Beach Camping, Part I

Our weekend started out well when we were able to speak to Stacey's Nan, who was back at her home after spending the previous week in the hospital. She had suffered a minor heart attack the weekend before, but the doctors believe no surgeries are needed and that medication will handle the situation.

We spoke to her in the hospital on several occasions, and she sounded upbeat and, as usual, told us all not to worry about her. It was a big relief to talk to her again, back at her own home.

Then, we finished loading the car and were on our way to Refugio State Beach, just north of Santa Barbara, where we joined our good friends Colleen, Rigo, Lucas and Liana.

They have a travel trailer, and a couple of months ago invited us to join them for the weekend with our tent. We've never stayed in our tent in a campground (!) but the it sounded like a great idea.
You can see, the kids enjoyed playing in the tent once we got it set up.

After lunch, we took a short walk down to the beach. The weather was decent, warming up as the afternoon went on and the wind died down.

At one point, a cool-looking plane with Navy insignia buzzed us, thrilling everyone on the beach. It went back and forth a few times, seemingly posing for photos.

The kids got along so well all weekend, and had fun together building sand castles. Lucas and Cora both have active imaginations, and it's been fun to watch Liana and Violet's relationship blossom over the past few months.

 Back at the camp, Stace was disappointed he forgot his guitar, but Rigo let him borrow his harmonica. Stace played some tunes, and the little girls sang along.

 After our quintessential campfire meal of hot dogs and hamburgers, we toasted marshmallows and made s'mores.

Then, it was time for bed... Because Violet has never made it through the night when Stace gets the tent out in the backyard, we brought along her playpen. But, for a couple of days, she had been promising (unbidden) that she would sleep well. "I won't cry, I won't scream, I won't say, 'I need to wee,' I'll be a good girl," she told us repeatedly.

And sure enough, within minutes of being tucked in, she was asleep. Missing a nap didn't hurt either!

We were all awoken about 5:30 Sunday morning when a freight train rumbled past - it seemed to go forever! Thankfully it was the only overnight train to pass by; the tracks were very close to the campground.

Stace cooked up English bacon and eggs later in the morning, and Rigo made pancakes. We ate very well all weekend!


Who needs toys/electronics when you have a good friend, and towels hanging on a clothesline?

More to come, but for now it's time for bed...

Last week of May

 After our wild and crazy Saturday, the girls decided a lemonade stand was in order.

Ave and Yesenia, an 8-year-old who moved in a couple of months ago, got it started and invited Cora to join them.

 They were adorable, calling out to anyone passing by on foot, bike or in a car. They actually sold quite a bit, too, and made about $2 each.

 Cora thought that Johnny didn't get an adequate chance to participate, so on Monday (Memorial Day), she set up an ice tea stand for them to run.

Then, the ice cream truck came by, so you see them here enjoying their cold treat.

John was away for work, so we shared dinner both nights with Genia and the kids. The trampoline has been great fun for the whole street this year.

 After dinner, Owen and Violet rocked out in the playroom.

 Then, it was back to school, as we wind down the year. Just a couple of weeks left!

The school thanked the volunteers with a lovely tea. Look at that spread!

We arranged to go with Genia and Jill, so the little ones could get together too. Sadly, this is the first and last school tea we'll go to together. Both families are moving out of the school area this summer.








As is our Wednesday tradition, we met up for lunch at the park after school.

 On Thursday, Violet had her final "My Buddy and Me" class with Ms. Diane. I'm glad we'll see her again this summer for summer camp for Violet, and then in the fall for Terrific Tots.

But I'm sad that My Buddy is over, because it's fun playing with Violet and chatting with Diane and the other moms, especially Colleen.

On Friday evening, we went to Ave and Johnny's piano recital. They did very well and it was nice to be there to cheer them on. Then, we celebrated afterwards with dinner at the Habit, with the kids' free meal certificates for reading.

It was a great week!

Block Party!

 Watch out! She's coming!

Saturday was the day of our "first annual" (in journalism, those two words together are a big no-no!) block party. The event that was so fun, we all agreed it should actually recur annually.

 The families with children went in together to rent a big bouncer with an attached water slide, which was a lot of fun.

 Here's about half the kids who played together Saturday; such a nice group!

Thankfully, it was just warm enough for water fun.

 The temperature was beautiful for those of us sitting around eating, drinking and chatting the day away. Here, Keith gives Stace a hand with the barbecue.

 We all cooked our own meat, and brought side dishes to share. There was plenty of food to keep us fed for days! All of our neighbors except for one set came out to party, a 7-out-of-8 participation rate.

 The children enjoyed the dessert bar as much as the bouncer/water slide.

 Genia made the water balloons, and our neighbor Julie brought out bubbles, chalk and glowing bracelets for the kids. Here, Owen shows Violet the proper way to wear and display said bracelets, with BOTH on one wrist, not one on each wrist, as she had first worn them. "Like this, Violet!"

Thanks to lazy parents, it was a very late night for the children. Owen and Violet were making crafts and eating chips in our garage until about 10 p.m., when we decided to go get Cora from the Roberts' house. This is what we found. They weren't asleep, but they were close to it!

Fabulous Friday

 Friday was a fun day!

After dropping off Cora at school, Violet and I went to Pasadena, to meet Melanie and Heather at Kidspace again.

Since the big girl wasn't with us, we could enjoy the room set up for 4s and under, with soft play toys. Violet's still young enough to enjoy little tunnels!

 And both girls enjoyed the pedal-less tricycles.













We then played on the playground at the park outside the museum, which is on the grounds of the Rose Bowl.

Violet wanted to play cafe with me; we took turns being the "owner," getting each other food. Violet's choice was parmesan cheese, oatmeal and yogurt.

Meanwhile, since I wasn't back in SClarita in time to pick up Cora, my parents got her from school and took her to Disneyland. Cora went to Disneyland's Pixie Hollow for the first time, which she loved. She even got to meet Rosetta and Tinker Bell.

And, she was all thumb's up after her first-ever trip on Space Mountain! Of course Cora-the-daredevil would love Disneyland's best roller coaster.

Big milestones

This week was full of milestones.

Violet and I cheered on Auntie Melly, as she received her bachelor's in theatre arts at California State University, Northridge on Tuesday. We're so proud of you, Melanie!

The graduation was at 8 a.m., which meant an early morning for this little one, but she was amazingly well-behaved for the 2-hour-plus ceremony. Snacks and drawing kept her busy and content.

 On Thursday night, Cora had her Open House at school, where we could see all the great work her class has done this year.

See how strange this photo looks? This is why I haven't updated the blog lately - I kept hoping this photo, and the next one, would load properly, as vertical pictures. Instead, they are compressed crazily into horizontals.




The other milestone of the week - see that hole? Cora lost her first tooth, in the classroom during Open House!

I was speaking to Mrs. Hawthorne and Cora kept pounding my arm to interrupt - I corrected her, but then I understood why she was interrupting!

No blood, and no pain. Sadly, we now also have no tooth. She was showing the Roberts later that evening, and it popped out the little envelope into the grass. Bye bye, first tooth!

Thankfully, thanks in part to a note Ave wrote on Cora's behalf to the tooth fairy, the tooth fairy still came. She left Cora $2 and a precious box for keeping safe her first second lost tooth safe.

Here's a clearer photo of Cora's new hole. Strange, I remember feeling that little thing as it first emerged, when our friends Andy and Jenny were visiting from England when Cora was 8 months old. We were driving around Beverly Hills at the time, if I remember correctly.

Sweet Sisters

Since Violet has turned three, she and Cora have been playing together so sweetly, so frequently. The love they have for each other fills me and Stace with such joy.

 

Playing fairies after school... though Cora is never thrilled when we have no plans after school except for going home for lunch, she and Violet almost always end up having a great time playing together.

Cora bandaging her sister's knee - Cora takes her big-sister role seriously, and Violet often seeks Cora's help.

Playing Chutes and Ladders - this was a favorite for Cora for a few days, though shortly after I got it out, Cora and Violet were fighting over the spinner, with running, spitting, and screams of "MEANIE!"

They do their share of arguing, but these two really do love each other.

They enjoy each other's company, and now frequently one will ask the other to play with her. Here, they are painting pictures for each other. This week, Cora really wanted Violet to play "kitty" with her, but Violet wanted Cora to play Hungry Hungry Hippos with her. It was fun to watch them try to compromise.

A fun Saturday

 On Saturday evening, we went to the annual Mom2Mom family picnic. It was a lot of fun, with good friends. We all brought our own dinner and shared a dessert supplied by Mom2Mom.

 Stace and the other dads played football (soccer), basketball and other games with the kids.

 Meanwhile, the moms sat around talking and eating. Perfect!

 

 

 

Cora slept through the first part of the picnic, because we had already had a fun day in Camarillo, at Brooke's birthday party. We don't catch Cora sleeping during the day very often anymore!

Cora and Violet had fun in a princess bouncer outside, on the swing Rob made for Brooke for her birthday, with Brooke's toys inside, and of course on Rob's go-kart.




















Happy 5th birthday, sweet Brooke!