Weekend Fun

Following Violet's t-ball game Saturday, we headed up to a beautiful community near Tehachapi, about 100 miles away.

The occasion was a 60th birthday party for our former next-door-neighbor, Kriss. It was great visiting with him, his wife Julie, and their family and friends.

The party was held at a small lakeside park near their home, in an area in the hills where antelope, elk and deer roam.

 After lunch, Julie got out a blowup boat, and her son and grandkids went out. Cora and Violet got to ride, too.

 Here are Stace and Kriss, watching the kids. We were so lucky that the weather cooled off dramatically, and barely hit 80. It had been in the 90s all week at home.

 It didn't need to be super hot for these two to go jump in a lake!

 On Sunday, we went to a classic car show in Old Town Newhall. Of course, Stace found an Englishman with an MGB.

Later Sunday, we met up with Colleen and Rigo and their family for dinner after church. The sunset was gorgeous!
Then, it was home to prepare for our vacation to Montana.

Week In Review

Here's the photographic evidence that they really do love each other!

Having our family together again was a great feeling.

On Tuesday, Cora and Stace - and Violet too - were up very early. No surprise, for two of them were jet-lagged, and the other was excited to play with her sister again.

Later in the morning, while Stace was at work, we girls went to a cheap Summer Movie Express film at our local movie theater. We saw Paddington for $1 each - such fun! Afterwards, we caught up with some old friends we ran into, and posed by an ad for upcoming Peanuts movie.

Later Tuesday, we swam with our friends Emily, Charlie and Tommy, and then Violet had t-ball practice. It was af full day for Cora!

On Wenesday morning, we headed back to the movie theater and watched Turbo, another cute family movie. This time, Toni, Sendy, David and Chris went too.

We had lunch as a group after the movie, and then went back home to get ready to play together at the pool. When we stepped outside, this sight greeted us - a huge plume of angry smoke. A fire in the Newhall Pass was dropping ash in Valencia.

Thankfully, though may homes were threatened in what became a 400-acre-fire, none were burned.

Thursday was a "normal" day, with housework and shopping on the agenda.

We had some free time on Friday, so Sam and Riley came over to play.

We played in the pool, had lunch, and pretended it was Christmas time. Grandma had given the girls a set of four gingerbread houses in December, and we never got around to doing them.

With four girls, it was a fun activity for a hot summer's day...

...even if the houses didn't stay together very well!

Working Holiday

 Some time ago my Mum and Dad decided to install a new kitchen into the bungalow they will be soon moving into. Their house in Martock, that they lived in, and raised a family in, for nearly 40 years, was put on the market and sold within days.

I decided that when the job was scheduled, I would fly over and help my brother Dean install the new kitchen. Dean is working for himself once again, doing home renovations. At the moment he has a lot of work on his books, some of which is for my Mum and Dad. He, along with our parents, are renovating their soon-to-be new home in Kingsbury Episcopi. As a surprise, Lisa and I decided that Cora would come with me to help out a little and spent some time with her Nan. Violet would spend the week having a week with Mummy.

Nan and Pop had a nice surprise when they picked us up from Heathrow airport. We had a lovely drive back to Somerset. In fact, the weather was nice the whole time we were home.

Here's Mum and Dad's new home - a gorgeous three bedroom bungalow with nice gardens, on the edge of the Somerset levels. The open fields are just footsteps from their door. Dean has been hard at work for weeks, plastering rooms, updating plumbing and re-modeling the bathroom. My Mum and Dad have been working most days stripping wallpaper and re-decorating.

 On my first work day, we re-plumbed the kitchen, ran electrical in the walls and finished off the wood flooring.
Also, on the first day, it's worth noting that my Day split his head open after hitting it on the car boot latch, causing blood to cover his face, and I drove the car into the metal gates in front of the bungalow, denting the front of the car and smashing the gate. Not the best start to my trip to help out and be useful.

Day Two started off better; Dad had calmed down over the smashed-in gates and damage to the car. His head was healing nicely and Dean and I were off and running with the kitchen fitting.
For the first time in his life my Dad will have his own work shop. Cora helped out with painting the garage that will become his own space for the projects he's always working on.

 Over the next three days, the work went well. Dean and I cracked on and got all the cabinets and counter tops fitted. During the whole trip we pretty much worked from 9 till 7:30 with fifteen-minute lunch breaks. Dean's a bit of a slave-driver.

It was really nice working with Dean again. He really is a hard grafter and does good quality work.
As far as the kitchen install goes, I'm still not sure if my trip was a success. What with the gate and car I think I did more damage than good.
With that said, being home with my family and working with my brother is always worth it, no matter what the cost.

On Sunday, our last day - and my birthday and Father's Day - we all, Mum, Dad, Dean, Jenny, Euan, Olivia, Cora and I, went to a country fair. It was a nice, relaxing day after a long week.
We went on a tractor and trailer ride, had a ploughman's lunch, drank cider, watched Cora and Euan on a climbing wall, and looked at old cars. All in the fresh air of the sunny English countryside. Only two things could have made it better... Lisa and Violet.

The week went so fast. Cora spent much of her time with Nan, which they both enjoyed. I spent my time working. Unfortunately there was no time to see Dunc and his family or Andy and Jen or other friends and family. I truly wish there was more time.

It came time to leave and return back home to Valencia, only this time I not only said goodbye to my family but also the home I grew up in. The small two-bedroom house on Whellers Meadow, Martock, that holds so many memories. I am sad that my parents are leaving, but very happy that they are moving to a beautiful new home, in a lovely village surrounded by stunning Somerset countryside.

Circus, baseball, Menchie's, Friends

The Circus Came to Town! And we saw it!

I hadn't been to the circus in who knows how long, and Violet had never been. My mom suggested we include it on our week of fun, and she handled the tickets. As tired as Violet was from her non-sleeping-sleepover, I didn't know if she'd stay awake. But as soon as the acrobatics started, she loved it.

On Friday evening, we headed up to Lancaster with my parents to see the Class A Jethawks baseball team play. Grandma and Grandpa came too, as a Father's Day treat for my dad.

Violet enjoyed watching, especially since she plays t-ball. She said she would watch the hitters and fielders for tips, but she didn't need to watch the pitching, since there is no pitching in t-ball.

Friday night was another late night - following the game we watched fireworks, and we didn't get home until almost midnight.

Violet's team played in the early game Saturday, which was a little tough considering our late night. But, as the temperature crept up, I was glad we were done and back in the air conditioning by 10. It was a WARM one!


















On Saturday afternoon, I took Violet to my parents' house, and headed out of SClarita to hang out with Melanie and some of her girlfriends. It was a second bachelorette night out, since one of her bridesmaids couldn't come to our weekend away. It was a fun night out.

Violet, meanwhile, played in the jacuzzi, went out to McDonald's, and slept over. That made TWO sleepovers in one week!

On Sunday, after I helped in the nursery and picked up Violet, we relaxed at home. Then we went back to church, and out for frozen yogurt at Menchie's. Happy Father's Day, Dad! (And Stace! And Gord!)

Monday was the final day of my week with Violet, and we were busy running errands, cleaning up and anticipating seeing Stace and Cora again.

Colleen texted and asked if we were free to meet up at the library, where a balloon artist was doing a storytime. Yes! We were free, and it was fun to see each other again.

Then, it was back home for our last-minute preparations, and then off to the airport for our happy reunion.

Sleepover!

Violet had her first sleepover this week, when a late-evening playdate turned into an invitation from our good friend Sara, Alli's mom.

Thanks to Sara for sharing all these sweet photos. The park photos are from the picnic following the last day of school. Violet ran over to Sara, who is a photographer, and started posing and begging Sara to photograph her. Such a ham!

Violet and Alli started squealing when they heard the news that Vi would stay over Wednesday night. It was around 9 p.m. when I left, and Sara sent me updates throughout the night.

Violet had no trouble at all being away from me, though she did have trouble going to sleep. She was having too much fun!

Sara said Violet exulted, "We're going to stay up 'till the midnight!"

The girls pretty much did. The next day, they were tired, of course.

I picked up Violet around noon, and we planned with Sara to head over to our pool around 2:30 after lunch and a rest.

Violet rested by playing quietly in a bedroom rather than napping.

Just as Sara texted that she and her girls were on their way over, this is what I found in the playroom. Silly girl. After a power nap, we had some pool fun together.

A Disney Beginning

Violet and I started our "Mummy and Violet Week of Fun" with a bang - a trip to Disneyland!

It was a warm day with plenty of fellow visitors, but not too horribly hot or crowded. We got to go on Violet's favorite ride - Dumbo - and a few others, including Nemo's submarine adventure, a first for both of us.

Grandpa got some nice photos of us with the Disney signs and castles, but sadly his camera disappeared in the next day or two.

Violet didn't wear the same tennis shoes she wore on her last trip to the Mouse House. Sadly, these shoes were more flat, and she didn't reach the 40-inch height requirement for the rides she went on the prior month. She was such a trooper about it though, not shedding one tear.












We all enjoyed the new fireworks show and the revamped parade.

We left the park around 10, the parking structure about 11, and were home after midnight. What a day!
















Tuesday was a recovery day. We didn't manage to leave the house for the grocery store until well after lunch, just in time to get back for t-ball practice.

After practice, we did our Tuesday night ice cream treat - the highlight of Day 2 without Daddy and Cora.






Wednesday was a big day for Melanie and Nick - they started moving into their new place in Glendale! Violet and I, and Grandma and Grandpa of course, all helped out.

Wednesday night marked the return of Popsicles in the Park, one of our favorite parts of summer.

We got to see some of our school friends and Mom2Mom friends, play, and have fun. Violet had so much fun, she stayed all night long - she had her first sleepover, at Alli's house. More on that soon...

DIY Update

I think our yard is far enough along now to share some "after" photos from our renovation.

Here's our new arbor bench,with cushions and flowering pink bower vine. I love how this turned out.











The ornamental pear tree is doing well, and its afternoon shadow falls across the front door. Hopefully by next summer it will provide some real shade. The ground cover under it is filling in and covering the mulch.








The mini lily of the nile plants are blooming nicely now, too.












The whole house fan has been operational for several weeks now. It's a great addition, and provides a nice cool breeze in the evenings and mornings, when it's cooler outside than inside.

 The louvers open in when the fan is on.