Interesting Sunday

Very quickly, our lives have all changed with the coronavirus causing the government to pretty much shut down all large gatherings.

So, we took part in church online Sunday morning, in our jammies.

 Later Sunday, Vi and I took a little walk up the hill, where my lovely girl picked me a little bouquet.

Later, we took a longer walk in Mentryville, which we hadn't visited in several years.

 Mentryville was an oil town on the west side of the Santa Clarita Valley. A few buildings remain, including a schoolhouse, and this outhouse.

We hiked back to the oil apparatus, which was next to an old picnic area for the workers.

 Our budding archaeologist was excited to find this bit of pottery in the mud.

 Both girls were happy to play in the creek. Our recent rains have been good for something!

We checked out Charles Mentry's big house, but despite Cora's attempts, it was locked tight.

She was able to walk right into the chicken coop, however.

Week in Review

Violet and I returned from Arizona to a rainy few days, and Violet also needed her blood drawn Tuesday for her coming appointment with her endocrinologist.

I always get her a boba treat when she gets her blood drawn, and since we were having Charlie over, I made it a group field trip to Cozy Tea and Juice.

That boba gave the kids energy to burn, or at least Char, and despite the rain, he had fun on the trampoline. He even convinced Cora to join him; they both ended up soaked to the skin. So fun!

 On Wednesday, I took part in our school's Women in History week, dressing up as pioneer and author Laura Ingalls Wilder. I pretended I was Laura, with notecards and a script that, after a few class presentations, I had pretty much memorized.

This was a bit out of my comfort zone, but Violet's dear friend's mom was organizing the event and asked if I'd consider it. When she told me this year's theme was authors, and Laura Ingalls Wilder was an option, I agreed.

 I've read all of her books, and loved them, and have read them with both girls. So it was easier to present some of the details, since I knew them from my own repeated readings. I was in each classroom about 15-20 minutes.

Thanks to Mrs. Zamperin for taking this sweet shot of me and my favorite fourth-grader!

I had a full day of presentations Wednesday, and a full half-day on Friday, all together going to 15 classes.

While in and out of classrooms on Friday, I was in the school office as well, where we all were discussing the big news that was coming in fast and furious.

Because of the Coronavirus, first L.A. Unified, then the Hart district, then the Newhall district, all decided to close their doors for several weeks. This way students wouldn't be near each other to pass the virus around; we'd be homeschooling, with work given out by the teachers. Unprecedented times!

After school Friday, Violet and I went to her doctor - she continues to grow well! She's now in the 28th percentile.

Working Hard, and Bunny Sadness

Stace has been reorganizing the garage, redoing his cabinetry. While Violet and I were in Arizona, Stace and Cora finished the project, building the shallow shelves he sought to keep his tools in.

As usual, Cora was an excellent helper.

Beautiful job!

Cora also worked hard in the yard, enough to earn a tidy sum. She learned to to the string trimming, adding to her lawn care repertoire.

While Stace and Cora were working in the yard, Spencer brought in a second dead baby bunny, after I found him with one Friday morning. Then, after Cora buried Bunny No. 2, there was a third!

This one, like the Monty Python plague victim, wasn't quite dead yet. Cora cared for it as best as she could, and set it up on the hill in a hidden spot, with water and grass.

So cute. Cora visited it several times Sunday, and it seemed to be doing OK, well enough that she named it Twitch.

Alas, the final time she checked on it, it had passed on, apparently from internal wounds.

Stace and Cora made sure the cats were then in the house, but the next morning, another dead bunny on the lawn! This one had been torn up, so by something more wild than our cats (who were locked inside).

We kept them in for the next week. We are assuming a mama rabbit had a litter in a nearby yard, and then was killed or otherwise left them defenseless. In our 11 years in this house, we haven't seen rabbits in our yard, and our cats have never caught one.

Sweet Friendship

 A dash of cute to brighten your day!

(Thanks, Sara!)

Awesome Arizona!

If we hadn't already had a big enough week - driving to Medieval Times on Thursday, going to Disneyland on Friday - Violet and I were also busy packing for our weekend adventure.

Stace took us to Burbank Airport on Saturday morning for our flight to Phoenix, where Sara and Alli picked us up for a fun girls' weekend getaway!

Once back in their hometown of Gilbert, we went to the cute old town area, where we had a yummy lunch at Joe's Real BBQ.

After lunch, we went home and chatted, while the girls played. Then, Sara and I had naps! I'm not good at napping, but I needed this one!

That evening, Tony made a lovely charcuterie board.

Sunday afternoon, we went to the lovely new regional park in Gilbert that we visited in October, when Christina, Cami and Melanie were with us all.

These two have such a sweet friendship!



















I love this pic Sara got of Violet trying to take a selfie with her polaroid camera. She hasn't used this much in recent months, but was very excited about bringing it on this trip. We ordered new film and a new carrying case on Amazon while we were having our Dole Whip at Disneyland, and had the order delivered to Sara's house.

On Sunday night, Sara, Tony and I went to their favorite sushi place, where they have Happy Hour all day on Sunday. It was yummy, and so inexpensive!

Back at the ranch, Alli and Vi had s'mores, and then watched Harry Potter outside.

On Monday, after we got packed up, we went to Top Golf, a fun place that Sara and Alli had taken Violet to when she flew out on her own to visit them.

It's a driving range, with electronically monitored balls and points awarded for hitting the ball into targets.

We then went to an Ethiopian restaurant, a place special to Alli and family because of her Ethiopian heritage. I enjoyed the meal very much, and especially enjoyed learning about the cuisine.

 We then headed to another cool park, with this giant climbing structure.

And then, it was time to say goodbye and head back to the airport! What a fun weekend! 

Disney Again!

 When I looked at the Disney annual pass blockout calendar, I knew that Violet and I had to make another trip to Disneyland on Friday - the last Friday open on our passes until late fall!

We took off after school and had a great afternoon/evening at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Violet always has to do Animation Academy, so here are our Stitches.

 Another must-do is check on the kitties near Grizzly River Run in California Adventure, and the ducks (and ducklings) in Disneyland. We then went over to Redwood Creek so she could run around.

 Back at Disneyland, we shared a loaded Dole Whip. This has become another must! And it hopefully made up for the fact that we did NOT go to her favorite restaurant, Lamplight Lounge, because I was sticking to our budget.

We then went on Thunder Mountain.

We also went on the Ariel ride - why not?

We were actually able to get fast passes for Radiator Springs! This was a rare treat.

And back to Disney for a reservation at Oga's Cantina for a quick one.

Before heading home, we went to a Star Wars Land store, to check out the Kyber crystals, which you can buy to power your light sabers.

It was another fun Disney Day!