Summer Saturday

At 8:15 this morning we went to the park for Violet to start her first football lesson. We signed her up for Kidz Love Soccer's Daddy/Mummy and Me classes. She really enjoyed her first lesson and did pretty well. The coaches teach the children about colours, animals, shapes and numbers using football as the teaching method. Today was all about colours. Violet (and I) had to pick a colour on the card and them dribble the ball to the flag of the same colour. When we got to the flag Violet had to strike a football pose by standing with her foot on the ball. Violet was definitely the best player in the class, and it was no surprise that she was the smallest.

 When we got home we all went to the pool to cool off. At the beginning of summer Cora proclaimed she was going to swim "on top" this year. She did really well at Street indoor pool with Dean helping her when we were back home in England. I promised her that when she could swim on top of the water I would buy her a really good pair of swimming goggles.

After today's time at the pool we went shopping for goggles.


Cora has been able to swim under water since last summer, but today she started swimming for real.
She has grown in confidence since I showed her she could stand up in the shallow end of the pool.
I am very proud of my little girl.
Violet's turn is next. I start swimming lessons with her next week at the local city pool.

After lunch we drove down to Ventura and took a walk around Harbor Village. The weather was gorgeous as we walked along the side of the marina.

We stopped for dinner at Andria's, the local fish restaurant, and shared a meal of charbroiled shrimp, rice, coleslaw, fried cod and clam chowder. We arrived just before the huge dinner rush that results in a big queue of people waiting to place their orders.

 

After dinner, and on our stroll back along the marina to the car, the girls enjoyed a nice ice cream and pointed out all the boats they liked. As we finished our walk Violet started crying about going home without the boat she had previously picked out.
Where the heck would I have put a 30-year-old, 50-foot trawler covered in seagull sh...pooh anyway?

Cherry picking

June means cherry season, especially for the beautiful rural town of Leona Valley, in the southwest Antelope Valley not too far from SClarita.

In my former life, I wrote plenty of articles about cherry season for the Valley Press, and two years ago I went cherry-picking for the first time with Cora and newborn Violet. This year, we returned for more, after Cora asked specifically if we could go.

Most of the small family-run orchards are picked clean, but two places still advertised themselves as open for business. I'm glad Cora had the idea this week, as next week will surely be too late for cherries.

We picked a lot of Ranier cherries, the yellow/orange/red ones, and a few handfuls of dark red varieties as well. Violet loved it, talking about it all a lot and carrying the buckets, until they got "too heaby." Cora had a great time too, and was very helpful with Violet.

 Here, Grandma pulls a branch down to Violet so she can better reach the ripe ones.

And here, Cora holds Violet up to the fruit.


It was great spending a few hours with my mom. Though we talk often on the phone, she has been working so much at her various jobs that we don't see each other as often as we'd like. I'm glad we could experience the cherry adventure together.


It wasn't exactly "frugal fun," as they cost $3.50 a pound and one of my favorite stores has cherries on sale this week for $1 a pound. But of course, it's the memories that matter. Cora loves eating her cherries. Violet, on the other hand, won't try them. Maybe if they were chocolate-dipped!

Weekend recap

 On Saturday we had the joy of celebrating our dear friend Kelly's engagement. Kelly is my oldest friend, a loyal and caring woman I'm blessed to consider a close friend. I, along with many others, have been praying for a number of years now for her to meet the right man.

She met Brad through her church, and they've been dating a little over a year now. He proposed Saturday overlooking the beach in Malibu, and organized a surprise celebration with their friends and family, including Kelly's grandma, Doris. It's a good thing she said "yes"!

Kelly asked me to be a bridesmaid, a role I'm so honored to fill for her.

 The girls had fun at the beach, on a gorgeous sunny day. We couldn't stay too long though, because in the evening Stace and I were off on a date.

My sister played Jeanie in Hair this month at a theater in Hollywood, so we got to see it Saturday night with cousin Elizabeth. It was a fun show, with great singing and choreography, and I loved hearing Melly do her solo.

Sadly, halfway through the first act, I started feeling really sick. I took all the meds I had had in my purse but kept feeling worse, so at intermission Stace and I headed home. I was nauseous, achy, and feverish, and the fever lasted through the night. I'm so sad we missed the second act; hopefully we'll be able to see a DVD.

Melanie's show closed Sunday in Hollywood, but her theater group has been invited to perform it in San Francisco in January! Going places, she is!

On Sunday we didn't get up to much, since I wasn't feeling well. Stace watched the England football match, and then we went to a friend's birthday party.

Lily, top center, turned three, and her family celebrated at My Gym. Violet and Cora both had a great time at one of Violet's favorite places.

First Week Back Home

 The advantage of jet lag - a busy toddler who ordinarily has no time for daddy cuddles, sleeps on his shoulder for a half hour.

The girls adjusted really well to California time. After getting up early Tuesday, our first morning home, they generally slept nicely into the mornings the rest of the week.

Cora had her first day of Camp Clarita on Tuesday, and Stace stayed home to recover and unpack.

In the evening, we picked up Subway for dinner and then enjoyed our dollar cones from Baskin-Robbins.

On Wednesday, Stace went back to work and the girls and I played at the park with Genia and the kids.
Cora had her first Keyboard II class on Wednesday evening.

On Thursday, I went to Santa Monica to have lunch with some of my Pepperdine girlfriends. I still see Melanie, my freshman year roommate, regularly, but I hadn't seen Aly or Sophia for over 10 years. It was great to catch up with them.

On Friday morning, Cora and I went to see a kid-friendly local production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Then we went over to the pool with Genia and her kids, and Jill, Alexyss and Marley. It was a lot of fun, the first of many pool days to come, I'm sure.

Happy Birthday, Stace!

Lucky Stace got to celebrate twice this year! First, with our family in England over the weekend, with candle-blowing help from Euan, Violet and Cora...

...and then on his actual birthday, back at home. Before enjoying our cake, we went to Stonefire for dinner.

Stace's gifts from us this year were the soccer ball, pop-up goal and the new Jack White CD.

We love you, Stace! You are such a blessing in our lives.

Trip Home

When the calendar dictated that our Somerset visit end on Father's Day, we decided to stay the night and fly out Monday. That way we could enjoy the day a little, with a more leisurely trip to London, without the stress of an early-morning drive. And, we enjoyed a nice Father's Day lunch midday with Dean and Jenny. Here, Gord and his boys, who now are both great dads themselves. 

Our airport hotel was close enough to the airport for the girls to do some great plane-spotting. Though we stayed at a budget-friendly place (no in-room fridge or microwave), the Premier Inn really impressed us with its outstanding customer service and generous (and yummy) kids-eat-free breakfast. We'll definitely stay there again in the future.

Violet again was a joy to travel with. I can't get over what a difference this trip was from our Christmas trip. She again only slept for an hour or two at the end of the flight, but she was happy to quietly watch the television for hours on end. I guess that's one advantage to making TV-watching more of a privilege than a right in our normal life! Above, she lets Seahorse listen to Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Our travel home went so well, with a good night's sleep at the hotel and the whole day feeling like a fun adventure rather than a stressful nightmare. Thank you, Lord, for that answer to prayer!

Visiting

 We had a lovely evening with Andy and Jenny at Ham Hill. Here, they play around at the hamstone quarry.











Then, after a nice walk enjoying the gorgeous views, a drink at the Prince of Wales pub. Stace and I also had a little date at this pub during our first week this time around. I suppose that makes the Prince of Wales our pub of choice.

 No visit to England is complete with a trip to Uncle Pete and Auntie Doreen's farm. Violet, our animal lover, had a lot of fun checking out the chickens and rooster.











And after our time at the Tractor Ted show, she was super excited to sit in Uncle Pete's own tractor. She didn't want to get out. (She really, really didn't want to. Those of you familiar with 2-year-olds can envision this scene.)











 Eating Auntie Doreen's jam-and-cream cake made it all better, however. Violet polished off an adult-sized piece in the lap of her other Great-Gran, Gord's mum.














 Pete and Doreen had enough Duplo bricks to keep four children quiet and happy, with no screaming or "mine"ing. Amazing. As always, Cora and Violet loved seeing Ben and Chloe.


We also caught up with Dunc and Lindsey, and Cora spent a fun evening with their children one day. Photos to come! (Hint, hint! Ha!)

Time together

What do you do when the weather isn't great? You take the kids to an indoor play center!

Euan and Dean came with us, and it was a lot of fun. We stopped at Morrison's for lunch on our way home.

Most days, we did little things... like on Wednesday, when we took Sue to the hospital for a doctor's appointment, and then ran an errand in Sherborne, Here, we're eating our bakery lunch in front of Sherborne Abbey.

 We took an evening for climbing around Ham Hill - luckily the weather cooperated! Here Cora poses in front of the War Memorial atop the hill.

 Cora also loved her time at the Martock Recreation Ground, where she rode on her bigger bike one day before she and Stace visited Big Nan.

These two!
Put two two-year-olds together, and you get a lot of yelling, a lot of grabbing, a lot of "Mine!" What a difference from our Christmas visit.

Still, Euan and Violet had fun together, sharing lots of hugs and kisses.







We also spent time at Big Nan's flat. Here, the three little ones are playing in the cage they made from the drying rack. Again, the old point made again - who needs store-bought toys?
















It was wonderful spending time with Mary in her home again, as she had spent some time in the hospital in recent months.

Day with Tractor Ted

 Our weather hasn't been great this trip, but in England, you don't let the weather keep you inside.

On Sunday, we took a big ol' family trip to the Bowood Dog and Country Fair featuring Tractor Ted, an educational farm life DVD series for children.

Euan is a big Tractor Ted fan, so he was very excited about the whole day. There were lots of other fun activities for the non-Ted heads.

On top, we have the girls after the combine harvester demonstration.

Cora, Violet and Euan were all excited to ride  the donkeys.

And Cora really liked her first time doing archery. She really wasn't bad, either, hitting the blue circle twice and the outside rim a couple of times too. The ones she missed were "straight as an arrow" and just short.

 The weather was off and on drizzly, but thankfully it was dry for our picnic lunch.












These pigs here were resting in preparation for their races.










And the sheep-shearing demonstration was impressive. Wow, he could shear a sheep fast and cleanly.

 Cora also loved her ride on the Helter Skelter slide, one of the many carnival rides.

Toward the end of the day, the weather got worse, but we were prepared with wellies for the kids and raincoats all around. True Brits, we were.

Thanks for a fun day out, Nan and Pop! And thanks to Jen for planning the trip.