Our Week

This week, we started a front-yard makeover project.

Though beautiful in different seasons, the ornamental plum tree in front of Cora's window has been in decline for years. When we noticed obvious evidence of termites, we called Rigo to have his crew come and remove it.

 We also had them remove two crepe myrtles that never thrived, and the white birch, that also was termite-ridden. We didn't know for sure about the termites here, but after seeing them crawl out of the cut end of the birch, we were glad we'd had it removed.

 Sadly, inside a dead section of the birch was the nest and eggs of the Western Bluebird pair we've enjoyed watching the past few months. I was very sorry to see the smashed eggs, and we haven't seen much of the bluebirds since. But, seeing those crawling termites made it obvious we made the right call.

 Here's our barren front yard now. Stace and I are planning to redo the concrete pathway and add a couple of trees, hopefully by the time summer's over.

 Violet has been asking for a haircut for a weeks now, and on Wednesday we had time to make it happen. We took off more than two inches, making it easier to brush through her curls.

On Thursday, we met up with my friend Jaimie and her younger children, Luke and Presley. It was nice to catch up, and the preschoolers had a good time together.









Later that night, Violet taped together this black piece of cloth and pink bit of felt. She said it was a bow, but not a bow tie, and taped it to her neck.

When I asked her about it, she said she made it to look like a clown's costume, because of her clown/circus birthday party last year.

A "Terrific Tot" no more (on to Terrific Preschooler?)

 A little chapter in our life came to an end this week, as Violet had her final "Terrific Tots" preschool class on Wednesday.

She's really enjoyed the classes, and I loved the two-hours, twice-a-week format. In the fall, she'll go on to the same pre-K preschool program that Cora did, with Miss Lorrie.

Violet and her classmates sang "Slippery Fish" one last time...

 ...before making a Father's Day card for Daddy.

Then the children had a picnic party outside in the park, complete with popsicles.









We have been so blessed by Violet's teachers this year. We've loved Ms. Diane for a number of years now, and Miss Amanda was a great addition to the classroom.

 From the blog archives... Cora and Ms. Diane from one of her My Buddy classes, when she was 2.

 And here's Violet's first My Buddy class, when she was 2.

She was so proud to be a big girl, going to school, with a lunchbox.

We will miss Ms. Diane! Hopefully we can stay in touch - that's what Facebook is for! Plus, we can always crash her work site - we know where she "lives."

L.A.'s hot salsa, cool fountains

We took the girls Monday to Grand Park in downtown L.A., where John Roberts was in town playing with Makina Loca for a salsa music and dancing fest.

Colleen and Rigo and their kids came along too, and we all had a great time. If you look really close on the stage behind us, John is on the right, in a blue shirt and white hat.

It was a gorgeous day in the low 80s, but since we were sitting in the sun for a couple of hours, it did feel pretty darn hot. Thankfully we had a couple of ice packs that Violet used to cool herself down, so she and Liana could get back to dancing.

Grand Park is relatively new, stretching from L.A. City Hall (seen here) several blocks west.

After the concert was over and we'd said hello to John, we went to the fountains on the west side of the park. These are in the courtyard of the county Hall of Administration, a very familiar place to me in my former life as a county government reporter.

Now, the main, older fountain lies next to a big water feature with spouts and a padded floor, perfect for playing in on a warm spring day.

What fun we all had! It was a great day in L.A.

Ventura - Work and Play

This past weekend was a three-day holiday here, and on Saturday, Stace headed up to Ventura bright and early to help Uncle Bill with a yard makeover.

See that line of fence posts behind them? That was the result of their day's labor.

The girls and I enjoyed a lazy Saturday morning at home after a late night out with friends Friday night. Then, we got packed up and went up to Ventura, too. Aunt Patty had some activities planned for the girls, including introducing them to the block-balancing game Jenga.

Later in the afternoon, we walked over to the beach.

Cora was eager to try out surf-fishing with Uncle Bill. She succeeded (if kelp counts).

That evening, after baths, we enjoyed fresh fish tacos with red snapper from a neighbor - the benefits of living near the ocean! Then, we had s'mores over the fire pit.

We spent the night, and in the morning while the girls were sleeping, Stace and I went out for an early walk along the beach. It felt like a mini vacation.
Then, Stace and Bill went back to work. The took out most of the plants you can see in the top photo, filling both the truck and a separate trailer.

After lunch, it was time for another quick walk to the beach.

Stace loves playing in the sand. He turned Cora into a mermaid, Violet into a speedboat and a created a sand castle, with encouragement from the girls.

Before returning home, Bill made an amazing pizza for our dinner. Yum. I can't leave their home after an overnight visit without having gained two pounds.

Friendly Week

 We've had a nice week, with several play dates with good friends, Open House, and fabulous weather (which we appreciated, after intense heat the week before).

On Tuesday, Melanie, Heather and Sienna came out to play. All went well, and we enjoyed catching up while Heather and Violet played.

 Norah came over on Wednesday to play, while Morgan had a special lunch at the Tea Gardens. Violet and Norah got along great, making up all sorts of imaginative games.

At one point, they were playing with the Frozen figurines, and I could hear Norah singing "Let it Go." Violet interrupted, "No! They don't sing it in the game (we're playing)!"

The signs on the wall are from Cora's preschool game she played with Violet for several days. It started as a Minecraft school, with Cora teaching Violet all about the video game that has taken over the lives of many kids we know. "Cora's my teacher," Violet had told me then. "She learns me about Minecraft."

Cora then expanded the curriculum to include letters and writing, thankfully.

 On Thursday, Cora's school had a minimum day before the evening's Open House. We packed a lunch and picnicked at the park, with several of Cora's friends and their parents.

Violet enjoyed riding around on Cora's scooter, and did very well.

 Here's Cora and "the other Violet," after they spent a while playing basketball. I always love hearing from Cora about what she does at recess and lunch: handball, basketball, and some game with a ball and net called "prisoner" are her favorites.

Cora definitely enjoys being a first-grader. Recently, we were walking to school and she spotted some kindergarteners, also on their way to school.

"Awww, look at the kindergartners!" she cooed. "They're so cute!"
And while relaying a school story to us at the dinner table, she described another boy as "much, much younger than me. He was probably only six."

The last first grade assembly of the year took place Friday. Cora was among the children to receive a special award for teamwork.

And on Friday evening, we went to Juliana and Daryl's for a family dinner date.

Another family came as well, with a daughter Violet's age and toddler son. The big girls spent part of their time in a secret hideout under Maya's bed, planning ways to spy on the younger children. Eventually they let Violet in to the game as a guard.

Later, Violet practiced and then put on a show, singing "Let it Go" for all of us.

Open House

We all went to Cora's Open House on Thursday, and admired all the work she and her classmates have produced this spring. At right, we have Cora's self-portrait as a marine biologist, which she said she wants to become when she's grown up. All the drawings and career proclamations were anonymous, and the parents were instructed to view them all and then guess which was their child's.

I wish I'd taken a photo of the classroom as a whole; it looked beautiful, so colorful with many impressive projects on the walls and hanging from the ceiling.

 Nan and Pop received Cora's "Flat Cora" project and took it around Somerset, and then sent it back to Cora's classroom with photos. It all looked very good, up on the wall of the school corridor with the other "flat self" projects.

 Here is Cora's sea life diorama, with the sea otter she made from clay.

 Cora made the otter was made from clay and painted it, and we glued a real shell onto its arms.

The children all wrote poems about themselves, following a set of prompts. They also made 3D images of their faces from items that help represent them.

Cora's poem reads: 

I am Cora Rose.

I wonder if I can fly. 

I see a cat meowing. 

I see a plane flying in the air. 

I taste the sweet blueberries on the bush. 

I pretend my stuffed animal is alive. 

I think my cute cat loves me. 

I touch the cat's soft fur.

I smell the red roses blooming. 

I am creative with the colors. 

I love cats I worry about nothing. 

I dream that I am flying. 

I hope I can see my Nan and Pop. 

I am Cora Howard.

 Mrs. Vasquez created a hair bow from an image of the cover of The Magic Faraway Tree.

 A few weeks ago, I helped in class and took a peek at Cora's journal. A few of the pages made me happy; here they are.

It makes us all sad that Cora only has about three weeks left of school. It's been an amazing year, with an outstanding teacher.

Day of Picnics

On Saturday, Stacey's work hosted a Western-themed picnic, which featured good-old-fashioned fun, especially for the children.

The girls enjoyed the games - here, they're taking part in a hula-hoop contest. The winner got a ticket to Disneyland! These days, that's worth nearly $100. Cora came in third.

Both girls were given animals after their plastic frogs won the frog-hopping contest.

Stace took part in the ping-pong golf game, and found it tough to hit the ball through the cutouts.

The food was good - barbecued chicken, steak and hot dogs, and a variety of side dishes and ice creams.

Later the girls enjoyed the petting zoo - Violet especially loved petting the super-soft ducks.

While Violet giggled, Cora fed grass to the goat.

Later Saturday, we went to the annual Mom2Mom family picnic. This has become an event we look forward to each year, and we had a great turnout this year, with eight families attending.

Stace played soccer with the children, and later played basketball with the other dads. At that point, the pop-up goal was put to use by Liana, Allison, Melanie, Cami and Violet.