Long Beach Aquarium

 On Sunday, we made our first family trip to the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. What a great day out! And it was all the better because we woke up less than 20 minutes away in Torrance, so we started out relaxed and well-rested.

Cora was tickled when a beautiful Lorikeet came up to her nectar cup for a drink.

 

Violet liked the seahorses; her favorite nighttime stuffed animal is her glowing seahorse.













She loved hanging out with the penguin statues, too.

Nemo! Lots of Nemos! And Dories! 

 We were really impressed with the aquarium. We were there for over four hours and saw so many interesting fish, turtles, sea birds and more.










There were several touch tanks, like this one, where Cora is touching (harmless) moon jellies.

What with seeing all the sealife, we worked up a good appetite for shrimp. Thankfully, Bubba Gump's was right next door.

Stace and I shared the huge shrimp meal, and after dinner we all shared the dessert trio. Yum!

Beach and Boats

 We picked up Sue and Gord on Friday night, and instead of crawling north with thousands of our closest friends on the 405, we went a few miles south to a hotel in Torrance.

It was great to wake up by the beach, and after having breakfast with the lovely Massei family, we spent some time in the waves.

Well, Gord, Stace and Cora did. It was just a bit too cold for the rest of us. Cora had her first real boogie-boarding adventures, with some great rides up the sand (and a good washing-machine experience, too).

It was nerve-wracking to be the mom on the beach, knowing she was under a big wave, but Stace was right next to her and all ended well. Cora is so brave in these experiences, not even flustered!

Soaking up the sun...

 Later, Violet and I went back to the hotel for naps, and Sue, Gord, Stace and Cora met up with my parents at the USS Iowa.

The battleship, which saw action from WWII through Afghanistan, last month was recommissioned as a floating museum in San Pedro Harbor.

 We knew from when we first heard about it that it would be a perfect thing to do together with our dads.

Cora also loved the experience, and asked lots of questions of the docents. She learned, among other things, that the Iowa is the only U.S. battleship with a bathtub.

Fun week

We've had some fun this week, our last "normal" week of summer. Nan and Pop are coming in Friday night, and they leave days before school starts.

On Monday, we went to the Hollywood Bowl for Summer Sounds, a series of children's productions that focus on the musical traditions of various countries.

The focus was the Philippines, and both girls enjoyed the show. Violet sat quietly next to Cora (center of group) and our friend Jordyn the whole 45-minute show (adults aren't allowed on the green carpet).

Next was craft time. Cora chose to make a treasure box, and she was very enthusiastic about her mermaid artwork.

Violet, on the other hand, found another way to use her box. Funny kid, and she did it to be funny (and then played it very cool before posing with a big smile). Cora was literally "rolling on the floor laughing her bum off."

When the children finished creating, they were invited to tell about them into the microphone to the other children. Cora finished last, so her speech went to a very small audience. She recreated the moment that evening, setting up chairs for the three of us while she very formally described what she made.

Our Tuesday was full, full of fun. We had a Mom2Mom pool playdate at our pool, and in the early afternoon, went to Hurricane Harbor with Grandpa and Grandma, and her free tickets. 

Wednesday, we did some house-cleaning and errands with a cranky Violet, who was overtired from Tuesday's excitement.

On Thursday, we visited with Elissa and Harvey, after a long two-year's separation while they lived in Florida and Texas. They moved back to SoCal last month to a beautiful home in Camarillo; we soaked up the cool breezes from their lovely new back yard and enjoyed brownies made by Cora and Harvey.

 Here, the children are dragging each other with the parachute on the wood floors; Harvey is protecting 

Violet's head from the door frames. Cora and Harvey got along very well, though they both needed some reminding about who the other was!

After our visit, according to Elissa, Harvey was talking about Cora and forgot her name, so he referred to her as his "very first girlfriend."

Car Show with Bill and Patty

 

After 20 years in Washington State, my Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty have returned to Southern California. Bill got a job as a junior high principal near Ventura, where they are now making their home. They made the big drive last week, and Stace was able to take Friday off to help unload the giant moving truck into an apartment and a storage unit. It was a long day of hard work - made a bit longer when the men decided the unit Patty had rented was far too big, and a much smaller one would be just fine.  

  On Saturday, we cleaned out our garage and played in the pool in the evening. On Sunday, we headed out to a British Classic Car Show in Oxnard, just 10 minutes from Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty's place. Bill and Stace share a love of cars, so it was a lot of fun to go together. Here, they look over a Triumph TR3. Stace is spending a lot of his free time researching the various classic British sports cars he's interested in acquiring "some day."

This car is similar to the Hillman Imp Stace's parents had when he was a baby.

Violet had fun walking around the cars, and kept saying she wanted to get inside one. She'd go up close, almost touching them, and then scrunch up her nose, breathe deeply and say she was smelling them. Then, she smelled her stroller. It smelled like a stroller, she said.

 Cora, meanwhile, got lunch and produce at the adjacent Farmer's Market with Aunt Patty. Patty's seen her share of car shows over her decades with Uncle Bill.

It's great having them close enough to visit for a few hours now, instead of having to travel 1,000 miles. And, if we could have picked the perfect place for them to move, it would have been to Ventura. It will be fun to do some beach-town house-hunting with them!

Stace took Cora back into the car show for a few minutes to show her his favorites, including this Mini, owned by his work mate, Jimmy.

Vacation Bible School

This week Cora went to Vacation Bible School at VUMC, where the theme was "Sky: Everything is Possible With God."

She had a great week, and brought home little crafts and toys each day that were meant to remind her to trust God.

Violet and I had fun too. One morning, while running errands, Violet asked, "Where are we going, Mummy?"
I told her we were going grocery shopping.
"No! Not again," was her reply.

On Friday, I volunteered for the day, helping with the older children during one of their activities.

Then, we attended the closing lunchtime party, with pizza and water slides.

Cora loved the big slide, which ended in a splash pool.

Both girls loved the tarp slip-n-slide on the big grassy area.

Violet was very brave to try it, and then couldn't stay away. She got the concept of staying in line, and following whichever person she got in line behind. When she'd finish sliding, she'd say excitedly, "I do it again. I get on line and do it again."

Then, she'd line up and point to a child in front of her and say, "This boy?"
Sometimes she'd follow quite closely, which was comical.

I hula hooped for a bit and the girls wanted to try it for themselves.

I'm now looking forward to next summer, when both girls can take part in VBS! I know Violet will love it just as much as Cora has.

Summer Fun

 Our summer is flying by! This is a sad thing, since we're having a great one!

We've had friends over for pool play dates, like Mari and her mom Susan and sister Clarise. I met Susan through a cloth-diapering Web site when Cora was 6 months old, and she's been a generous friend over the years. A majority of Cora's clothes come from Susan's girls! Sadly, they're moving back East next month so we won't see them much in the future. 

We also went to Jill's new apartment for a playdate last week. They moved very close to us, which we're so happy about! Alexyss will be in first grade at Meadows, so we can maybe do some after-school playdates on Fridays when the older grades get out not long after the kindergartners.

This week, Genia, Jill and I and all the children met up at a park for lunch and play and water-fountain-sprinkler games.

We've also played as a family! One night Stace surprised Cora by getting the tent out! Getting all the bedthings in place was so exciting for the girls. For Violet, the excitement continued for hours... until Stace and I had had enough of the "My Gym" somersaulting over our heads and put Violet back indoors. (And me - I made the deep sacrifice to sleep inside.)

I read a fun frugal idea about letting children play with cornstarch mixed with water and food coloring. The consistency changes continuously, and it's just a weird thing to touch and play with. This occupied both girls for at least an hour one morning at home.

 The Roberts took a three-week family road trip, and we sure missed them! The day after they got back, we had Ave over for the afternoon. She and the girls played so well, like always, making Tuesday a very easy day for me! After dinner we headed to ice cream night at Baskin Robbins.

 For four weeks, Cora took part in Camp Clarita on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 until 1. This was perfect for us! It gave our weeks structure and Cora some fun with children her own age, and allowed me to get errands done with just little Violet. Violet loved picking up Cora, and always rushed up with arms open for a hug. It was the sweetest thing to see them so happy to see each other after four hours apart.

 After picking up Cora one afternoon, the ice cream truck was playing its tune next to the park. What's summer without ice cream?  Especially when you can share with your sister!

And even more especially, when you can share it with your squirrel!

(No ice cream was actually shared with squirrels, friendly or otherwise. After taking this photo I shooed this guy away.)

Silly Violet

 Violet made me laugh the other day. We were getting ready to leave to take Cora to Camp Clarita, and running a little behind.

Cora encouraged Violet to eat more quickly, so we could leave.
"No. I eating properly," was her reply. I wish I had it on tape! Her voice is so cute: "pwop-uh-ly."

After taking Cora into camp, we went to the grocery store. When we had finished our business at the deli counter, Violet said, "Tell the man I'm 2," referring to the deli man. I think she's gotten used to people talking to her when she's in the front seat of the cart/trolley.

At the store, she was most excited to be buying yogurt drinks. She talked about them a lot. When we got home, I emptied the car and went to the back of the house, and when I came down the hall, I heard Violet rummaging around a drawer.
I came out to find her happily consuming her own yogurt drink! She had found them in the bag, got one out of the four-pack, got a straw from the drawer and pierced the top herself.

Later in the day, she asked me to tuck her in on the cat's bed.

And this week, I asked Violet to help by putting a new package of toilet paper rolls into the empty drawer. Here's what she did, with the declaration, "I making a stack!"

Our Violet loves making us laugh.

Violet's swimming lessons

This week, Violet completed a two-week course of parent-child swimming lessons through the city. 

 Stace, being the swimming guy in the family, took the reins Week One. Violet was happy enough to play on the step, and would blow bubbles and dip her face in with no problems. But, she screamed and cried each time he held her and took her out into the pool. This was a little surprising since she has enjoyed the pool this year, and last summer loved being held in the water.

 Since part of her screamed requests were for me, I got suited up for Week Two. Lucky for me, lesson one this week was on our 106-degree day! Even I love being in the pool when it's that hot.

 As you can see, Violet did just fine when I was holding her. She kicked like a champion and even doggy-paddled her arms. And, she would count to three and jump in.

She loved it! What a change. I feel bad for Stace, actually. I guess Violet still has a bit of "Mummy's girl" about her.