Saturday Summer Fun

I met up with my lady friends at Marstons on Saturday - we could have talked all day!

Cheers! So much to catch up on - summer trips, kids going away to college...

On Saturday evening, Stace and I went to the Concert in the Park, because a Fleetwood Mac tribute band was playing.

It was absolutely packed. See the stage, far away on the right side?

Wall to wall!

The city has new lights on the exercise stairs, which we saw for the first time. 

People climb these stairs to nowhere, just to get exercise. It's crazy. And they love them. Huh.

Earlier on Saturday, Stace and I cleaned up the garage and found lots of things to donate and throw away. That felt good!

Cora went to D&D at Logan's house.

Week in Review

Violet and I had a summer adventure day on Thursday. She's taking a summer school class online, so she's not free all day, but we snuck out in the morning to Quigley Canyon and saw two deer. Then, in the afternoon, we went northeast to Agua Dulce, to a market I'd heard about to get drinks.
 

We took our drinks to Vasquez Rocks, where we sat at a table by the nature center to rest and enjoy the view. 

We also chatted with the park employee who cares for the animals there (tortoises and raptors). She was very encouraging to Violet about volunteering at Placerita Nature Center, to gain experience for a future parks job. Vi is very interested, and started looking into it online. She'd enjoy working at Yosemite someday.

Ellie came over for a few hours on Friday, and we played at the little park, along with Legos and Calico Critters.

Also Friday, we had our new air conditioner and furnace installed. I'm very pleased with the company; after several quotes, I know we got a great deal. The air is blowing so cold now!

Also this week, we celebrated Colleen's 60th birthday with a little gathering at their house. I don't have photos, but it was a great night together.

One of the installers, after removing the old one outside, found this clutch of gopher snake eggs! Yikes! He took them home to try to keep them warm and hatch them.

When the A/C guys were done and Ellie had gone home, I met up with Christina and we went to Havana Savannah for coffee and pizza for a late lunch.

On Friday night, Stace played soccer, and Violet and I went to Placerita Nature Center, where the animated film Rango was being shown in the amphitheater. We hadn't seen it (it came out when Vi was tiny), but it was well worth seeing. Johnny Depp plays the main character chameleon; if you like old Westerns, you'll like it.

Kitties

 

Time for another cute cat post...

Evie doesn't sleep with Violet every night, or in the evening when Vi is going to bed, like Spencer did. But she does like joining her overnight or sometime in the morning.

See his arm around her? Evie is one loved little lady. Seb is often grooming her in the evening.

I saw a tip on squeezing a wet cat treat onto an upside down bowl, so the cats can have fun licking it off together.  

Evie, that's not how they work...

Saturday Fun

On Saturday, we went to a fundraiser for Finally Family Homes, and sat with Colleen and Rigo. We enjoyed a lovely bruch, Southern Gospel music, and auction, all supporting our friend Christina's charity.

Later, we went to Ventura, to celebrate Melanie and Nick's 10th anniversary. As a wedding industry veteran, Melanie planned a lovely beachfront vow renewal ceremony.

Afterwards, we had yummy food and drinks at a tiki bar/restaurant near Ventura's downtown. We then explored downtown a little before Cora drove us home. We're increasing her freeway practice...

 On Sunday, my parents came over and brought Eloise, while Mel and Nick had a few days away for their anniversary. We played in the pool, and Stace made smash burgers on our new Blackstone griddle.

Violet completed these lovely oil paintings in recent weeks. 

Day Out: Santa Paula

 Violet and I had a mini summer adventure in not-too-far Santa Paula, the town off the 126 on the way to Ventura.

Months back, I'd heard about a new park near the Santa Clara River, which runs through SClarita and along the foothills here on its way to the ocean. I had the idea that Vi and I could check it out, since we've been very blessed with nice (not scorching) weather since our return home.

It was a bit of a walk from the trailhead, but we found the river. It looked to be a mile wide and three inches deep. (Not really, but it was much wider than I would have imagined.)

Lucky for us, Liana and Colleen were free last minute, and up for the adventure.

We had Mexican food in Santa Paula, and drove through the adorable turn-of-the-last-century downtown. It would have been fun to stop in some of the shops, but we were running short on time.

Later that evening, Stace and I went with Mom and Dad to a Magic employee night at Hurricane Harbor. Because it's actually been not too hot, it wasn't truly warm in the evening - weird situation to have in July. So, I didn't do the water slides, but Stace and Mom had a great time and did all the ones that were open. (At employee nights, they don't have everything open.)

I took these photos to show the results of Six Flags pouring a ton of money in Hurricane Harbor. The refurb looks fantastic! This building is open on the other side, and has the guest lockers.

Henna and Friends

I heard that a frozen yogurt place in Canyon Country has a "half off" Tuesday evening special, and we were all free, so we enjoyed a treat together. 

Violet is SO creative. Her friends came over Wednesday, and she created this little guy as a birthday present for one of them. It's many individual layers cut, colored, and taped over (to laminate), then attached with a brad in a way that you could make it jiggle from side to side when held as shown.

Violet did this henna art on her friend.

They made this confetti cake from a box, following a social media trend called a "hear me out" cake. I'm not going to waste time explaining.

Here's Violet's latest body artwork.

While the girls had fun, I cleaned frosty ice out of the freezers, both indoors and in the garage. At least it was a cool job on a hot summer day!

Back Home

 We are home from England, and now commences the remainder of the girls' summer break.

We returned to an interesting time - my mom and Uncle Bill's brother Bob has passed away, and Bill and Patty are down here to gather his important documents and handle that side of the death. They also planned a small memorial with my mom, at her home.

Unfortunately, I got sick, and wasn't able to make it. 

But I did see them briefly on Thursday, the day after we got home, before I got sick. And Violet hung out with them and my parents, joining them on a day trip to Ojai. 

We returned to some ripe apples, and ton of ripe nectarines, and ripening grapes. This is shaping up to be our best grape crop ever.

Cora ran some errands for me while I was out of commission - I'd asked for milk; I hadn't asked for a giant bag of sugar cereal.

Violet did something big this week - she decided to repierce her right ear, the one that had closed up when she was 7.  We went to a longtime piercing parlor, where the owner took good care of her. He measured the current hole on the left side, to make sure the right would look even.

And he used a piercing needle, not a gun.

Celebratory boba! With all her henna tattoos, Vi fit in at the piercing parlor.

Stace had some Man of the House jobs to do when we got back, besides working at work. He put up a new clothesline, washed the car and tried to fix our faulty air conditioner, but unfortunately the new motor didn't do the trick. I'll hunt down a new A/C contractor. He had better success building his Lego F1 car.

London: Tidbits

 More photos from our little London trip...

Our hotel was near 800-year-old Southwark Cathedral, and I'd really hoped to make it inside. But our timing didn't work. 

Also, we were very near Borough Market, which is apparently an awesome food hall. But it was closed when we were available. We needed one more day!

We went to Covent Garden after the Tower of London, before heading back to get our bags and take the train to our Gatwick hotel Tuesday night.

We came across the Noel Coward Theatre, where Mischief Theatre was putting on The Comedy About Spies. This is the group that created The Play That Goes Wrong.

Again, if we'd had one more day! Or, even 12 more hours - a later flight Wednesday - we would have bought tickets for Tuesday night's show. The girls (and Stace and I) love Mischief and seeing the crew in person would have been amazing.

We happened upon one of the best-rated pie 'n mash shops, so we stopped in for a final dinner. It was delicious.

Violet wasn't excited to spend time in London - she's a nature girl, not a city girl. So Stace promised her a pair of Dr. Martens boots, talking them up, with their London history.

He got a bit of sticker shock when we went in, but he's a man of his word. Vi would have loved a pair of black boots with black embroidered roses she saw, but they were out of her size and they're completely gone online. So, she went for a very classic pair of eight-holes, with black thread instead of the traditional yellow.

With the amount they cost, hopefully they'll last her forever, and be a memory of this trip.

Just London scenes...

Stace and Cora went out early on Tuesday morning to see the site of the original Globe theatre, around the corner from our hotel. 

The letter "G" behind her is part of the outline of the theatre's site.

That'll wrap up our England trip, 2025. Lots of great memories made and experiences shared! 

Our flight home Wednesday was uneventful, as you alway hope flights are.