A Pleasure At the Ren Faire

For a few months, with the girls interested in things set in times gone by, they've asked about any Renaissance Fairs in our area, where they could dress up. Well, our big SoCal Renaissaince Pleasure Faire returned this year, and we were so excited to go! 

We made it our Mother's Day activity, because that ended up being the best day for us to make it happen.

The girls planned their costumes for a few days, and I managed to scrape together an outfit, too.

There was lots to eat, purchase, and watch, with entertainment everywhere, along with living history displays and interactive exhibits. 

While we were watching some of the entertainment, Stace snuck off, saying he needed the restroom. He came back dressed as a medieval merchant! Because, yes, you could rent any of a variety of costumes for the day. 

Doesn't he look dapper, with our pirate progeny?

Cora had so much fun. She's holding a gold coin from her R&G production.

What a motley crew! Ha! We had a blast. Lucky for us, we had a weird cold day, so no fears of overheating while being outside all day.

We enjoyed the jousting competition!

The riders displayed such skill.

I adore this photo of Violet.

At a Shakespeare reading, Vi got chosen from the audience to participate.

Last photos before Stace returned his costume! 
 

We arrived before the gates opened, and there was entertainment out front, too. Cora's always a good sport.

School Stuff

Cora went straight from Rosencrantz craziness to taking an Advanced Placement test in Environmental Science. If she passes the test, she can receive college credit for a science class. It was obviously an intense class, and an intense test. We celebrated Tuesday with a sushi lunch once she'd finished it.

On Friday, Violet had her "Greek Day" at school, where the students take on a famous ancient Greek persona and pretend to be them. While other classes had each student wear a toga, or more traditional ancient Greek attire, Mrs. Fusner allowed her students to be creative. 

Violet had fun putting together her outfit to present Artemis, the goddess of the moon and the hunt. Hence, her bow and her silvery blue accessories and makeup. 
 

And, Aunt Patty had to return to Washington, but Uncle Bill stayed another week! He was able to attend Violet's Open House, and see Cora in a Show Choir competition that, luckily for us, was held at Hart High. Cora ran over to get a photo in her costume after her choir's set was over.

Another parent posted these fabulous photos from the competition. Cora's group won first place for their division!

Open House

Another fabulous pre-pandemic normalcy brought back this spring: Open House at school! We went to Cora's in March, but haven't been to an Open House at Violet's school since third grade!
 

Violet has enjoyed her teacher this year, Mrs. Fusner! We appreciate her emphasis on arts.

She's pointing to the artwork she painted on Valentine's Day, when I was blessed to be able to volunteer in class.

More Vi projects...

Showing us the projects she's worked on...

Our last Open House! How can it be??

We made a tour of the school, going through the girls' old classrooms to say farewell. First stop, Mrs. Hawthorne, who taught both girls in kindergarten and Violet in first grade, as well.

For a trip down memory lane, here's our first Open House, when Cora was preparing to enter kindergarten and we went with Genia and John and their family.

Next, Dr. Porter, who also taught both girls. I'll miss seeing these ladies occasionally when I'm on campus!

Then, third grade, Mrs. Breneman - she, Mrs. Hawthorne AND Dr. Porter are all retiring at the end of the year! Plus, three more teachers are retiring. Next year will be very different at our beloved school.

Violet's fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Zamperin, my fellow Dodger lover.

And the lovely Ms. Dallaire, who Violet truly loved last year in fifth grade. Such a sweet, encouraging woman.

We have been deeply blessed to be at this school! 

Rancho Camulos, At Last

Two years ago, with the world shut down due to a virus, Violet and her classmates missed out on their 4th grade field trip to Rancho Camulos. 

This year, field trips are back on the menu, but the traditional 6th grade trip to the Getty Museum was still off limits. 

So, I suggested to the teachers that this cohort take the Rancho Camulos trip, and they agreed. On Wednesday, I was lucky enough to come along as a chaperone.

Rancho Camulos is a part of California history, a rancho that used to cover a 48,600 acre swath of land used for farming and cattle. It also provided the setting for a famous novel named Ramona.

The field trip here is fabulous - educational and fun for the kids. Here, one of the docents leads them in making their own adobe brick from mud, straw and water. Adobe was a great building material in the hot southwest.

This sweet docent taught the kids some of the history of the area.

This gorgeous restored carriage was from the 1850s! You can see how wealthy the owners were.

The students also got to do some hands-on activities, like washing, wringing out and hanging clothing.

The day was warm but not too hot, and the setting is gorgeous, off the 126, between home and Fillmore. The kids enjoyed a picnic lunch, and I loved seeing Violet interact with her friends. She doesn't talk much about school friends, but seeing her with these guys, I can tell that they ARE friends!

After the last two years, I deeply appreciated being along for the ride, and I'm so grateful for the chance. (And let's not even go into the idea that it's very likely my last field trip!)
 

Rosencrantz Fun

Big smiles after the final show Saturday night! Ben was so complimentary to Cora - they've actually known each other for years, as Ben's brother used to play soccer with Cora with Kidz Love Soccer. Who'd have imagined way back then that Cora and the big brother would be sharing the Hart High theater stage?

Ben was the student director for The Great Gatsby in December, and he'll be heading to UCLA this fall. 

Cora will miss Ben in the fall, and she'll also miss Eric, who is also a senior. Though he had a smaller role in R&G, Eric played Jay Gatsby and is also a very talented singer.

We took advantage of the photo prop area, with the skull of Yorick, from Hamlet.

Ben and Cora with Jarod, the teacher/director, who did an amazing job with these kids!
 

Stace and I were helpful, as always. Stace built these three box/crates, which also ended up serving as coffins for poor R&G. Here you see the stagecraft teacher picking them up from our house.

And I made the photo board, again. 

Fans of Rosencrantz!

Our Rosencrantz had SO much support for her big role! Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty were wanting to visit us, with Bill's recent retirement, so they arranged their trip to make the show. And Grandma and Grandpa were able to see it twice. 

JT and Jim drove out from La Verne! JT was a theater/choir kid in high school, too, and was familiar with the show.

Cora was honored that Mrs. Shafarman came to her opening night! Mrs. Shafarman is a big theater-lover, of course, as she has run the Meadows upper grade musical for so many years.

Auntie Mel!

Colleen, Rigo, Lucas, Liana and Sue came Friday night.

Jen, Christina, Melanie, Cami, Violet and Beck came Saturday afternoon. I didn't get a photo of every friend of Cora's, of course! Others were in the audience. The Friday and Saturday night shows, in particular, will well-attended by loudly appreciative students.

A real honor - two Canyon Theater Guild stalwarts, who each have been in multpile shows with Melanie, came Saturday night and were absolutely raving about Cora's talent. We'll have to check out George and Coach Greg in their next shows, too.
 

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are HERE!

 After months of rehearsing and working hard on her lines and accent and emotions, Cora and her castmates put on Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead this past weekend. 

In this rather quirky play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern - I'll go with R and G from hereon - find themselves in medieval Denmark's royal court, without much memory of their pasts or of what they're doing there. 

In actuality, they are two minor characters in Shakespeare's Hamlet, and playwright Tom Stoppard in the mid 1960s reimagined things with R&G as the leads. They don't remember their pasts -- because they only exist in the play, when they're present with Hamlet and his court.

It's a very existential drama, with humor and tragedy woven throughout. And, as the title suggests, they are marching inexorably toward their own demise, and we watch as they come to a slow realization of that fact, and come to grips with it. 

Can I say that Cora was amazing? Wow. She was. She was funny, she was committed. She WAS Rosencrantz. Her accent was solid, her pacing stellar. In her poignant, sad scenes, I had tears in my eyes! Hey, it's hard watching your girl die over and over!

We're not allowed to post filmed scenes because we don't own the rights, but in this clip here, you can see Benedict Cumberbatch playing Rosencrantz. And in this pic, Cora is doing this scene.

These two young men, both seniors, also were excellent. On the left is the Player, the man who runs an acting troupe that comes to court as well, and attempts to cheer up Hamlet but instead throws the court in disarray. And Ben, Guildenstern, was amazing as well. 

These photos were taken by my dad when he shot their dress rehearsal and took the cast photo.

At the start of the play, G is flipping coins, and the keep coming down heads - one after another, dozens of times in a row. It causes G to think something weird is going on, and he has a long monologue exploring the possibilities. R, meanwhile, is just happy to be winning all of G's coins! 

Ben's mom took this one - they were a PERFECT pairing, such a naturally funny combo with their obvious size difference.

I'm grateful for such great photos to remember this experience!