End of Junior High

Annnnnd, that's a wrap!

Junior High is in the books for Cora Rose. What a strange experience for her - two years of junior high, but only six months in normal school, with six periods a day, hanging out with friends at lunchtime. We're certainly glad she was able to return at all this year - two months of hybrid school, with two half-days per week on campus, was better than staying online for all of eighth grade. But really, we're all glad this situation is over, and we can only hope the fall is much more normal for our older students.

In a normal world, Cora would have had an 8th grade awards night, a Magic Mountain trip with all her classmates, and an "8th Grade Bash" after school one of the days this week. (And, Stace and I would have been able to go to an Open House sometime in May and meet her teachers and see some of her work.)

As it was, the awards night was a YouTube link. We had to force Cora to watch - she was a bit down about the whole thing. Regardless, we're proud of her - she got awards in several classes for earning all As in both 7th and 8th grade. 

On to better times! She's excited for high school, and she'll be a part of Show Choir and a member of the fall musical. She also will take two advanced classes, and has, ahem, a good amount of homework to do this summer for them!
 

Week in Review

These two! 

The girls and I went to Glendale on Wednesday to do a little shopping at the lovely Americana shopping center with Melanie and Ellie. Cora spent her birthday money at Barnes and Noble on Dungeons and Dragons books.

I got Violet a fancy cupcake as her reward for venturing out of the house, something she's not a fan of doing anymore. Sorry, Ellie, no cupcake for you. But you can see how yummy they look!

 On Friday, Violet ended her final week of all digital learning! Though she'll still be online-only on Fridays, for the rest of the week, she'll be going to school with half her class, 12:30-3. I'm very excited for this baby step toward normal life!

Taking Violet to the pet store is still one of her favorite things. But now, it is like taking a little one to a toy store or candy shop. She has many desires! Like this dino-shaped mouse habitat. 

"And then we can use the fish tank for a new frog pet, or toad: you choose," she said excitedly. "Or turtles. For my next fish, I want a frog."

She also wants a ferret or chinchilla, a hairless guinea pig, a duck and a baby goat. "Wyatt's mom has a pregnant goat. Can we have a goat?"

Oh, and a new kitten. She's been rereading her book on cat breeds, and has now been begging for a ragdoll kitten. It's the ONLY thing she wants for her birthday. 

None of these things are going to happen. I thought saying "yes" to mice would lead to pet contentment. I was quite wrong.

Birthday Weekend

For my birthday weekend, Stace and I started by going out to breakfast at one of the very few places where you can take your "to-go" food and eat outside. It felt very good to do so. I can't wait for all this madness to be over.

We then got the kids ready to go and went to Ventura for the afternoon. With so many things closed, it was good to just get a change of scenery for the afternoon.

We parked by the beach on Seaward, and walked all the way to the pier.

On our walk back, we stopped to pick up some dinner, and ate it at the car, watching the sunset.

On my actual birthday, I took Cora to play airsoft with a friend of hers. I stayed and read for a couple of hours, and she spent the rest of the afternoon with the friends, who later took her home.

Stace, Violet and I then got some lunch and went to a sweet little boutique so I could pick out a gift for myself. It was a nice day and weekend.
 

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, Stace came home from work early, and we returned to church for the first time since March. 

We were outside and sitting with our own family, but it was great to be back. (Our church has been holding outside services, but Cora's youth service is online only, so we've stayed home and watched online since March.)

Here, we were singing Silent Night, the traditional end to Christmas Eve services.

Our church had a few characters out for distanced photographs...

We came home and had breakfast for dinner, with the last of Aunt Patty's lovely Slovenian potica bread, her holiday tradition and labor of love.
 

Doing What We Love

Violet has been painting a lot lately. She has plenty of artwork to hang when we redo her bedroom!

She entered the painting on the top left in the school art contest and won first place for her age group!

Much to my mom's relief, Magic Mountain figured out a way to put on Holiday in the Park. It's a literal drive-through event, with patrons driving a route all over Magic Mountain to see all the pretty lights, hear music and see costumed characters. 

Mom is sometimes Mrs. Claus, and sometimes a dancing elf. Magic had an employee family night Thursday before the event kicked off for the public, so we drove through with Grandpa, Mel, Nick and Ellie.

Pretty! Festive!

Over the weekend, the weather was gorgeous, and we went up to Vasquez Rocks.

Picnic on a rock.

Later Sunday, Stace and I sneaked out for a final meal out, as the news had come out that even OUTDOOR dining was to be banned soon. We went to a little Asian place, and enjoyed our parking lot dinner.
 

World Series Win! And Halloween Happenings!

This was the fateful week, one that Los Angeles has been waiting more than 30 years for. Our Los Angeles Dodgers WON the World Series again! 

After falling just short in 2017 - and later finding out that the Astros cheated to attain their victory - and then losing again in 2018 - the Dodgers finally closed out the season as the ultimate winners. 

The team closed out the series with a fourth win Tuesday night over the Tampa Bay Rays. Yes, I teared up, especially when seeing pitcher Clayton Kershaw finally hold that trophy. 

Such a strange year - 60 games instead of 162, no fans during the season at Dodger Stadium, nearly the entire postseason played in a "bubble" in Dallas. At least, Texas is much more open than California, and the stadium was allowed to have fans up to 25% capacity. So, some very fortunate Dodger fans were able to see the wins in person.

I celebrated with a morning-after coffee from Starbucks on Wednesday.

Later Wednesday, we went to VUMC for a modified, drive-through Trunk or Treat event. We were one of a few cars, and the event was open only to the church, not the community like normal.

Violet had the idea of a dragon theme for the MG this year. The dragons had glowing eyes! We had to have a contact-free candy distribution method, so Stace also made a dragon that could shoot candy out its mouth, through a tube.

Cora dressed as a pirate for the trunk or treat. She was supposed to be working as a witch for a drive-through Halloween event all week, but the event was canceled after the props were damaged in heavy winds. She was really disappointed, because she was excited to have something so fun to do. 

We got to see Kelly, Noah and Ethan! And the dragon-shooter worked!

Violet and Liana had a fun night, working at their families' cars, and then going around the event themselves.
 

On Friday, Violet's class had a Halloween "lunch bunch" online meet up. I'll not go on about how sad it is that she's not having a Halloween party with her class! I love being involved with those.

We met up with Christina and Melanie at Quigley Canyon Friday, and this time we saw a family of deer. Two adults and two young ones. 

Here was how cool Cora looked for the event that ended up getting canceled. 

My mom had been so excited, too, since Fright Fest has been canceled. Oh well, next year!

Week in Review

A little more pool fun...

Comfy kitty on a relaxed Sunday

We have one Howard who's a fan of distance learning...

Violet and Victoria are in the same class, so they've done school together a couple of times. It's nice to hear them collaborating, as they would be doing in school with classmates.
 

The girl finally got haircuts after a number of months - somehow, our governor determined that salons should stay shut because of Covid, despite various safety measures. I feel so bad for all our small-business owners who are kept from working, despite no evidence they are spreading the virus.

For this week's beach adventure, we took Melani with us. 

First Week of School

We returned home from our trip just in time to register Cora for 8th grade. We drove through the pickup line Monday morning to get her books. Such a difference from last year, when registration day took a couple of hours, with photos, ID cards, etc.

We celebrated with a Day Before School breakfast - pastries and a drink from Honu Coffee. We put on our smiles for the photo, in this very strange year. Cora is bummed to be continuing distance learning, and disappointed that some of her friends don't plan to be at school all year, even if they're allowed to return on a part-time basis.

It's all anticlimactic - no back-to-school shopping or getting ready, since doing school on the couch requires little preparation.

Tuesday was the big first day.

Cora's taking math, English, science, history, PE, and Spanish for her elective (because it'll put her ahead in high school).

Her online classes are much more school-like than the spring; the student must be logged in for a live video meet every class period. Obviously, the social interaction is lacking completely.

On Wednesday, I took Violet out for her Day Before School breakfast. We went to the Waystation in Newhall, which is one of the local restaurants serving outside, because indoor dining isn't allowed because of Covid.

School?! NO!!! 

Violet is in the class we were hoping for, with Mrs. Dallaire as her teacher. Victoria and Melanie are both in her class. We had an online Back to School Night on Wedndesday, and her teacher seems wonderful.

She has live instructions twice a day, and other assignments to complete on their own.

 

We celebrated both girls' return to school with ice cream Thursday night.