Surfs Up!

Last weekend we spent Saturday afternoon at the beach in Ventura.

It was a lovely day and the water was nice and warm. So warm in fact that even Lisa ventured into the surf to play.

Violet enjoyed boogie boarding, or floating around on a boogie board in the water, as it lapped up and down the beach. I tried to take her out a bit further but she is still scared of the breaking waves and preferred "surfing" her way. She had a lot of fun.

Last year we bought a 5ft 8inch soft top board for the girls to learn to surf on. Cora showed interest but did not enjoy getting knocked around by the waves and being dunked.

But this year has been a different story. On our beach trips this summer she has ventured out into the deeper water and bigger waves on the boogie board and hasn't seemed bothered with the water crashing over her.

We took the board last weekend for another try. She practiced on the waves after they had broken. Popping up was slow to start but Cora kept persevering and got quicker and quicker until...

... She's Up!

After she had got up once she kept trying and continued to ride the waves into the beach.

I was so proud of my little girl.

Cora has now got the bug. She wants to go surfing all the time and has been asking when our next beach trip will be.

After our long beach afternoon we walked to our beach house, otherwise known as Bill and Patty's, where Bill make us a gorgeous pizza. Just what was needed as we were all very hungry.

It was a really enjoyable day. I'm glad the sea was warm enough that Lisa would get in and have fun with me and the girls.

Week in Review

Stace was able to take the MG out early Sunday morning for a long canyon ride.

Ain't it purty?  It's nice for him to have it up and running, and he's looking forward to the cooler days of autumn when he can take it to work more often. (No air conditioning can be rough here in the summer!)

After our morning walk, Violet and I tidied out the garage so we could put my car in, out of the heat wave we're experiencing.

Violet decided that SHE was going to sweep out the leaves and bits of who knows what. I was so proud of her, since she isn't usually the first girl eager to work hard like this. She was proud of herself, too (though she wanted to photo to just be of the work itself, not herself).












On Monday evening, we went to Lazy Dog so Melanie could be our server there for the last time. She has a new job at a restaurant in Pasadena, much closer to her home in Glendale.
This week she worked her final shifts at her restaurant of the last two-plus years. We'll miss seeing her here!

Violet's homework this week was to create a Book Box, so she has a spot to collect all the books she makes in class. She took it to school Thursday, and then it came back home so we can reread her books at home. It also was "Green Day" at school.

Violet is still loving kindergarten, especially the social aspect. Ahem. She has received numerous official warnings about talking too much, or on one occasion, making a distracting noise. But, she is quick to reassure us, she hasn't lost her penny yet!

Not that we expected Violet to be just like Cora in school, but Cora probably had just a few warnings her entire kindergarten year - she was the kid "shushing" everyone around her when they were talking out of turn.

Mrs. Hawthorne assured me that Violet is fine, and I don't need to worry about her behavior in class, warnings aside.


On Thursday evening, Stace and I went to "Back to School Night," where we got to meet the girls' teachers and hear what they will be doing this year.

We knew what to expect in kindergarten, especially with Violet having the same teacher Cora had. But third grade - whoa! It is much more intense than second grade. Cora will be learning how to write in cursive, how to multiply, how to make Power Point presentations, how to write and present book reports, and how to type.

This page about her family was up on the wall. Cora wrote, "Mom, my mom loves me and I love her. She enjoys going to the ice-rink with me. I love her. Dad, we work on cars and play soccer together. We like brekfast at Carles Jr. Violet, we fight and argue but as a sister... I will always love HER!"

We all love you, too, Cora!

Here is poor Sebastian.
He and Spencer got out Monday night, and they didn't come in when we went to bed. This has happened a couple of times before, and it's always nerve-wracking.

Stace and I awoke to the sound of a cat fight, and once again, it was the evil black-and-white long-haired cat from the next block. He likes to come harass our cats in our yard. Stace broke up the fight and scared off Evil Cat.

A few days later, Cora noticed that Seb was hurt, and sure enough, he had two bite marks, one by his ear and one under his chin. We went to the vet, and the wound under his chin was infected. The vet shaved and cleaned the wounds, and gave him a shot of antibiotics. Now, I hate that Evil Cat $135 more.

Thankfully, he is healing well now.

Flying High

We headed to the Camarillo Air Show on Saturday, where we enjoyed flying displays of WWII-era planes, modern stunt planes, and the latest in tilt rotor technology.

It was warm, breezy and sunny, and one of the vendor booths offered inexpensive hats. The girls and I all bought a new hat, each with a handy chin strap. We're posing in front of a P-51 Mustang.

The V-22 Osprey was the tilt rotor craft, kind of a hybrid between an airplane and helicopter. Used by the U.S. Marine Corps, it's a vehicle I've heard about for years, and was fascinating to see overhead.

Stacey's company provides some of the hydraulics for it.






The stunt planes wowed the crowd with their aerobatics.

Nice photo, huh? Thanks to Aunt Patty for supplying nearly all of these photos. We me up with her and Uncle Bill, along with Grandma and Grandpa, at the show.






Violet especially loved this purple stunt plane - the color isn't quite visible here - which had a female pilot.

Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty's friend Lt. Hal Wilder was a special guest at the air show, where he had a table set up in the WWII hangar, with his memorabilia and self-published memoirs.

Hal, as he asks to be called, was a B-24 Liberator bombardier in Europe. Below are his cotter pins, from one of the bombs.

 The B-25 Mitchell Bomber, the  WWII plane that took part in the Doolittle Raid on Japan,  participated in a series of fly-bys at the air show.

Here is the B-25, flanked by various WWII-era fighter planes. They were beautiful to watch overhead.











This P-51 Mustang  has the red tail markings of the famous Tuskegee Fighter Squadron, made up of African-Americans during the segregated days of WWII.

We all enjoyed our afternoon at the air show, and afterwards went to Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty's for dinner, with Hal and his son. It was a special time together.

Week In Review

Along with letters, numbers and shapes, Violet's class is learning colors.

Tuesday was "red day," when the students were encouraged to wear red and they learned how to write the word, too. Lucky for Violet, with all the hand-me-downs she has been given, she was able to dress in red from head-to-toe.

Violet has enjoyed an easy transition into starting school. She hasn't cried once, and is happy to go off to the playground when I drop her off.

Thursday was "blue day," and Violet and Melanie both went with navy dresses. With three full kindergarten classes, it is so nice that these girls are in class together.

Our routine so far has been to walk to school with Cora, and then take an exercise walk with our friends, including Melanie and her mom Christina. Then, we go home, clean up and prepare for Violet's school day.

When Violet is in school at 11, I have 3 1/2 hours to do errands and work on projects at home. So far, I'm really enjoying this new schedule. Having Violet home in the mornings is very nice for both of us.

The other afternoon, I decided to read to Violet on her chair, and we were joined by Sebastian. My lap really isn't big enough for both of them, but we made do.

Cora likes to text her Daddy in the mornings if she has enough time. She also likes to take silly photos and make them even sillier. The things these kids know how to do, that we parents can't figure out!

Violet gets out of class 10 minutes before Cora. On one of those afternoons, she found a praying mantis (in the bottom of the photo). Soon all the kindergartners nearby were checking it out. Violet, with all her animal knowledge from Wild Kratts, knew that they are good bugs and not to be stomped upon.

On Friday evening, we all went to In-n-Out for dinner - best burgers and fries around!

Beach Fun

 After three whole days of school, it was time for a bit of R&R, for us girls at least.

We headed up to Ventura Friday afternoon evening, to enjoy Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty's hospitality and get in a little beach time.

School may be back in session, but the heat is still here. (Actually, we've had a pretty nice summer, but this weekend we're getting serious heat, over 105 for several days in a row - all the more reason to go to the coast!)

Aunt Patty and I took the girls to the beach in the afternoon, while Stace and Uncle Bill and my Dad worked on installing a sliding glass door in their dining area, where only a window had been.

 Cora had a lot of fun boogie boarding, catching quite a few waves. She didn't even cry when her thigh caught the sharp part of someone else's board, and she ended up with a long bleeding scratch.

 Voila!





















Stace took the girls to the beach Sunday morning, and they stopped at the donut store on the way.

I had gone home Saturday evening for our annual Mom2Mom leadership meeting, and then to help in the church nursery Sunday morning. Then I headed back up to Ventura to hang out.

After lunch, Uncle Bill and Stace got the kayaks to the little beach near their house, and we went off with the girls.

Stacey, Violet and I went in our two-man, and Uncle Bill and Cora each handled a one-man kayak. Yes, Cora was off kayaking by herself! Wish we had a photo, but with the water, it seemed too risky. She did so well, and we all had a nice time.

And a holdover photo from earlier this week - after picking up the girls from school Wednesday, we celebrated a good start to the year with ice cream. We went with a group of friends, and encountered dozens of kids and parents with the same idea filling Baskin Robbins.

Third Grade's a Charm

Summer flew by far too quickly.
But Cora is ready.
Ready for third grade, ready to see her friends, ready to get to know a new teacher, ready for homework... Wait. Maybe not ready for that last one!

I love that she chose to get dressed up for her first day of school.
We traded in some clothes at Children's Orchard a couple of weeks ago, and with the credit, Cora had to have this beautiful turquoise and black number. So classy!
(If only the new shoes we bought didn't give her blisters on her heels after her first day of wearing them! But I digress...)

The girls were eager to ready for school Wednesday morning, and happy to find their scooters and helmets waiting for them in the garage. Perhaps our orange stroller will be retired soon, with Violet now riding a scooter for our morning walks?

Happily, Sophia, Vivian and Riley are in Mrs. Breneman's class with Cora.

And a few more third-grade friends - Oliver, Trent, Sophia and Anthony.

This Sophia isn't in class with Cora - second year in a row they aren't classmates. They'll have to see each other on the playground, on the prisoner courts. That's a game Cora loves that seems to have sprouted at her school. At least, I've never heard of it anywhere else...

Best of luck, Cora, for a fantastic third grade year!

Kindergarten, Here She Comes!

I guess Stace and I must have blinked.

Somehow, Baby Violet is now Big School Kid Violet.

No longer a baby, toddler or even  preschooler, our youngest has morphed into a 5-year-old kindergartner.

Her first day was Wednesday, and on Tuesday night we got to check out the classroom. Here's her cubby...
...and her teacher, Mrs. Hawthorne, a friendly and familiar face to Vi since Cora was in her class three years ago. Then, she was the 2-year-old in the stroller who would wave and shout over the fence when we took little Cora to school.

It was such a brave new world for all of us three years ago! Now, the girls' school is so ingrained in our daily routine, it feels only natural that Violet should be here too.

Perhaps that played a role in the easy transition Violet has had. No tears, hardly any expressed fears. Mainly excitement and joy from our little social butterfly.

What a difference a few years makes!

All ready to go in on Wednesday morning.

Daddy made a second trip from work to the school for Violet's entry into class. Cora starts at 7:55, and kinder starts at 11. We can bring the children as early as 10:35 for playtime; kindergarten gets out at 2:30, and the other grades are out at 2:40.

Because Mrs. Hawthorne knows me so well, she knew that on the very first morning of school, she could hand me a stack of paper pennies to cut out. I'll be happy to help in both girls' classes this year, and with the art projects and hands-on interaction, kindergarten is especially fun to help with.

A final wave before Violet's line headed inside, happy and excited as she could be. She was just as happy when I picked her up later, and said her day was "great!"

We love you, Violet, and we are proud of the big kindergartner you are!

Hair Cuts

Because I left the whole back-to-school haircut thing to the last minute, the children's hair salon was booked solid when I called Tuesday morning.

But, my own stylist had openings midday on Tuesday, so the girls went to the grownup salon.

Violet is always happy to have her hair cut.

Adorable!

 

Cora started out the day balking at the thought of a half-inch trim.

But as she watched Violet getting beautified, Cora's opinion changed. She wanted her hair cut, too. A lot of hair cut.

She'd enjoyed growing it out - she'd basically grown it for two years, pretty much since the kindergarten self-inflicted bob. But she was ready for a change, to look really different on her first day of third grade.

The result is so pretty and grown up! We all love the change, and it will be nice and easy to care for again. It's still long enough for a short ponytail, too.