Fun on the Slopes

We got up and out bright and early Saturday for Stace and the girls to have a skiing adventure at Big Bear Snow Summit. Stace hadn't skiied in decades, so he signed up for an adult lesson with Cora, while Violet took part in a kids lesson.
 

Following Friday evening's storm, it was a gorgeous day, and we overheard experienced skiiers say these were the best conditions they'd ever seen at Big Bear. 

Cora loved it all, while Stace enjoyed the skiing, but was in physical pain during the lesson from trying to follow the instructor's directions. Apparently his hips and knees aren't designed to point THAT way anymore.

Who's that masked gal?

We were incredibly blessed with good friends lending us skiing gear - pants, coats, helmets, gloves, etc. Cora here is sporting my friend Jen's vintage Burton coat.

Two thumb's up from the girl who wasn't sure she wanted to ski at all!

Stace absolutely loved this day of creating memories with his girls. He thanked me over and over for arranging it. So happy he (and the girls) had such a fun time together.

Oh, I was there, too! I read in the car for a while, and then came out to watch as Stace decided he was done with his lesson a little early. We had lunch together - pretty darn good food, too - and then they went down the hill a few more times before we went back to the cabin to rest.

Weekend Fun

 With a free Saturday, we took advantage of the parks still being open, and went to Valencia Summit Park.

Stace played tennis with the girls, while I went around the big paved loop on my roller blades. Cora roller-bladed with me for a bit, and then Violet went with me on her scooter. Stace also kicked a soccer ball around with the girls.

 Violet was really enjoying tennis in the fall, but the winter class I signed her up for was cancelled due to low enrollment. Then, I signed her up for a class starting in March, but of course the coronavirus meant all classes have been cancelled.

So, she and Stace have been going out every week or so. Cora also has enjoyed playing with Stace off and on.

 Wheeee!

 Cora and I walked over to Granary Square while Vi and Stace finished up, and we ordered milkshakes at the Habit. Restaurants and grocery stores are still open, but lots of other places have closed temporarily. Customers can buy food at eateries for take-out only, as the dining rooms are closed.

We needed to go to Ralphs to pick up a Redbox film - the murder mystery hit Knives Out - and had to wait outside in a line, because Ralphs is limiting how many people can be inside at a time. That way, people can stay six feet away from each other. And Cora preferred a frappuccino to a milkshake, so she went down to Starbucks, only to find them closed. For the time being, only Starbucks with drive-thrus are open locally.

Also this weekend, Violet learned how to take off a tire - Stace discovered the Vibe had a flat, and Vi helped put on the spare.

We loved Knives Out - highly recommend it! I watched it again on a rainy Sunday before we returned it. This time, I took it to a Redbox at the 7-Eleven, because I knew I wouldn't have to wait in line just to go inside the doors!

Tidbits

Stace and I got together for lunch in the week; we're going to try to do this more often, since we can.

Cora's friend Violet came over Friday afternoon to play, and the girls had a great time together. Now that they're in junior high, it seems even more special to have friends like Vi and Vivian, who Cora's known since kindergarten.

Our Violet has started tennis classes again. She last took tennis a few years ago, and enjoyed it, but gave it up after one session. We were all happy she wanted to give it another shot.

 Cora has been good about not using Violet as a karate punching bag... But Cora and Violet had a fabulous time playing with swords on Sunday.

They played for so long, and didn't end up in tears or anger! Winning.

Kickball!

On Friday, the End of Year sixth grade activities began with the annual parents-vs-students kickball game.

Here's Cora with her girly group - Sophi, Violet and Vivian.

Cora's the kicker here - and Yass (not shown) caught her ball on the fly for an out.

Here, you can see Stace and Yass  fielding, with Jake on second base.

The grownups' turn to kick, or big siblings, since the junior highs and high schools are now out for summer break.

Cora had been bragging on her dad's kickball skills, and when his first weak attempt went foul, her teammates were questioning her.

But Stace wasn't finished.

With the bases loaded, he then pounded it high and far into right field. Here he's rounding second base...

...on his way home.

It was a fun morning with our big girl!

Yass had a meeting after school, so the boys came over. Violet and Jake walked home first, while Cora and Charlie went to the GATE Musical party. Then, they walked home too. After lunch, we went over to the pool.

It was fitting that the boys were over for Cora and Jake's last half-day Friday. They'll have full school days on Fridays in junior high. I'll miss these Friday afternoons together.

After the pool, we finished packing for our big group camping trip.

Going for a Walk

We slept in and relaxed Thursday morning after our Disney adventure, and then Jake came over to hang out. On Friday, we went on a little hike in Whitney Canyon with Kelly, Yass and the boys. 

It was lovely and cool, with green grass and still a bit of water in the stream bed.

The boys then came over to have lunch and play.

 On Saturday morning, Violet had her first softball game with the Gators. She was so excited, eager to strap on those batting gloves and swing the bat.

Violet showed discipline at the plate, walking twice, scoring a run and even making a great catch in the field.

Cora helped her sister out a bit, cheering for her by calling her the pet name she uses: "Bagel."

Coach Ben praised Violet during the post-game talk for her catch.

Go, Gators!

We spent the rest of the day working on the yard.

Spring Break

 Violet is playing softball!
We signed her up for a city team, and practice started this week. It's nice to have her on a team again - it's been several years.

 Violet has pretty darn good hand-eye coordination, so this should be a fun couple of months. Here she is, hitting at her first practice.

 The girls returned from Arizona to a very short week of school - just two half-days, and then Spring Break started Thursday. We celebrated by going to Disneyland with our friends.

 Violet had a haircut Friday afternoon.

 On Saturday, we were busy touching up our paintwork on the inside of the house - after 10 years, it was time.

We then went to Colleen and Rigo's for dinner. The kids love playing in their amazing back yard - this time the game included Nerf weapons.

 On Sunday, we took a drive down the 126 to Ventura - the hills are all green from all the rain, and it was just beautiful.

 We met up with Sara and Tony and the girls - yes, one week after we left them, they took a trip to SoCal. It was Emily's 14th birthday, and instead of a party, she desired a beach trip. It was fun seeing them again and it was lovely and warm on the beach.

On Monday, we met up with my college friends Melanie and JT at a park for some playtime and catchup time. Cora was the lone "big kid" but she handled it well, playing with all the littles.

Here, Callie and Jonah are sharing the side with Violet, while Cora and Heather are weighing down the other end. Melanie's other two, Sienna and Andrew, were playing somewhere else...

So, it was a great start to Spring Break!

Cora's Aerial Fun

 I had a great time at Miss Cheryl's house doing my aerial acrobatics. It was so fun to get back into it after a long time of not participating. I had to remember everything that I had been taught before, which was kind of difficult, but all in all I had a great time.

In this picture, I'm doing a move called Arrow Good Times. There are lots of different steps to this move, and many of them are difficult, but I've aced it so far.

 This move I'm doing is a bird, which is a double wrap flip-over, where you have to go upside down to get into the move. You have to have a lot of core strength, so Miss Cheryl sometimes has to boost me up.

 This is one of my favorite moves, because when you go upside down, you get to see the world from an entirely different perspective. This one is called "Peter Pan." Before positioning myself into the move, I have to tie a knot into the silk (behind my knees in the photo) and hoist myself up.

This is me and my wonderful teacher Miss Cheryl. I loved meeting up with her after a long break - thank you, Grandma and Grandpa, for paying for me to have a lesson!

Thanksgiving Break

Cora ended up having strep throat, and she got antibiotics started on Monday. We had a calm few days of break, and Cora and I skipped Universal Studios on Tuesday.

Instead, we went to Barnes and Noble, where Cora set out to prove that Harry Potter fun exists outside of Universal.

Later on Tuesday evening, we went to Cora's football team year-end party. Here, Coach Jose is giving Cora her third-place trophy, while praising her abilities as a player and saying it was a great pleasure to coach her.

The girls decided to beautify our mailbox area by planting succulents.

Here's their finished work! Much improved.

We had a family game night, and Violet wanted a family Lego night. She created tiny cars and a racing ramp for us to use in a little competition.