islands off the Oxnard/Ventura coastline. Another great opportunity to have all the grandparents together, along with her lifelong best friend Liana.

Cora was in recovery mode from her show, and her long week of dress/tech rehearsals, so she stayed home. And Then There Were None opened on Violet's actual birthday, so we moved the real celebration to a few days later.

It was cloudy and cool but a nice day for a cruise. I love this photo of Sue and Gord!

We were too late in the year to see whales, but we saw a huge pod of dolphins, plus sea lions.

Liana will be 13 in a week!

 

After the boat ride, we got coffee and then went to Colleen and Rigo, where they provided a lovely meal for everyone. Forgot to get a group pic, but here are the girls playing ping pong, under Koa's watchful eye.

ATTWN - Friends!

 

Final bows... always nice to be the last ones to go out and make the bow/curtsy. 

What a treat it was for all of us, to have Nan and Pop in the audience for both of Cora's performances. (She shared the role of Vera with another actor, taking Thursday and Friday night's shows, while the other actor did the two Saturday shows.)

After hearing about her shows for the last two years, they got to see her performing on stage. Fun that this particular show was set in Devon and Cora was able to use her solid English accent, too!

Nick also finally got to see Cora perform! Thanks to Grandpa for babysitting so Nick could attend with Auntie Mel.

Several extended family members from Grandma's side also came! Here, Cora is chatting with Great Aunt Betty, with cousins Marla and Randy behind them.

Cora has such an amazing support crew who always comes out to see her! This was Friday night - we didn't even get photos with Jeff and Jenn on Thursday, or Violet! And we always appreciate JT and her kids making the long drive just to see a high school play.

Now THIS was special too - Ben, her Guildenstern, was able to make it from UCLA just for the show, in the middle of a very busy college weekend. 

Cora's school friends came out, too, including kids who don't normally go to plays, either.

After show fun - in my role with the Hart Theatre Boosters, which I started, I ordered this Step and Repeat backdrop and ATTWN banner. Loved seeing it in use! 

Cora and Caleb worked so hard together, meeting up at lunch for months to get their many lines down.

All the grandparents together! 

For the Saturday matinee show, Lombard was played by Caleb's understudy, and Cora picked up that actor's minor role. She got to have a West Country accent! So fun. Stace worked with her on it.

Another of my contributions, along with working the concessions table.

And Then There Were None

Cora was so excited to get to act in an Agatha Christie murder mystery, and score one of the lead roles. She played Vera Claythorne in And Then There Were None, the most popular crime novel of all time, based on sales. 

In this role, she goes from hopeful and attentive to hysterical and terrified - an acting challenge she nailed. Watching her is mesmerizing.

My dad took these shots during a dress rehearsal. Thankful for him and his talent he's so generous to share!

Ten strangers on an island mansion, and the bodies start dropping once a mysterious voice reads out a list of their "charges." 

Each person had been involved in some way in the death of another person in the past - who is the mastermind bringing them together? And will any make it out alive?

 

Cora starred opposite Caleb, who played Capt. Philip Lombard.

Lombard's trying to snap Vera out of an episode of freaking out.

Big moment!

Even bigger moment! The reveal! Several of the kids did a great job, and Grace, as Judge Wargrave, was one of them.

To see some clips, click here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL011BZCdslsSh4jIZ3RPqINuUlcfuJfh4

Nan and Pop are Here!!

 For the first time in nearly 5 years, we're so happy to have Nan and Pop here for a visit! It's been a l-o-n-g time, due to the pandemic's travel restrictions, but wow, it is great to have them with us once again.

Violet has been wanting to visit the poppy fields in Lancaster, and Sue was up for an adventure, so after school on Wednesday, we headed north.

There weren't just poppies - beautiful yellow and purple and lavender wildflowers mingled with the orange, for a gorgeous combination of colors.

To be honest, it wasn't as "orange" as we saw a few years ago, but still striking and worth the drive. 

Interestingly, we saw zero flowers at the actual AV Poppy Reserve, where you have to pay to park. All these flowers were from our first stop, a few miles east of the reserve.

We continued west toward the 5 freeway, making it a real adventure through some scenic roads. See the orange field in the distance here?

Happy Birthday to Gord! Wednesday was his birthday, and we celebrated with lunch out at the Habit and a father/son tool-shopping trip.

We also took Nan and Pop to Gilchrist Farms, so they could see Violet do her mounted archery. Pop made some friends with the farm dogs, and he loved the old tractors they have.

From D&D game room to bedroom! We're so blessed to have this extra space, even if it really needs to be redone completely.

Weekend Things

Some bird met a bad end in our yard. I don't think this was from our cats - they don't pick apart and eat birds!

We had enough leftover lamb from Easter, that I threw it in the freezer and then made this lovely Lancashire Hotpot with it. Oh yum!

The Queen's English car show took place Sunday, and Stace and I enjoyed walking around. SO MANY cars this year!

Cora wanted new makeup for her upcoming show, so we went to the makeup store. This consultant was so fast at transforming her! Wow.

We went to the Cowboy Festival, but this year it was held on Main Street in Newhall instead of Hart Park, or Melody Ranch. Good for the businesses on Main Street, but not good in general, in our opinion. Just felt like a Western-themed street fair with food trucks. Meh.

BUT, most importantly, we got the Cowboy peach cobbler - a perennial favorite. Still delicious.