Cora is 18!

 Cora decided to have a few friends join us for go-kart racing at MB2 Raceway, where she also had her 12th birthday gathering.

Joining us where her school theatre friends Mackenzie, Rowan and Lucas. Stacey is joining them in this photo, as they were the group that did two races.

In one of the races, Stace had the fastest single lap time among the nine racers (although is overall average time placed him fourth, just a hair behind Cora). In the other race, with 10 racing, Cora placed best of their group, though behind a few other racers we didn't know.

The kids also played laser tag, and unfortunately Lucas fought a wall, and the wall won. Hence the ice pack and bandage (not shown).

It was actually really affordable to rent the axe-throwing bay, so they had fun with this while they waited for their turn on the racetrack.

Cora does very well at this.

Violet and Stace had a turn on the air hockey table after Cora and her friends.

We then took the kids to In-n-Out for lunch.

In the evening, the family came over for dinner and gifts.

Lucas had given Cora this Disney doll, but Ellie was a more appreciative recipient.

Cora loved these beautiful Celtic-style earrings from Nan and Pop.

Catching Up

Exciting Saturday night around here: a trip to Walmart to replace all our cars' windshield wipers!

Stace, Violet and I went to Placerita for a nature walk Sunday, as we continue to try to catch her up on her PE hours. On Saturday, Stace and Vi went for a nice bike ride.
 

Cora helped Stace with some car tasks over the weekend, and washed a couple of cars, too.

Winston, why do you like putting soft toys in your water bowl???

It does make sense why Evie would like to lie on a heating pad.

And, in a cat way, it makes sense that she'd like to lie on the fabric Violet is cutting out.

Violet made this sleeveless mock turtleneck! She's recently turned her artistic interest to fashion.

She also made his hat, which she gave to her friend Sofia.

Violet and Stace fixed a bunch of her arrows, and I took her to the archery range for some more PE. 

And she and I went to Towsley Canyon for a walk.

Well, as long as Winston is comfortable...

Final Week of Summer

 I tried a new French bread recipe the other day that came out beautifully - using store-bought flour.

The girl are now registered for school. Here's Violet on Tuesday at Hart, where she'll take two classes. She also went to registration at LPA, where she'll take the rest of her classes, on the online/at-home platform. 

Cora got registered for her senior year Monday, but I forgot to take photos since I didn't go in with her. She'll have a weird schedule, taking a full three classes every other day, and only one class on the opposite day. Her school uses a block schedule, with three longer classes each day instead of 6 shorter ones. She'll also take an online class at the college.

Also on Tuesday, Nick came over to watch the latest Ghostbusters film with us during the day, continuing our tradition.

Stace and I went over to Central Park to watch the Creedence Clearwater Revival cover band entertain the Concerts in the Park crowd Saturday night.

After Cora's registration, we had dentist appointments, and then went to Liz's house for a summer's end pool party.

The seniors!! Cora and Chris, in the green, were kindergarten classmates and now are graduating! And all four were at the same elementary school from first grade on, when Cami came to the school.

And these were the little siblings, now high school freshmen.

It was a fun time reconnecting with everyone and eating well!

Violet went to her friend's house, and when I went to pick her up all the lights came on and the car wouldn't restart. Stace later determined it's the alternator. 

He bought a new one and sought to replace it, and in so doing, part of the brittle plastic radiator disintegrated. So I ended up getting a new radiator from Stacey's House of Mazdas. It was a frustrating job, because the radiator he initially bought leaked from a bad seam, and he had to do the whole job over again, in the heat. Eventually, he got it all done.

I took my parents to the airport, and Dad made it clear I could use his car, while mine was out of commission as Stace worked on it. So I drove Cora to Logan's house for D&D and got rear-ended as I exited the freeway. It wasn't bad, and the guy stopped and we exchanged information, so all will be fine in the end. But it did bring back a lot of emotion, being the first situation like this since my big accident. Cora was amazing in helping calm me down.

Also this week, JT and her kids came by, and finally met the kittens! And we had Colleen, Rigo, Lucas and Liana over for dinner and some pool time, on our final night of summer break.

Day Out: Beaulieu

 After a low-key Sunday, Stace and I had an adventure on Monday, when we drove two hours to the Beaulieu estate in the New Forest. 

The estate's National Motor Museum was the biggest draw, as Stace has been wanting to go for many years. It was truly an outstanding museum, covering the whole history of the automobile and motorbike. 

This particular motorbike is a BSA Bantam. Gord had one of these when he was a young man (not in this condition though).

The museum included this recreation of a garage in Wedmore, Somerset.

We weren't supposed to touch most of the displays - naturally! - but we were invited to sit in this car for a photo, using clothing from a nearby box.

A separate building housed some cars featured in film and television, including this Ford Anglia used as the Weasley's car in Harry Potter.

This was a Greek police motorcycle ridden by Jason Bourne in the 2016 film of the same name.

Another building was dedicated to Top Gear, with many vehicles used in the series on display, like this off-road mobility scooter. Goodness, those guys are nuts.

We also toured the manor house, home of the Montagu family since 1538 (when the adjacent monastery was dissolved by Henry VIII and went into private ownership).

This was the dining hall of the Palace House, originally part of the gatehouse in the 14th century. 

Gotta love a secret staircase!

We toured what was left from the abbey, and saw the parish church.

Another interesting attraction was a walk-through exhibit on Beaulieu's role during WWII as an SOE training facility. Special operatives came here as a kind of "finishing school" before going to the continent as spies or undercover operatives for the French Resistance. It was fascinating, as it focused on two particular agents, a man and woman, who both, sadly perished during the war.

The New Forest, once the hunting grounds of William the Conqueror, is open to livestock, and you must drive carefully as horses are wandering around with their foals. So cute!

We had dinner at a pub, capping off a great "date day," before taking a quick look at nearby Buckler's Hard, a 17th century shipbuilding hamlet. Here, over 40 Royal Navy ships were built, including three that fought at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.