End of Week Fun

Here is the beautiful bride!

This is the year, the year Melanie and Nick get married. On Thursday, the girls and I went with Melly to pick up her wedding dress from the bridal store. She tried on gowns earlier this month, when we were away, and ordered her favorite.

As her matron of honor, it was awesome to see her try it on Thursday, along with one of her flower girls and one of her junior bridesmaids. The dress is gorgeous, and Mel will be a stunning bride in July.

Earlier Thursday, Violet and I went out to visit my other Melanie (and daughters Heather and Sienna) in their new home. We had a lovely time, but as I was holding the camera to capture a nice moment, Violet disobeyed, and subsequently melted down instead of apologizing. Thus, no photos of our trip...

We enjoyed a stunning sunset Thursday evening. I love that we can see the setting sun from our front yard. In coming months, when we finish up the yard project, it will be lovely to sit with a drink on a padded bench and see views like this.

On Friday, after I picked up Violet, we fed the ducks with her classmate Elena.

Cora is taking a five-week cooking class on Fridays after school, so we had a bit of time before we picked her up.

After we got Cora, we went back to the same area, to have a late lunch at Kabuki. I had a free meal awaiting me for my birthday, and who better to share it with than my girls?

Then, Daddy met us, and we headed over to Costco. My parents are members, and every few months it's nice to go with them to get a few things including cheap drinks, frozen yogurt, and sometimes dinner).

Funny Girls

 Cora's been on a cooking kick lately. She came up with the idea of coating the last handful of strawberries in the package with melted chocolate, and she's also been making smoothie/yogurt popsicles.

















And, the other day she and Violet (with a little help from Dad) made peppermint creams. Yum!



















  If we'd taken the next step to coat them with chocolate, they'd been very close to a York Peppermint Patty. Except that they were pink and blue - everything's better with food coloring, right???

Cora's also taking a cooking class on Friday afternoons at school.





Violet was so excited to be selected to be Special Helper at school on Wednesday, which coincided with "hibernation day," when the children got to wear jammies to school and bring an animal friend.

The animal then "hibernated" in a special sleeping bag Miss Lorrie passed out, with, "Shhhh, I'm asleep" written on it.

That morning, on the way to school, excited that Gleamer got to come with her, Violet shouted, "Gleamer's confused with all these trees!"
I sought clarification, so Violet added, "She's confused, because she's counting them. There's too many trees! Gleamer has holes in her ears. They show when she's confused."

A couple of more Violetisms: On a recent drive past the San Gabriel Mountains, she said: "I want to go back to Montana. These mountains make me sad. They remind me of Ave and Johnny's house."

And, a real gem: Violet, holding her empty Pez dispenser, said, "We need some candy in here."
Me: "No, we don't. You might want candy, but you don't 'need it.' "
Violet: "No, for the daytime. In the morning, to get me going."

Cora, in her advancing age, doesn't come out with such funny statements anymore. But this conversation did make me smile:

After learning about our country's three branches of government, Cora told me she wants to see a female president. "We've had enough boy presidents," she said.
Maybe Cora could be the first, I suggested. "No! Too many meetings. I hate meetings."
A day later, after looking over Cora's schoolwork on the presidency, Stace made a similar suggestion. "No! Too much work. And, too many photos. What if I don't look good?"

Up on the Roof

Eighteen months ago when I bought not one, but two MGBs, I needed a place to store the non-runner.

I asked Chris if I could dump store the junk parts car in his lean-to, with the promise that I would re-roof it. The lean-to had been leaking for years; no surprise really, since the roof was original from when it was built in 1980. (See photo of old roof, here.)

How do I know it was 1980? When I started work at then-HR Textron, I worked for the man that owned Chris and Paula's house and built the lean-to.

My friend Keith is still in touch with the chap and, knowing we had this project in mind, asked him how long ago he'd built it.

So, Saturday, with Bill's help, we set about re-roofing the leaky lean-to.

First up was figuring out the materials needed, so that Bill and Chris could go and buy them at Lowes.

While they were gone, I ripped off all the old roofing material, and removed the rotten wood.

After cutting plywood sheets to size, we repaired the damaged sections, ready for new roofing material.

After a lunch break, we set about laying the tar paper, and then rolling out and laying the brand new roof.

While we worked above, Lis worked below, going through several boxes of her old school and university keepsakes.



Over the last couple of days we've had some rain showers, and good news, the roof held up well with no leaks. Should last another 30 years. That should just be enough time to figure out what to do with that car.

Knott's Berry Fun

Knott's Berry Farm, an amusement park not far from Disneyland, offers a law enforcement special around December and January. My dad and one other person are admitted free of charge, while additional tickets are discounted.

As a birthday present, my parents wanted to take me (and the girls), for a day of fun. Stace wasn't too keen on going, so we planned our trip for a Friday afternoon, when he was still at work.

We left not long after Cora and Violet were out of school - Friday is a half-day for Cora - and, with a little traffic and a potty break, made it into the park by 3 p.m. That left only three hours to cram in all the fun, but really, the crowds were so light, we managed to get in a lot of good rides.

And, of course, we met up with Snoopy; absolutely no line!

 Camp Snoopy, the children's area, has a number of fun rides. The girls had a blast.

Cora and I also tackled Boomerang, a ride that sends you on three loops, twice, as you complete the circuit forwards and then backwards. I love riding the good rides with my thrill-loving big girl!

By the time we left the park, it was going on 7, and we were all hungry. We had dinner at a nearby place, and got back home around 9. It was a very fun day out, and a great birthday treat.

Long Weekend

We spent Saturday evening with our Pioneer Club friends, watching a children's movie at the church. Some of the children brought in cars they'd created from cardboard boxes, as the idea was "drive-in movie night."

We brought Skippy, of course. He especially loves Pioneer Club activities.

After the movie, we headed over to Sara and Tony's house for snacks and drinks, while the children consumed more media.

 On Sunday, in the midst of tidying a few areas, we tackled Cora's stuffed animal shelves. Now, her Beanie Boo collection has a designated shelf.

We also went to a party on Sunday for my friend Kelly's baby Noah, who has turned 1. We took with us the train table, trains, and a few other big baby/toddler items we no longer need. It's fantastic to have it go to good use by someone we love.

 On Monday, the girls were off school for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We rode bikes (I walked) the paseos down to CVS, to print photos for Cora's VIP poster for school. She is the VIP this week, and her poster contains a brief autobiography she's written, and a lot of photos.

 On the way, we stopped for lemonade at a stand set up by Sara's oldest daughter Megan and her friends. They raised over $140 to send to a charity that digs wells in Africa.

 Later Monday, we met up with Colleen and her kids at Scooter's Jungle, and then the kids convinced us all to eat together at Wendy's. It was a very nice day off from school.

Doggy fun

 We went to Grandpa's house on Saturday, and marveled at how much Benny has grown in the month or so since we last were over. His puppy fur is pretty much gone.

 Grandpa let Cora take Benny around the yard on a leash, for his first real "walk" on a lead.

 She loved this, as you can imagine!

Stace and I appreciate having nice, friendly dogs to visit, so Cora can have her fun walking and playing fetch.

We had Skippy with us (again), so we brought him along to meet Benny and Jake. Benny thought he was a new chew toy, though.

 One man and his dog...

 It's lovely to see the joy my dad derives from his furry friends. Unlike Jake, Benny is a real licker.

Violet most loves petting Benny when he's being held, so he doesn't jump on her. He loves playing with the little ones; he knows they're young, like he is.

Back Home

If you haven't experienced transcontinental jet lag, it looks like this...

This was Violet on Saturday evening, when we got home from having dinner out at Lazy Dog. She made it in the door, took off her shoes, and she was DONE.

Our flight home Thursday was fantastic, very smooth and easy with our big girls. It was a late morning flight, and we landed at LAX around 2 p.m. local time, 10 p.m. in the UK. So, none of us slept a wink on the plane, and it was hard to stay awake into the evening once we got home.

I was up very early Friday morning - 1 a.m., to be exact, and up off and on the next five hours with sickness. No details needed here; I'm just so grateful to Stacey for unpacking and taking care of the girls on Friday while I rested.

 Jet lag, perhaps made worse by the earlier flight, meant the girls were up very early the next few days. Thankfully, Cora is old enough to read for hours when she's awake too early, and she can get her own cereal for breakfast.

On a rainy Sunday morning, Stace couldn't tackle the yard projects awaiting him. Instead, while I helped in the church nursery, Stace and the girls upended the playroom.

They emptied all the toy bins and boxes, rearranged everything, and took boxes of toys into the garage. Now that Violet is 4 1/2, it was high time to shed many of the preschooler toys she doesn't play with. The girls even decided they no longer want the train table we've had since Cora was 2.

At the end of the day, we had a rearranged, more adult-friendly family room, filled with toys the girls still love. Win!

On Monday, Cora and Violet returned to school, and on Tuesday, Violet and I went to Mom2Mom.

Later in the week, JT came up with the children, and they played school with a kit the girls received for Christmas from our Montana family. For dessert, JT made me birthday cookies! I am truly blessed with amazing friends, all around.

On Friday, we had lunchtime fun at the park after school, and caught up with our school friends. Later on Friday, I took Cora to a birthday party, while Stace took Violet out on a Menchie's "date."

London Day Out

By Tuesday evening, our time in Somerset was drawing to a close. We packed our bags and said good-bye to Jenny, Euan and Olivia.

On Wednesday morning, we kissed Sue and Gord farewell, and Dean drove us up to London, to our hotel near Heathrow. We had a morning flight on Thursday, so it was going to be better to wake up nearby.

But, since we were all checked in by 1 p.m., and our girls are no longer toddlers, why not take them into the Big City and show them a few highlights?

First stop: the Hounslow West Underground Station. The girls were just a little bit excited for their first experience on the Tube. (Well, their first in their memory. Cora has, for the record, been to London once before, but she was a babe in arms.)

Thanks, Violet, for stealing yet another photo. It took about 40 minutes to get to our stop at Piccadilly Circus. Cora kept track of which stop we'd reached, and how many more we had to go, with the maps printed above the train car window.

And, we made it to London!

While I pose in Piccadilly Circus, Violet chases around the pigeons.

We got a bite to eat at a Tesco Express, a coffee for Mum, and walked down to Buckingham Palace. Cora, and Violet too, were very interested in seeing where the Queen lives.

On our walk, Cora wanted to know all about the statues honoring famous Brits that line part of the walk.

Since it was a Wednesday afternoon, it wasn't overly crowded.

 Nearby, we watched the soldiers drilling in front of Wellington Barracks while eating our lunch.

(Fellow fans of the BBC series Sherlock will recognize the bench we're on from Season Three, when Sherlock and Watson also watched the soldiers in the wedding episode.)

In nearby St. James Park, the girls ran around in a little playground. Buckingham Palace was just behind the girls' heads.

I found it all a bit surreal - my babies are old enough to "get" the excitement and importance of these historic sites, but still young enough to play. Magical.

A friendly constable on horseback stopped to chat with us, and let us pet her horse. She mentioned that the heavy police presence we'd noticed was because of a terror attack in Paris that day.

We fed our crumbs to the various waterfowl.

We continued around the corner and came upon Westminster Abbey.

And just beyond was the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Both girls were happy to see the famed clocktower and hear its bell.

Back on the Tube, we headed toward another must-see on our London list.

Of course, we're talking about the Tower of London, which has stood guard on the River Thames for over a thousand years.

Nice photo, Cora!

And, a bit more ooohing and aahhing as we saw Tower Bridge, sparkling against the dark cloudy evening.

We ate dinner at a new Japanese restaurant across the street from the Tower, and then, in a steady drizzle, caught the Tube back to the hotel.

A bus picked us up outside the Tube station and dropped us off right outside the hotel - it couldn't have been easier.

Thanks, London, for an amazing day! We all look forward to visiting again soon.