Tidbits

It was a holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., on Monday, so the girls were off school. I met up with Stace (who was not off work) for lunch, at Fish Tail Grill. I had a poke bowl, and Stace had fish tacos. So yummy. 

Violet and I got some PE time in with a walk at Wildwood Canyon in Newhall.

On Tuesday, I ran some errands in Stevenson Ranch, in a big, busy big-box shopping center, and this roadrunner was running around. I took some video and followed him for a bit. Hope he got back to where he needed to go! Lots of big roads here. 

On Wednesday, it was SClarita's turn for fire. This time, it was near the lake in Castaic, and chewed up a lot of acres fast. When I took Cora to school around lunchtime, the clouds were menacing and a line of parents were picking up their kids from school. Though we (and Cora's school) were not close to danger, many students live in Castaic, so they might have been under evacuation warnings/orders.

Stace was sent home from work early, as the evacuation warning stretched to the businesses across the street from his plant. Keith was under an evacuation order, and spent the night with us on the couch. Seb approved.

It was nice hanging with him, and we were glad to be of help. Watching the huge fires in L.A. weeks prior, you just want to be helpful.

Speaking of helping, I spent a couple of hours sorting donations at a local dropoff place, where organizers were collecting goodies for families who'd lost everything. These were the bins of soaps and other toiletries.

We also were able to buy some necessities for the in-laws of Stacey's coworker, who lost their home.

Anniversary Adventure

 Twenty-one years! 

Stace and I celebrated our anniversary with a quick trip to the mountains - quicker than we'd planned! More on that in a minute...
Our preferred beach hotels were sold out, so I thought going up to Lake Arrowhead would be a different way to get out of town and, hopefully, out of the heat.

We booked a cabin, and Stace came home early Friday so we could get packed and get on the road.

We went up the "back way," through the Antelope and Victor valleys, and when we came around to the front side of the mountain, saw a huge plume of smoke. We pulled in, with lots of other drivers, to take photos of active flames. We learned that the fire was in Highland, more than 10 miles away.

We got in touch with the cabin owner, who told us about an app we could download to monitor all updates about the fire, just in case.

The cabin was cute! Two bedrooms downstairs, and the living area upstairs.

Cora would have loved these old bottles on display in the bathroom.

We got settled in and then went into town to get dinner.

On Saturday morning, we awoke to the smell of smoke outside, and ash on the car. The fire was still far, though. We had breakfast, took a walk, and then went back into town for some lunch and shoppin.

The lake is mainly for boating and fishing for residents. We could see these large fish near the main village, which was busy on a warm Saturday.

Look at that smoke cloud!

We drove to Crestline, to Lake Gregory, so we could get nearer to the water. We spent a couple of relaxing hours with a drink and the newspaper.

Then we stopped for a Mexican meal at Hortencias at the Cliffhanger, a nearly 100-year-old landmark building that overlooks San Bernardino.  

On this particular night, it offered a striking view of the fire, too.

We went back to the cabin and relaxed, and as I hung up the phone with the girls, we got the notification that an evacuation warning had been issued for the area. 

So, we packed up and headed out! At 10:45 at night... it was an easy drive, but a very late night. We got home shortly before 1 a.m. 

Thankfully, the fire never reached Arrowhead, and the "warning" didn't progress to an "order." But of course it was better to be safe than sorry, not that we would have been able to sleep Saturday night! And I can only guess that all businesses would have been closed Sunday with the warning in place.

Cheers to 21 years, and an anniversary we won't soon forget!

Off to England

We set off on our big summer trip to England on Thursday afternoon, after the mad scramble of packing and cleaning that precedes every such trip. But now, with the girls so grownup, that scramble is decidedly less stressful.

We're down to just three carryons for the four of us, since we're no longer worried about the huge amount of snacks/entertainment/diapers/changes of clothing necessary for a baby/toddler/preschooler.














We were fortunate to make it to LAX on time, after a brush fire in the Newhall Pass caused a traffic jam and then the closure of the 5, minutes after we'd passed through the area.

Our flight on Air New Zealand was very pleasant, with the best airplane food we've ever eaten. The girls watched entertainment on their seatback screens, and Violet also listened to the kids' music station and played the video games.

We landed at Heathrow before noon local time on Friday, and greeted Nan and Pop and got the girls and luggage settled into their car.

Then, Stace and I made our way onto the train into central London. I couldn't stay awake, after just an hour of sleep overnight.

After seeing JT post about visiting the Mayflower pub on her recent trip to London, I thought that was what Stace and I should do during our few hours in the city.

We took the Tube to East London and found the pub, right on the Thames. This pub is on the river where the Mayflower ship was docked while it was in London, before the Pilgrims' 1620 voyage.

We enjoyed an orange juice and latte on a deck directly over the water and watched the boats on the river.

We then took the Tube back into central London, to Paddington Station, where we'd later take our train to Somerset.

We walked around, poking into the tourist shops, and found a nice little green.

We also admired St. Mary's Hospital - history is alive everywhere in England.

It was our first time at Paddington, a lovely place with architectural details befitting a station built in 1852.

A statue dedicated to the namesake bear was turned into a nostalgic memorial following the death last month of writer Michael Bond, at the age of 91.

Home Improvements

Here's some photos of our new carpeting. We're so pleased with how it came out! We got this type for the playroom, a sandy/wheat colored carpet with a tiny square pattern.

Here's a reminder of how the spare room (future nursery) looked before, with a lovely wine-colored carpet...

And now, with the new carpet.

I'm most pleased with our room - we had a dark brown color before, and this lighter color brightens the whole room.

A closeup of the carpeting in the three bedrooms... the speckles will hopefully help hide dirt.
And finally, Cora's room. Her room and the playroom had a sage green color, so this is, again a big improvement. The new padding under the carpets is amazing; everything feels so plush.

The carpets were put in Thursday, and on Friday we had our 70-foot-tall liquidamber tree chopped down by my MOPS friend's husband's tree-trimming service. The tree was healthy, but so big that we were concerned about large branches falling down onto our house. The roots were cracking the wall, too. I was amazed at how quickly the men took this huge tree down - in about an hour, all the greenery was on our lawn, and it wasn't much longer that the trunk was down too.

We plan to turn the trunk into a planter. I'm glad we got it done last week - though it was an expensive two days - because we're getting our first storm of the year. We won't have to worry when the winds blow.

New doors and favorite blankies

Here's how Stace spent much of his weekend - working on the house again.

It started Friday when we went to the carpet store to sign the contract for the new carpet for the playroom and bedrooms. The playroom and Cora's room are being covered by insurance for the smoke damage (discoloration) from the fire, and we're paying for the other two bedrooms.

I had no idea how much work Stace had ahead of him for us to get the carpet installed in the bedrooms! (He knew, but we just hadn't talked about it.) All the baseboards in our room and the spare bedroom have to be replaced first, and to properly do the baseboards, we need to put in the new six-panel doors and moulding around the doors.

(OK, we don't have to, but we definitely want to, and this is the only right order to do it in - it's hard/impossible to put in new pretty baseboards over existing carpet.)

So, Stace did some demo on Saturday and we bought the new doors, and on Sunday he installed them. Cora was a good girl and helped her Daddy clean up. In the third photo, you can see our new bedroom door, and all the mess Cora managed to brush into her dustpan, by herself!

Stace also installed the new six-panel door leading to Cora's bathroom this weekend. Last weekend, when he removed the old door, he told her, "Cora, go look at what I did to your door." She replied, "Oh dear. What's wrong?"

It cracked me up - she sounded like she'd already lived through too many DIY projects gone awry - and so far, she hasn't!

In the next photo, you can see how Cora's been entertaining herself a lot this week. This brochure advertising all the Thomas products came in her new train package. She calls it a "map" and loves reading through it, pointing out all the different trains and tracks she "needs."

You see her blanket in the picture? That is Cora's very special "blankie." Cora loves her blankie, and insists on taking it around the house with her, and often, in the car. (We don't let her take it out of the car.) She talks about her blankie a lot. ("I love my yellow blankie. It's soft and warm. You feel it, Mummy? See how soft it is?")

And, Stace has had to give in to her name for the blanket. He tried to insist that she not call it "blankie," thinking that a soft, annoying American term. But, by herself, Cora chose that name and is very firm in her use of the word.

Cora thinks it's fun and cute to put "ie" on the ends of lots of words. "Can I have some juice, Mummy? Juicie? I say 'juicie,' " and she giggles at her inventiveness. Or, "Milk? Milkie!" and "Where's Somie?" Actually, she calls the cat "Somie" all the time.

A fabulous thing Cora has been saying for the last few weeks is, "I love you." What a great treat!

On Friday, we missed Cora's "My Buddy and Me" class because Cora had a wet cough. Instead, we met Elissa and Harvey at the mall - the toddlers had a great time together, as always, and we had lunch together. It was so wonderful to feel well enough to get out of the house like that.

Introducing... the bathroom

Ta da!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so pleased and proud to present, our new and VASTLY improved spare bathroom!

Stace finished up most of the rest of the work on Saturday. He finished sealing around the tub, installed the cabinet and plumbed in the sink, and put up the mirror, storage cabinet and towel/toilet paper holders.

Cora was so excited to take her first bath in her new bathtub. On Friday, while Stace was working on it, he told her she would soon be able to take a bath. She then got so excited, she didn't want to go to bed and wait until Saturday (as she needed to for the sealant to set).
I told her, "You can take a bath tomorrow."
She replied, "No! To-now!"

Now, Stace will finish up the odds and ends. We need to purchase and install a shower door, change out the old electrical socket, and install new baseboards. Also, the water pipe that fills the tub was slightly too long for our tub faucet, so Stace is getting that cut down a tiny bit so we can put in the faucet there.

The finishing touches will be some new decorative accents, and a new door. (We hope to replace all the doors in the house at some point in the near future.)

I'm so happy with how it turned out, and how the colors go together. The granite counter color goes perfectly with the tile, and I love the sage walls. (Hopefully if you click the photos to enlarge them, you can see the colors decently.)

My husband is amazing! The tile work is beautiful. His brother asked him if he plans to start a second career in home projects - any SClaritans looking for some remodeling work? (It might take a while since Stace does have a full-time job, but the results are brilliant!)

Now, on to making the rest of the house live up to Cora's bathroom!

Latest on the bathroom...

So, Stace has grouted the tile on the walls and floor of the spare bathroom.

Here, you see Cora helping clean the toilet, which is now in use. Getting the toilet installed before Sue and Gord arrived was a big goal of ours, and we were happy it worked out.

For now they are using our shower and sink. Hopefully that will change over the next few days... fingers crossed!