Texas Fun

From one little trip to another...

Stace took me to the airport Wednesday afternoon, and I flew off to visit my friend Emily in Dallas, Texas!

She and I became friends in Mom2Mom, and Violet and her son were in the same kindergarten class. They moved back to Dallas that summer, but we stayed in touch, and she's visited us in SClarita several times since. She's always invited me to come out, and knowing I'd have a free week with the girls away, it seemed like a great opportunity.

One of the main things on our list for me to experience was Texas barbecue, and they live near one of the most highly rated places in Dallas. We had a long line, but it was worth the wait! 
 

Emily's neighborhood is lovely - large homes, a clubhouse and pool, tennis courts, playground and pond for the homeowners.

On Thursday night, we went to one of Emily and Brad's favorite date night spots, Three Nations Brewery. Here are Peter, who's Violet's age, and Madeleine, who is seven. Their 13-year-old son decided to stay home. 

I really enjoyed my beer; two of them I'd definitely buy if I could find them locally! 

A storm had rolled in, and it was absolutely pouring while we were there, with thunder and lightning, too. 

On Friday night, we went to a minor league baseball game in Frisco, sporting our Dodgers gear, of course. Emily is as big a fan as I am, and it's one of our big commonalities.

The kids especially enjoyed the fireworks after the game.

On Saturday, the children stayed home with Brad, while Emily and I went into downtown Dallas to explore. We lucked out with the weather! Dallas can be VERY hot and humid, but the storms had tamped down the heat to a lovely 80-something. We walked through this lovely new park, which was hosting a kids' concert.

We then hopped on this sweet old trolley, which offers free (donations accepted) transportation around downtown.

Our car was from Melbourne, Australia, and was nearly 100 years old!

We rode a few blocks and then got off to get a coffee, and then traced the trolley line to make our way back to catch it again.

We'd parked at the Dallas Museum of Art, which we explored for a couple of hours. This huge mosaic mural is outside in the courtyard.

I liked this portrait - the silversmith here looks kindly, I thought.

A beautiful painted screen, hundreds of years old.

The museum had many styles of art, and an antiquities section with ancient Egyptian items, as well.

On our way back, we drove by Dealey Plaza, famed for being the site of JFK's murder.

We rested back at Emily's home for a bit, and then she took me to the airport for my evening flight...where I met up with my girls and my parents! We were able to sit together, and they caught me up on their Florida adventures. More on that, soon!

Week in Review

My parents took home a new dog recently, so we went over to meet her. Jake, their 15-year-old Golden, died a few weeks ago, and Benny was sad and lonely. Enter Summer, a 14-month-old Golden. She is a sweetie!

While we were at their house, Violet painted these blocks of wood, and then put them on our paseo. They joined similarly painted Halloween rocks left by others in our neighborhood.

 

Violet has been very artsy lately. We bought canvases, and here is one of her recent paintings.

This one she entered in the school Reflections show (which will be all online this year, naturally).

The Dodgers being in the playoffs is just exhausting! World Series again, BABY!

A particularly stressful game Saturday had me and Stace feeling like this!

Weekend Fun

Stace was awarded four tickets plus parking to a Dodgers game, and we were able to take Kelly and Yass along with us on Saturday. It was so fun to have an official double-date without the kiddos, though I think they were a little put out that we were together and they were not!

(Cora was with my parents, helping Auntie Mel with a wedding, and Violet went with Liana and her family. Both girls had sleepovers!)

To thank us for having the boys over so often, Kelly and Yass took us out to eat first, at a fabulous Cuban restaurant not far from Dodger Stadium. Yass said it was the best Cuban he's had in his 20 years in L.A., and it was definitely delicious.

Dodger fun!
The Boys in Blue were winning most of the game, but then gave up too many runs in the eighth and ended up with a loss. (But, they have had an outstanding start to the year, with the best record in the National League, so I'm can't complain...)

Our seats were outstanding! I hope Stace can get them again this year. And what a gorgeous sunset we enjoyed! It was a great night with such fun friends.

We woke up kidless on Sunday, which happened to be Mother's Day. After church, we were all together again, and Violet gave me a gift she wrapped - such cute wrapping! It was a throw pillow that says, "World's Most Awesome Mom."

Cora, meanwhile, gave me a homemade scrub and this sweet card.

In the afternoon, we went to Reyes Winery in Agua Dulce with my parents, Stace and Violet. Cora was worn out and in need of some quiet time at home, so she rested there.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Stace packed a picnic lunch for us all. The winery's dogs were friendly - a little too friendly to Stace! But my dad loved them.

It was a nice afternoon, and always great being together.

Dodger Fun

With my parents, we returned to Arizona for Dodgers Spring Training over the weekend, and had a great time with Sara and Tony and their girls.

We got in very late Friday night - it's a long drive when you have to get through the Los Angeles area. Sara and Tony stayed up to meet us, and all the girls gave us a friendly welcome.

We got to Camelback Ranch on Saturday before noon, to take in the scene.

 A Dodger doing fielding practice tossed a ball to us, which Cora grabbed. She then got a few players to sign it, including starters Logan Forsyth and Joc Pedersen.

It wasn't nearly as hot as when we attended a spring training game last year, but it was still warm enough for a frozen treat.

 I treated myself to a new cap - I've been wanting one for months. Here's the whole gang...

 After the game, though we didn't discuss it beforehand, we all ended up at QuikTrip for a cheap cold drink.

Our Friday night was so late - and these girls were so happy to see each other again! They were playing into the wee hours.

Spring Break Tidbits

The joys of a break from school...
...Sleeping in your sister's bed, taking turns reading your favorite comic strips aloud.

Cora showed Violet how to make crepes, and made a lovely breakfast for the three of us.

Cora had her friend Cooper over for a playdate, and spent the next day playing with Chris and David. This is a game of baseball, using a giant inflated ball.

We also welcomed the start to the real baseball season, with the Dodgers beating the Padres handily to open the 2017 campaign. Stace surprised me with this new flag on Opening Day, which the girls and I watched from my parents' house.

We were home and unscheuled for much of our second week of Spring Break, leaving plenty of playtime.

It took hours to set up so many parts of the Calico Critters world, and I think the setting up was the best part for Cora. It was a delight to listen to the girls playing together again.

We had breakfast for lunch one afternoon, and Cora made whipped cream faces on their pancakes.

To the left, you can see Cora's school project - she's making the California quail out of paper mache.

On Thursday, Cora went to Christopher's house, while I took Violet to a focus group in Glendale. Violet loved her fun way to earn some money, and I loved being a block away from the delectable Porto's bakery at dinner time.

 And, the very best part of being on break - sleeping in, snuggling your bestest friend.

Best cats ever.

Baseball, Birthdays and Theater

We spent Friday night in Lancaster, watching the minor league Jethawks baseball team play. It was a lot of fun, and Cora's first time.

While scoping out the dining options, we saw the option of a 2-foot hot dog for $12. Score! They cut it into fourths, and we all were full when we were finished.

The game was our Father's Day gift to my dad, and boy, did he have a good night! He entered the 50-50 raffle just before they stopped selling tickets, and wouldn't you know it... he won! That $541 will sure help out with all the Hawaii fun we're planning.

It was also a Friday Fireworks night, so we enjoyed that before heading home.

This weekend, a huge fire was burning on the east side of Santa Clarita. It was far from us but disconcerting nonetheless, with 30,000 acres burned, thousands of homes evacuated and 18 homes destroyed.

We went to the pool, but it was too smokey to stay long. Violet and I later went to Elena's birthday party, where she got her face painted and a balloon doggy.  

On Sunday, we went to see the Canyon Theatre Guild's presentation of Wizard of Oz. Our friend Sophie was one of the munchkins, and we all enjoyed the show and cheering her on.