Concert in the Park

A good weekend...

We went to our first Concert in the Park on Saturday night of the summer - and our last, as it was the final one this year.
What happened to summer, after all?

We were lucky enough to spend the afternoon with Kelly. She is doing well, and it was great catching up.

The concert was packed - traffic on Bouquet was backed up for at least a mile. Good thing Stace had a Saugus girl as his co-pilot, to usher us onto the back streets, also known as my parents' neighborhood.

You can see from the group photo, we weren't anywhere near the stage - we could barely see the stage from our picnic spot! Still, the atmosphere was great as always, and the Journey cover band was a lot of fun.

Since Kelly was with us, it was appropriate for Violet to wear the adorable Vans sneakers Kelly had bought for Cora. The weather cooled off nicely this weekend, enough so that Violet could wear jeans and her denim coat.

Stace had a full weekend - he worked Saturday morning at work, and then got a lot of little things done around the house. He put up Violet's crib, Cora's height chart and some decorative hooks, mowed and trimmed outside, installed smoke alarms and cleaned the garage.

Tonight, we'll put Violet to bed in her own room. I tried this once, the week we returned from England -it wasn't a great idea, as she woke at 3 with jet lag. Cora was in her own room at around three months, but she was already sleeping until 8 most mornings.

Four months, and playful!

Our Violet is getting bigger!
(To see the prior photos with the doll, click here. And I promise, I didn't set up the doll's arm, or Violet's!)

When we took Violet to England at three months old, she was just starting to reach for things.

When we returned two weeks later, she was playing with toys.

At four months, she definitely is interested in toys, and she's definitely mobile.

Cora gave us some more time to get used to having a little one around before she was all over the place. Not Violet!

In photo two here (which Big Sis insisted on starring in), you can see the diaper on the floor, on the right side. I laid Violet's head on it and turned to pour cereal and milk for Cora and me. In that amount of time, she rolled herself over to Cora's Skipper Club bag, which she was playing with.

I can't believe how fast she can roll herself around, at the four-month mark. Wow. I am now putting out a twin-sized blanket for her to play on, to protect floors from her prolific spitting-up.

Violet also is loving to play, as you can see in the video. And she's getting more vocal.

She is still a complete sweetheart, thrilling us with her bright, wide smile and happy squeals. At dinner tonight, Violet sat between me and Cora, on the floor in her bouncer. Every time I glanced down, she was staring at me, and when I'd smile, she'd smile so big! It melted my heart each time.

She likes her pacifier more than Cora did, and I am attempting to conserve it for naptime and bedtime. She often chews on her fist or finger, and she drools a lot.

Schedule-wise, I'm trying to put Violet down at night by 8:30 or 9. She's still in her bassinet next to my bed, though she really is too big for it!

She normally wakes around 6 or 6:30and eats then, in bed with me, and we both go back to sleep until closer to 8. Sometimes she'll sleep until 7, at which point I'll feed her more thoroughly and we'll get up after.

On days we're home, Violet will nap around 9, eat again at 10:30 or 11, nap around noon or 12:30, and eat again around 1:30 or 2. Another nap at 3, and more milk at 4:30 or 5. Then, Violet normally is up until bedtime, with more milk around 7 or 7:30.

Ventura relief

We beat the heat Friday by escaping to Ventura with Colleen, Lucas and Liana, and some other MOPS friends.

Though I should always be prepared for the cold when we go to Ventura, I had looked at the forecast and it called for a high of 75 and sun.

When we arrived about 10:45, it was in the low 60s and cloudy. Thankfully I had sweaters for Cora and me, and Colleen had an extra warm outfit for Liana she let us borrow.

The weather didn't bother Lucas and Cora. They played in the sand for a long time, bringing water back in the buckets.

Eventually the sun did shine brightly, and Cora really had a great time in the water, running back and forth in the shallow part of the waves. She was very vocal about her enjoyment, saying what a great time she was having and how much she loved the water and how she wasn't scared anymore.

Violet and Liana liked the beach, too. They both took a nap in Colleen's tent.

Speaking of Cora talking, I haven't mentioned any Coraisms lately. I think it's because she chatters all the time, and says so many funny things, I forget to write them down!

I did jot this down the other day, when Cora found a stack of rubber bands from the pile of newspapers I was going through after we got home. She put them on her wrist and said,
"If I put rubber bands on, I'm like a soldier. Sometimes soldiers have rubber bands."

In the airport leaving L.A., Cora said to Stace, "Daddy, you're a very lucky man."
"Why's that?" he asked.
"Because I'm your girl!"

One thing she says these days is "super duper," and she also says "bessert" for dessert. By the word she means a little snack before bed, not necessarily something like cake or ice cream. We now try to build in "bessert" time in our evening, when she can have a handful of blueberries or a small yogurt.

Pool with Harvey

We spent Tuesday morning with Elissa and Harvey, who are soon moving to Florida for at least six months for a film job Frankie is working on.

We returned from England to a crazy heat wave, so the pool is the place to be!

Actually, the coast is really the place to be - more on that later!

Cora had a lot of fun in the pool. Wearing two flotation devices, she got brave enough to jump into the pool, on her own!

As for our jet lag, our very first night back was as you'd predict with two kids. They seemed to alternate periods of wakefulness, meaning Stace and I didn't get a lot of sleep considering how tired we were for having been up nearly 24 hours.

They progressively improved with their sleeping, and now are back on track.

England wrap-up

Perry's Cider Farm, maker of delicious hard apple cider (in England, all cider is hard!)

In this idyllic orchard setting, we enjoyed a cream tea and a savory tea, plus cider samples...

...from barrels like this, with Stacey's Nan.

It was great to spend more time with Mary, who is looking very well and loved seeing her great-granddaughters.

We also took a couple of trips to public indoor swimming pools...

...where Cora's confidence swelled and she managed to take both feet off the ground, without wearing a flotation device or clinging to an adult's neck for dear life.

And, for good measure, a final picture of the babies.
Whoops, the babies and Stace, I meant to say.

We've been home a week, so it's time to put an end to the posts about our trip. We had a great flight home, and the girls again were brilliant on the airplane. Cora watched television the entire trip, except for the last hour, when she finally fell into a deep sleep. (This is now the fourth transatlantic flight in a row when she's fallen asleep only for the final hour.)

Violet was excellent, too. I imagine we'll have a different experience at Christmas, when Vi will be older and presumably mobile and more opinionated.

I wish I could say that Cora was as well-behaved while we were in England. We hit a difficult patch with her; she was tantrum-prone and rude a lot more often than we would have liked.

I've had friends with older children say that three is a harder age than two, and that seems to be the truth. Anyway, Stace and I know how fast the days, months and years fly by, and we know that this phase will be over in the blink of an eye.

Swannery

We went with Nan and Pop to the Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset one day during the second week of our trip. It's an ancient managed colony of the birds, on a lagoon just off the southern coast.
Here, Nan and Cora took the tractor ride from the visitors center and entrance to the actual swannery.

I like that photo - let's see it up close.

The tourist attraction also features a willow, or withy, maze in the shape of a swan, with a big willow egg in the center. We had fun finding butterflies, dead ends and feathers on our way to the egg. Above, Pop and Cora figure out which way we should go next.
Cora loved being our leader, and always needed to be in the lead. She was a bit disappointed to find that the egg was made of withies, though - she was expecting a real egg, I think.

After the maze, we made our way out to the swans. There were hundreds of them, along with other assorted water fowl.
Watching the swans take flight was funny. They have to run along the water, slap, slap, slap, before getting enough lift to get up in the air. Then, they only flew a short distance before landing again. It seemed like an awful lot of effort, and that swimming would be easier.
We were there for feeding time, and children are allowed to help. Cora enjoyed feeding the swans, but she didn't like them coming near her. She amused the crowd behind the fence by moving her bucket of food every time a swan approached it.

Thanks, JT, for the suggestion on a great day out! We'll have to head back out in May when the babies hatch.

On the farm

We made a trip to the farm to visit Uncle Pete, Auntie Doreen, Great Gran, and Stacey's cousins Mandy and Karen and their spouses.

Karen and Martin have two children, 5-year-old Ben, and 10-month-old Chloe. It was fun to meet Chloe and introduce Violet to her and the rest of the family. Karen and I compared child-raising stories - I know if we lived in England, we'd probably get together often with our children.

Cora and Ben got along very well, playing the whole time.

We took a look at Doreen's chickens - she has over two dozen, so they collect a lot of eggs.

In the evening, Mandy's husband Wes came over in his big, new, shiny blue tractor. Such huge wheels! They are quite amazing, really, and the two bigger kids loved getting to climb inside.

Pete and Doreen have an impressive vegetable garden and orchard, and their centuries-old farmhouse is full of character.

JT, Jim and Wells

One of my favorite parts of our travels to England is getting to hang out with my best friend JT, or Jenny, depending on who's talking to her.

We met in journalism at Pepperdine and like to joke that she's the reason Stace and I are together. She met her husband Jim, a friend of Stace's, when he came over to America on vacation in 2000. Jim returned in February 2001 with his friend Stacey - the rest is history.

Jim and JT had us over for dinner one night, where they got to know Violet and we got caught up on each others' lives.

A week later, JT and I spent a day together with Violet in Wells, a really adorable, ancient, tiny city with a cathedral and assorted other gorgeous ancient buildings, one of which is surrounded by a moat.

We lucked out that this happened to be one of the two gorgeous, sunny days on our trip. We had lunch on a pub patio - I had realized I had been in England 10 days and hadn't had any beer (ale) yet!

Then we enjoyed the sun and walked around the beautiful old buildings. The houses I'm standing near are from the 1300s, and are still private residences.

Sorry for the delay...

We're home!

I still have several posts to write up about our trip, but getting back into the swing of things with two little ones is taking up all my energy! (Unpacking, lots of laundry, refilling the fridge, jet lag, getting the girls back on Pacific time, mothering, cooking, cleaning...)

More to come, when I can!

Child's play, English style

We met up with Duncan and Lindsey at the Martock Rec, or recreation ground - or Park, in American English.

Their children are now 9, 4 and 2, and Cora really enjoyed her time with them. We also ran into Stace's friend Lorraine and her 9-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter.

The top photo shows Stace and Dunc with the kids, and the second shows Connor showing off his cricket skills. Dean and Cora are the wicket keepers behind.

Then, Cora getting a ride on Dean's back. Those two got along very well - and he's 6 years older than her. Kind of like me and Stace. Hmmmm.

Then, a shot of the girls on the big, long slide. Charlie, the 2-year-old, was scared at first, but then discovered that she loved it!

And next we have Chelsea and Cora playing on the swinging thingy.

Cora was so excited to see Chelsea, who is nearly exactly one year older than her. They speak on the phone sometimes, and all morning Cora was getting ready for their visit. On our way to the Rec, Cora told us that she was so happy, she was about to cry.

The last two photos show the girls infiltrating the boys' football game.

Stace, Dunc and Connor ran themselves ragged - or, truthfully, Connor ran the men ragged. They were both very sore after - I think the mid (late? naaaahhh) 30s thing is really hitting them.

They used to play twice a week competitively, and now, not really at all.

Later, Dean and his friend showed up, so it was the three youngsters against the two men.

Fun times!

Swanage

Over the weekend we spent a day with Dean, Jen and Euan and drove down to Swanage, a pretty coastal village.

On the way we passed the ruins of Corfe Castle. See that threatening sky?

Its threats proved real - we had to hide under blankets while we ate our picnic lunch in the carpark playground.

Thankfully the rain stopped, and we walked down to Swanage. It is really sweet, and worth the visit.





One advantage of having a tiny baby is the need to sit every few hours for feedings - lots of good coffee breaks!

Here you see the brothers with their babies...




























Then a group shot near the harbor.












And, Euan is already like his dad, a big fan of cars.


He drove us back to Corfe, and then Dean took over from there.