Weekend Fun

It had been a few weeks since the kids went to the airsoft field, but the stars aligned and they were able to go on Saturday.

Pam took these cool pics of the kids. 

The kids all came over in the evening for some pool/spa time, and then we watched Knives Out again. Such a great film.

Bring on summer vacation!

Violet spent her weekend nights in her favorite bed, on the couch. 

The new cat bed made for a soft pillow...

...until the rightful owner returned.

*rightful owner is a disputed title*

On Sunday, we checked our a new bakery in a new multi-use development in Old Newhall, across from the library. Loaf offers Japanese pastries featuring super soft and fluffy dough, and popular lavender lattes. We enjoyed what we bought!
 

Week in Review

We had Jeff, Jenn and the boys over for dinner Saturday, which gave us a great opportunity to thoroughly tidy the house. Woohoo! 

We ended our night introducing them to Jackbox, which is always fun with a crowd.

The next morning, I took Cora, Zach and Trevor to airsoft. I love it when Cora gets a full day of fresh air and running around!  Violet, no surprise, has no interest in trying it out. Getting shot with pellets doesn't sound good to her (or me).

Violet needed her labwork this week for her appointment with her endocrinologist next week. As usual, I rewarded her for the extra poke with a boba drink. I noticed a Tuesday special price on the Thai tea, so I tried it out. Very colorful! I prefer coffee, obviously, but Cora was happy to finish it for me.

Oh, Seb. We love you so. All 20 pounds of you. I'm nervous to take him in for his checkup because I don't want to be lectured about his weight... 

 As part of my big cleanup, we went through the old kiddy toy bins, and took it out of the house, and then went through the toy box Stace made for Cora's first birthday. In that process, we rediscovered this labyrinth marble game and found most of the marbles. Violet's been playing it daily, and now she can beat it regularly.

Fun Stuff

Cora's friend Violet gave her this MOST AMAZING t-shirt for her birthday. It says Dungeon Meowster, with a cat in a hooded cloak. Perfect for our cat- and D&D-obsessed girl.`
 

Cora and Stace played airsoft Saturday morning, so Violet and I went for a walk at Quigley Canyon.

Stace and Cora went up to the city's new bike park, which has mountain bike trails that vary in difficulty, along with a BMX track with ramps and berms. 

Stace and Rigo took their classic cars to the city's weekly Cars and Coffee meetup on a recent Saturday morning. 

Airsoft! 

Stace finally got to join Cora on her airsoft adventure. They invited Rigo and Lucas to come along, as well.

All geared up and ready to attack. Stace had fun playing army, as he did when he was a kid.

Early Birthday Fun

Cora's birthday came a little early, courtesy of Cora's friend Zach and Zach's dad Jeff. 

We'd been thinking of getting Cora an airsoft gun for her birthday, and Jeff knew that, and got a great deal from a guy he knew. He offered to charge the gun up, wrap it in giftwrap, and bring it Saturday, as he was taking her with them for another airsoft adventure. We said, thank you very much, and paid him what he paid.

She was thrilled!

This time, they didn't go to Warped Ops, but to Lake Hughes, where a friend of theirs owns property and hosts friends occasionally for airsoft battles. 

Cora had a great time, of course.

On their way back home, they stopped at another friend's house to ride their all-terrain vehicle. What a great day for Cora!!

Stace was impressed with the new gun, too.

Happy kid. 

Not many almost-14-year-old girls are super into Dungeons and Dragons and airsoft! Cora is one special kid. 
 

Weekend's Work and Play

We visited Rob, Michelle and Brooke on Saturday, and the girls loved riding Rob's mini motorcycle.

 

After dinner, Stace sang while Rob played his guitar. 

We also played wiffle ball out front. It was a lovely day with great friends!

On Sunday, Cora again went to play airsoft, and my mom's old camo clothing from her days on a fitness bootcamp show came in handy!

While Cora played, Violet earned some money by mowing the lawn for the first time. She's earning money to help pay for some new pets she's been researching lately - fancy mice!

Birthday Weekend

For my birthday weekend, Stace and I started by going out to breakfast at one of the very few places where you can take your "to-go" food and eat outside. It felt very good to do so. I can't wait for all this madness to be over.

We then got the kids ready to go and went to Ventura for the afternoon. With so many things closed, it was good to just get a change of scenery for the afternoon.

We parked by the beach on Seaward, and walked all the way to the pier.

On our walk back, we stopped to pick up some dinner, and ate it at the car, watching the sunset.

On my actual birthday, I took Cora to play airsoft with a friend of hers. I stayed and read for a couple of hours, and she spent the rest of the afternoon with the friends, who later took her home.

Stace, Violet and I then got some lunch and went to a sweet little boutique so I could pick out a gift for myself. It was a nice day and weekend.
 

Airsoft Adventure!

Cora has been planning for weeks to play airsoft with her friends, half of whom she hasn't seen since March. They've all been very excited, and Cora has been in big-time preparation mode. She bought guns and a vest, a holster, a mask and camo clothing.

 

 

She also transformed these gardening gloves to match her outfit. Gloves are important for when you're running and diving into the dirt to avoid being shot by the tiny silicone pellets. Cutting the fingertips off helps you when you're reloading the gun.

Here's the guy giving the safety talk at the beginning of the Saturday morning fun. He was our group's private referee, as our kids played against themselves, in a different part of the site than the "walk-ons." 

I wondered if Cora would look a little funny wearing her camo, but that was definitely the right outfit, as most of the players were in all camo/military gear.

Here are Cora and her friends at the beginning of the day.

It was SO great for the kids to see each other!! Even some families that haven't seen, basically, anyone since March came out, since it was outdoors, and mostly in masks, and mostly distant from the others.

Here, they're having a well-earned snack and drink. We lucked out with the weather - it had been over 100 the weekend before, but Saturday the high reached 79. And it was a lot cooler than that in the morning.

Most of the group left at 1:30, but Cora stayed until the place closed at 4, joining in with the walk-ons. She had a blast and can't wait to do it again. I think she has a new hobby!

I wish I had action shots, but the area they played was out of sight from the waiting/staging area. And the kids left their phones behind, so as not to risk damage. Check this out though, to see photos of the field: http://warpedops.com/

Week in Review

While Stace and I were away, the girls stayed with my parents, and Grandpa and Cora made a special trip to the sporting goods store. She's now the proud owner of an airsoft rifle and pistol!

My dad is a natural to help her with shooting, and helped her figure out her dominant eye, and what other gear she could best use, like a thigh holster for her pistol.

She put the target on the trash can to start practicing.

Cora had her turn to get braces on, on Thursday. She's smiling through the pain here - the braces aren't just on the front teeth like her first phase, but on every tooth, and the side ones cut her cheeks. She took a lot of advil over the next few days.

Violet's school had Picture Day on Thursday and Friday, and I helped volunteer on Thursday afternoon. Everything was socially distanced, and everyone wore masks, except for the few moments that the children took their photos.

I got to sneak a pic while Violet was posing. It was so nice to be in campus and see some kids and parents!

We took part in the a citywide cleanup day on Saturday. Stace and Violet went to pick up our gear - gloves, thick plastic bags, etc - and were also given some nice drought-tolerant bushes we can plant.

We started our cleaning behind the pool, where we came across this ugly pile of trash.

That's better.

Full disclosure - Cora didn't want to walk around the neighborhood looking for trash. But, she came along.

The girls went up the gutter on the other end of the neighborhood and found some junk to clean up.

 

It was a low-key weekend. Besides the trash pickup, we did some pool-time, some board games and some television (Timeless, a series we're catching up on and enjoying) and movies.