Thrilling Thursday

We had such a fun time Thursday afternoon at Magic Mountain, using Cora's ticket she earned by reading hundreds of minutes back in the spring. We took along our friend Emily, who has a season pass, and my mom came and got me in as her "buddy."

Here you can see that Violet isn't the only daughter of ours to get red and flushed in the heat. Thursday was a hot one, and it was interesting to see how Cora's face showed the heat compared to Emily's.

We started off on Revolution, and then did a Goldrusher a couple of times, since it's Grandma's favorite and she doesn't do the coasters that go upside down.

Then we waited a while for Jetstream, a water ride that was especially popular on this hot day.

The girls then went on one of those spinning rides I can't do anymore.

To cool off more thoroughly, my mom encouraged us to watch the 30-minute Querk show, which is a bit like a circus, with acrobatics and dancing. A highlight also had to be the air-conditioning...

We took a break for dinner, then rode the pirate ship and giant swings. We got a mango-pineapple frozen treat and bid adieu to Grandma, who was still jet-lagged from flying in from Hawaii earlier that morning.

The frosty yumminess helped speed on the line for Twisted Colossus, the refurbished classic coaster with twists and loops.

The ride was amazing - easily my new favorite. The girls loved it too, and, at 4 1/2 minutes, it was well worth our 40-minute wait.

From there, we went over to Goliath for another 40-minute wait and another big thrill. Then it was 9 p.m., the park was shutting, and it was time to head home. Love these summer fun moments!

Cruisin'!

The fun weekend we'd been looking forward to for a year finally came - Colleen's birthday cruise to Ensenada!

We left Friday afternoon from Long Beach, and since we were a group of ladies on a fun weekend, the photographer had us be silly for our "Bon Voyage" photo.

The ship photographers document everything, in hopes that you'll buy the pictures.

Here is the shot of us all together on our Saturday evening "dressy night," surrounding our 50-years-young friend.


















 
 Our ship, the Inspiration, was huge. We spent Friday evening traveling smoothly to Mexico, and woke up Saturday morning docked in Ensenada.

We spent that day walking around the town, and then had our fancier dinner Saturday evening. On Sunday we stayed out at sea, relaxing by the pool.

 While in Ensenada, we did some shopping, as the streets close to the dock are full of small stores catering to the tourists. We also went into the old bar Hussong's for a drink - it was 2-for-1 margarita day, so the eight of us shared 4 margaritas and a beer for $12. They were STRONG margaritas, too, unlike the pricier drinks on board the ship.

 You hear about the amazing food on cruises, and it was true. Here was our dinner Saturday night - lobster tail.

 I loved the nightlife! We bounced around on our three nights between a karaoke bar, comedy shows, a dancing/singing show, a dance club and a piano bar. There was also a big smoky casino, just like in Vegas.

 Here we are at the piano bar, where we spent a couple of hours Saturday night. It was a lot of fun in there.












Our final breakfast, out on the deck Monday morning, after packing up and leaving our rooms.
Thank you, Colleen, for including me on such a fun and memorable trip. Now, for my next cruise...

Week In Review

With the MG now in business, we were happy to take it out for a date night when Grandma offered to watch the girls.

We had dinner near the mall and then went for a cruise. It's a bit strange being so low to the ground in an SUV world, but of course it's fun too.

On Wednesday, we headed over to Valencia Glen for our summer Popsicles in the Park fun. This week there was a good turnout, and the big girls decided to build a sand village.

On Thursday morning, the weather was cool enough to think of going out for a hike. We went to Towsley Canyon, where Cora saw a family of quail down in this little hollow.

The girls had fun on our hike. Cora loves hiking and being outdoors, and Violet did well, too.

Cora and Violet have both been in ice-skating camp this week, with Sophia and Vivian. They enjoyed this, too, and improved a lot.

Sunday

After the all-star game on Saturday, the weather got very strange for July in SoCal - a big thunderstorm rolled in, with lots of rain. It eased up a bit in the evening, and we went to Mel and Nick's new place so Stace could help them put together a pesky Ikea wardrobe.

Thankfully, midday Sunday was beautiful for the Central Coast British Classic Car Show in Oxnard.

We enjoyed looking around at the beautiful cars. Perhaps someday soon, we will attend a car show with our own MGB.

After the show, we drove down the coast about 10 miles to a beach campground north of Malibu, where Colleen and Rigo had invited us to help celebrate Colleen's birthday.

Colleen is turning 50 this month, and next weekend I'll be joining her on a three-day ladies-only cruise to celebrate further. But this weekend, it's all about the family.

Stace, as usual, built a sand castle and then put together a mini Stonehenge.

Cora, and all the other children, also stayed busy digging and creating.

When we arrived, it was very warm, surprisingly so. We stayed under the big tent shelter Rigo and Colleen put up.

Then we watched as the clouds rolled in, and suddenly it started pouring. Most of us quickly made for the tent again, though some of the youngsters stayed out and got soaked.

Later, the sky cleared, and it turned into a lovely evening. We roasted hot dogs on the fire pit, and Cora and Lucas got in a quick game of paddleball before it got dark.

Hey Now, She's an All-Star!

In her first ever organized sports season, our Miss Violet Mae was selected to her park's all star team.

She was very happy about this... well, she's pretty happy about most things.

This is her trophy for playing for the Dodgers. She was known as "Puig" on the team, for Dodgers star Yasiel Puig, whose T-shirt she wore to practices.

The All-Star game was played on Saturday, at the Castaic Regional Sports Complex. Violet's Stevenson Ranch all-star team took on the Castaic all-stars, in a matchup of Los Angeles County Parks and Rec teams.

Violet's Coach Mike served as coach of the team, and Stacey was his able assistant again.

Here are the teams "good game"-ing each other following the game. Being that it was t-ball, both teams won, and they didn't play with real outs.

After the game, the children were called up to get their medals.

Three of Violet's Dodger teammates were also on the all-star team.

Assistant Coach and the t-ball player...

Violet says she wants to play again in the fall, and Cora is interested in trying out softball or baseball.

Thanks to Uncle Keith, Colleen, Rigo, Lucas, Liana and Grandma and Grandpa for coming out to cheer on Miss Violet.

Week In Review

With that pesky wedding over, it was time for the good stuff - the PRESENTS! The girls and I enjoyed watching Nick and Melly open up their gifts and cards Monday. They received many lovely things, and are a very blessed and loved couple.

Julie and Michael were in town this week, and we all spent time together. They got to see our home and hang out with with us and the girls; Julie brought Florida shells and art supplies and the girls created beachy art.

We also went swimming, before heading over to Lazy Dog so Mel could see them again too.

Just a cute snapshot of our youngest cutie. The shirt says, "Every Girl Needs a Lil' Black Dress," and it came with a black tutu. Violet loves this outfit that Auntie Kelly gave Cora years ago.

Please take note of the cat inside the blowup pool toy. He slept in this little boat thingy most of the day.














The girls attended Vacation Bible School this week at Valencia United Methodist, where the theme was Mount Everest.

Owletta especially enjoyed it.

On Friday, I helped out at the VBS final luncheon, while the girls ran around playing on the water slides. They had a ball, of course!

The Day After

On the day after the wedding, we woke up at Rob and Michelle's home, just a few miles from the wedding site. We'd had a crazy late night helping clean up the wedding, so we were so happy to accept their offer of a bed-and-breakfast.

The girls had a fun time playing after breakfast, while we grownups chatted.

We then headed up the coast a few miles to Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty's home, where we had a mini family reunion.

My cousins were all in town for the wedding, and we also got to spend time with Aunt Julie and Uncle Michael.

We last saw Julie and Michael in New York, when I was pregnant with Cora. I loved introducing them to the girls in person, after all these years of fun holiday packages and art supplies through the mail.













 It was nice to catch up with the cousins, too. Elizabeth and Jerry are soon moving from Riverside to Chicago for a fantastic job opportunity for Jerry.

Alison and Tyler, and William too, are all doing well in Washington.

 

Most of the family walked down to the beach, though I stayed back with Aunt Patty and Alison to relax on the couch.


















Wish we could have stayed around to pose in the family photo, but we had to get back to SClarita since Stace had to work Monday morning. Plus, he was driving the MGB home, and we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time.

Thanks to my Dad, Aunt Julie and Michelle for all these photos.

THE Wedding

After a solid year and a half of planning, my baby sister became Mrs. Nicholas Ruth on Saturday.

The day went beautifully, and we will all remember it fondly forever. Along with my own wedding, of course, it was one of the best I've been to.

Stacey's MGB stood proudly at the entrance, with "Welcome" bunting hung from end to end.

These first photos are all from the wedding photographer, who also is one of Nick's good friends and served as a groomsman.

Melanie's attention to detail was astounding. Every single table was covered in framed photos, quotations, tea lights, vases, etc.

Stace drove the happy couple away as they sat on top of the car.

You can see, it was a family wedding for us!

Nick's cousin's girls helped as the other flower girl and junior bridesmaid.

Melanie's friend and bridesmaid Shannon painted these gorgeous Disney scenes on the bottom of her high-heels.

I was happy to have a spot next to the bride at the head table. The framed picture in front of them was drawn by our Aunt Julie.

I had to give a speech! Auuuggghhh! It went well. I'm so proud of Melanie.

Stacey made this hanging polaroid-style frame for people to take photos in.
Our friends JT and Jim, along with Colleen and Rigo, Kelly and Brad, and Melanie and David were all in attendance, as they've all watched Melanie grow up. It was great hanging out together during the reception.

Cora was a dancing queen!