Weekend Celebrations

 On Friday, we went to Liz and Max's house for a graduation party for Chris, and, really, all the kids. These guys have been friends since elementary school, and Chris and Cora were in Mrs. Hawthorne's kindergarten class together.

Liz knows how to put on a great party. Besides this spread, there was a burger truck out front, cooking delicious food to order.

They played in the pool - Cora was excited for a winning move in the game they were playing.

We mamas put our feet in the hot tub later in the evening.

Here were all the recent graduates!

The kids also played Jackbox games in the house. 

On Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day with hosting dinner for my parents. I gave both dads here a soap from Bubbs and Drizzle, the local family-owned shop.

On Sunday morning, our church had a display of some cool cars for the dads to admire.
Also Sunday, we realized our air conditioner wasn't working right. Uh oh.

Graduation Celebration - and Headshots

On Tuesday, we hosted Cora's school theatre friends and their families, for a little theatre-focused graduation party.

It was fantastic to finally host again after the construction! We worked hard to get the yard looking decent.

Here's the "adults" table...

...and the students and teachers section.

Jarod brought all his karaoke gear, at our request, so anyone who wanted to could sing. 

This was actually the impetus for the gathering - the students always have a karaoke party during the last theatre class of the year. While we set up the banquet, some of the moms were saying that they'd love to do karaoke, too. 

Even though I have NO desire or business singing with a mic, I loved helping make it happen.

 And these guys could sing! 

While we're on the subject of theatre, here are a few of the headshots Melanie took of Cora.

And, just for fun - this photo came up in my Facebook Memories, from the day Cora played Dorothy in Wizard of Oz when she was 7. 

After the show, when she'd changed clothes but still had on a bit of makeup, my Dad took this photo of her. It reminded me strongly of this famous shot of Vivien Leigh from Gone with the Wind.

I thought one of the more recent shots could work in a similar way. 

Maybe not as close in the expression, but not bad.

End of Year Things

We met up with Grandma and Grandpa for breakfast Saturday morning to give Cora her gifts - she was too worn out to do it Friday night. You can see she's still a bit tired here. 

She later went to Logan's house to play D&D, and went again on Sunday.

Stace rewatched the Star Wars movies on Saturday, while Violet was unfortunately getting sick. 

On Saturday afternoon, Dinorah invited over several of us moms with graduating seniors, to catch up and reminisce. 
 

It was lovely, especially with catching up with some ladies I hadn't seen in a while.

On Sunday, Stace and I went to Glendale to Ellie's dance recital, and after, we all went to a nearby Foster's Freeze for a snack. I was excited to get a chocolate-dipped cone, since they're now hard to find up here in SClarita.

On Monday morning, I met up with a number of parents and graduating seniors at their elementary school. Other schools do this, and this is the first year it's happened here - the graduates are invited back for a special ceremony, to honor them and to give the elementary kids an example to aspire to.

We're holding signs with our kid's 6th grade photo! Such a sweet gesture.

 The students were introduced to the whole school at the weekly morning ceremony, and then got to spend some time playing on the playground. The only thing that would have made it better would have been if they were wearing their caps and gowns, as I've seen happen at other schools. But, Cora's old high school hadn't graduated yet, and the students didn't actually have their gowns!

It was great seeing these ladies again... 

...and these students, all grown up! I knew many of these kids so well just six years ago.

*Don't bother looking for Cora in there - she didn't go. She isn't nostalgic or social, and she was well into her summer schedule of sleeping well past the 8:00 meeting time here.

Also this week, Violet's freshman year came to an end! She did very well in her grades and is glad to be on break, too. Especially since she spent much of the week feeling ill.

Our Graduate

Graduation Day!

In America, high school graduation represents the culmination of 13 years of education, along with entry into adulthood, as most graduates have turned 18, or are turning 18 soon.

There's the cap and gown and speeches and well wishes and bouquets and Pomp and Circumstance playing (over and over) as the students walk into the event and find their seats. 

There's a stadium full of people, the National Anthem, a long list of names and the traditional moving of the cap tassel from the right side to the left, as the ceremony ends. 

It's a milestone, and I'm so grateful Cora took part in this monumental senior year event. 

She got to walk in and sit next to her friend Carys, which was special. Carys's mom serves as an unofficial school photographer, so she was on the ground getting some amazing photos.

We were in the stands, cheering and yelling for Cora when we could finally spot her in the line coming in. Grandpa brought his good equipment, and got the below photo when she looked up and caught our eyes.

Here is Cora, getting her diploma and shaking hands with Dr. Cherise Moore, a school district board member.

And here she is, high-fiving Mr. Fisher, the school's amazing principal. I wish I'd gotten a photo of them together after the ceremony - I really enjoyed working with him these past two years.

Melanie took this sweet pic of me and Stace.

The ceremony was great - with several speeches and all the graduates' names, it was still finished in an hour! 

I watched the online ceremony for Cora's old school, since I know so many families there, and it was an hour and 40 minutes - glad ours was more succinct.

Favorite teacher, no contest.

Cora and Rowan, and Lucas, who has one more year of high school.

Graduation Photo Shoot

We'd been talking to Melanie about taking new headshots of Cora, and when we got her graduation gown, I asked if we could combine a graduation photo shoot in with the headshots.

It worked out for Mel to come up on Friday, the day of graduation, so Cora could kill two birds with one stone - get dolled up for a photo shoot, and for graduation.

She even got her hair done in the early afternoon!

We took the graduation shots in a pretty natural area in the neighborhood behind our house, where thankfully it was shady, since it was unfortunately HOT.

And beforehand, we went to the newer shopping center in Old Newhall, where there was a surprising variety of colored walls, perfect for headshots.

I wanted a few shots of Cora in a tree, since she's always loved climbing them. 

Graduates are invited to decorate the tops of their caps, and Violet took on the job for Cora. This is a funny phrase from the Simpsons, and Vi dreamed up red theater curtains and a dark stage backdrop.

Later, we realized the colors don't go with Cora's school colors, but rather the school colors from the high school she left two years ago. Oops!

So pretty!

Tidbits

 Cora is done with school, and has a weird off week before her graduation. On Tuesday morning, she went to school for a senior meeting, where they picked up their caps and gowns - she was given a gold gown, signifying her place as an honors scholar for her grades. I'm so proud! Other graduates from her school will be wearing blue.

At dinner, we gave her a little pre-graduation gift - I'd found this theatre mask pin at an upscale thrift store and it's perfect on her Master Thespian stole.

With Cora having more free time this week, she picked Vi up from school Tuesday, and took her to youth group on Wednesday. In classic new driver fashion, though she pretty much knew where to go, and had Violet in the car, they took a circuitous route to get to the church. 

Later, when she picked her up, they took a different out of the way way to get home. Ha! Memories...

While at church, Violet, sketched out Gus and Shawn from Psych, the show the girls have been rewatching again.

Speaking of art, Violet was assigned to create a self-portrait in her art class, and painted this with acrylic. I love it! The hair part and light/shine, the eyes - wow.

Cora also has been painting, after getting her 3D printer going again. Since they're playing D&D more regularly, she's creating mini figures for their campaigns.

She is so skilled at painting, too, especially the fine details like these tiny teeth. 

This was funny - Stace had the idea of giving Cora a Percy Jackson Pop Funko as a little gift, so we ordered one on Amazon. But what arrived was a Pop Funk of Slash, from AC/DC.