Air Show

We went to the Los Angeles County Air Show in Lancaster this weekend, where we saw some beautiful planes like this B-17 Flying Fortress as well as many other WWII bombers and fighters including the Spitfire, P-51 Mustang, B-25 Mitchell, and the P-38 Lightning.
Stace was happy to show us the JSF F-35 Lightning. One of his main projects is the assembly and test of the aileron actuator. See Violet's hair? It was super windy, and that wind was cold.

Stace is pointing out the actuator his company designed and builds for this V-22 Osprey. Woodward's hydraulic power units convert the V-22 from vertical to horizontal flight.

Here is a de Havilland Vampire, a British jet built in the early 1940's. The Vampire was the first jet plane to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It was also the first jet aircraft to take off and land on an aircraft carrier. Of the 10,000 built, only 22 Vampires are left flying today.

Our eyes were fixed skywards for the always impressive F-22 Raptor air display. The power and technology that allows this plane to pull off the most amazing maneuvers is incredible. Mom and Dad came, too, as an air show ticket was our birthday present to Grandpa.

Besides the planes outside, there were some fun and educational activities inside the tents. The engineers from Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman were on hand to show the children examples of the technologies used in the aerospace business. 

Here, Violet is looking through the virtual reality glasses to see exactly what a F-22 Raptor pilot would see on a flight from his cockpit.

The girls made flying crafts to put into a wind tunnel,to see how how different designs would catch the air and fly out of the top.

Violet watches hers fly upward.

The girls also used the Snap Circuits to make electrical circuits to light up bulbs and activate buzzers.

Here's Stace explaining to Cora how the flight controls operate on this helicopter rotor head model.

Rain = Green

We've not had a very rainy winter, but the past few weeks have brought us a few inches. The girls had fun walking out of school with their umbrellas open the other day.

This week is full of half-days and parent-teacher conferences, as we get ready for our two-week Spring Break. The girls are doing well in school, according to their teachers.

The rain has brought some lovely green to our local hills. On Friday, my friends and I took a nice walk through the valley in the Summit neighborhood, on our way to our weekly coffee together.

On Saturday, JT, Jim and the children came up for a visit. We took them to Placerita Canyon for a walk.

The kids loved playing in the stream, what little there was of it.

Stace and Jim checked out the old oil drilling equipment and info board.

Then it was time for dinner and drinks - Stace has gotten into making Black Velvets when we have friends over.

Violet loved having a friend over - she and Callie spent hours in their Calico Critter world.

Wizard of Oz

Our little Scarecrow shined like a superstar this week in the school's traditional production of The Wizard of Oz.

 

Wizard is now an after-school program for second-graders, rather than an in-school activity for first-graders, as it was when Cora took part. Cora's first-grade teacher, Mrs.Vasquez, runs the whole thing, teaching two casts after school for the past two months.

Violet has loved her experience, and practiced after school twice a week because the main characters went to both weekly practices.

Violet really did an outstanding job as the Scarecrow. She performed her lines well, stayed in character, and sang with her solo with a sweet, clear voice. We are so, so proud of her!

After the play, the children received the bricks we helped make - Stace cut and painted them all, while I and the girls helped a group of moms and kids with pasting on the photos and tying on the tags.

Here's the cast from Violet's production!

The children did a dress rehearsal for the school on Monday, and Cora was very proud of her little sister! All this brought back happy memories from Cora's time in Wizard, when she was Dorothy.

Snow Day

We've been wanting to play in the snow this winter, and this weekend it appeared to be our last best chance - a storm in the week brought snow to the local mountains, and we had a free afternoon on Sunday.

We drove up to Frazier Park with my parents, and thankfully found enough snow to play in, in an area just before the CHP started requiring chains.

We found this cute little hut, which appeared to house pipes, to keep them from freezing over. We thought it made a nice photo opp.
(Violet didn't agree.)

 But Violet did have fun making snow angels.

Stace is such a harsh father.

Everyone had fun sledding.

It was a great day together!

On our drive back down the mountain, we stopped at the Flying J service station, for fuel and hot chocolate. Who did we bump into, but the Vasquez family, who also spent time in the snow!

Mrs. Vasquez is directing Violet in the Wizard of Oz next week, so we've spent a lot of time with her lately. But we didn't share our plans to go to the snow, or to the Flying J!

St. Patrick's Day Treats

For the first time in our school days, St. Patrick's Day was on a weekend - it was a little strange to not be sending the girls to school in their green, themed shirts.

And for the first time in years, no one in our house created a leprechaun trap. That's a sad thing - another young-child thing over.

But, Stace and the girls created appropriate crepes for breakfast, and Violet did make sure to wear her shirt.

We met up with Mom2Mom friends later in the morning at Hart Park. This scene made me laugh.

A couple of people were walking their alpacas in the park - there's something we don't see every day!

We picked up Shamrock Shakes from McDonalds on the way home. We justified the outrageous sugar content with the idea that we'd put them in the fridge and enjoy them over several days.

Bingo Fun

We had a full house for Bingo Night on Friday, and my friends who worked on it with me couldn't have been happier. We've been preparing for a couple of months now, and all went very smoothly.

This is me at the front table, helping pick the numbers and check winners' tickets.

Our friend Yass was the MC, and he did a great job. Jen spearheaded the prize donations, Rachael handled the food again, and Christina helped with everything. I chaired the committee, so I did lots of little things.





Those little bingo balls can be hard to read!

We had over 30 prizes - Jen really went all out!

Violet skipped most of the bingo - she read in the hallway, rather than have her hopes dashed again. Or, she's tired of we grownups remarking on how cute she was a few years ago, sobbing every time she lost.

We raised close to $2,000 for the school! I'm so pleased, and so blessed to live this life, with time and energy to volunteer.

A New Class for Cora

 Hello! It's Cora! I have been getting into silks. It's really fun! Grandma and Grandpa paid for two classes for me to learn how to do silks, or aerial acrobatics.

My teacher, Cheryl, is an old friend of Grandma's and went to my parents' wedding. She's really nice and patient, and she's very good at silks.

The hoop was a little harder than I expected, because I had to twist my body and hang off the thin edge without crashing into the floor.

I can't wait to be able to do it again, because I thought it was a really good workout for me and it was really enjoyable.

Week in Review

Stace and I had a mini date Wednesday night during Pioneer Club. We used to like going to McDonald's for a chocolate-dipped cone, but our local outlets have stopped offering them.

So, I introduced Stace to good old Foster's Freeze in Canyon Country, where I got my favorite ice cream treat.

Magic Mountain changed its hours and is now open daily, all year long. So, I took Cora and Emily on a Thursday after school for a few hours of big rides, with no lines. It was great! We tried out some rides we'd never been on, and decided that we love Full Throttle the best.

Patrice picked up Violet from Wizard of Oz rehearsal, and she had fun at their house with Charlie and Tommy while I had the big girls.

 

On Friday, Cora was invited to Kameron's birthday party, which had a Hawaii theme. All the children painted a scene, guided by a YouTube video and Kam's aunt, who happens to be a teacher at the kids' school.

The girls had a great time - Violet took the art very seriously, because she felt very privileged to be included in the party for a big kid she doesn't know very well. They all had fn on the bouncy slide - here, Cora and Cooper are leaping in.

Over the weekend, we went back to Patrice and Geoff's for dinner. We love this family, and I'm so glad we've reconnected after just plain busyness meant we hadn't gotten together for a while. Stace and Geoff are having fun with the model helicopter here...

...while the kids had fun in the pool and spa.