Partying and Planting

 Another Saturday, another birthday party! Violet was especially excited about Caleb's party, because it was a DOUGHNUT-themed birthday party!

Here, the children are playing a game of toss-the-giant-inflatable-donut-around-your-friend. (One could also play this game with a normal pool ring...)

 There were some other doughnut-themed games, and, of course, plenty of the yummy pastries to eat.

After the party, Violet and I visited the baby ducklings at Bridgeport, got some groceries, and then met Stace and Cora at Lowes for some new flowers.
Cora skipped soccer because she wasn't feeling well, and had gone to bed with a slight fever.

She was feeling well enough later to help Violet plant out their new flowerbed, and reposition the fairy garden accessories.

The yard is taking shape! No more huge dirt piles, and the new grass is coming up.

 Stace and I also placed this pretty bench in the corner, near the citrus bushes grove.
A friend of my parents' was moving out of state and offered it to them, and they accepted it on our behalf. A nice addition, eh?

The finished flower/fairy garden. Just need some mulch to finish it off.

Back home

Our girls are really such good travelers now. That's one thing that biannual international trips will do to your children. They are excited for each leg of the adventure (though as Cora gets older, she also experiences more sadness about the goodbyes). Thanks as always to our family for making the big (daylong) trek to and from Heathrow.

 Violet expanded her options a little for the trip home, and added "Peppa Pig" to her viewing queue. That's what she's laughing about here. Normally she will watch only Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, and a bit of Jungle Junction. That's it, for hours on end. Thankfully, we remembered this time to request the child safety seat for this flight. It made for an easier trip.

 Sunday we did next to nothing but unpack and rest; we needed the rest after the trip, and the lack of sufficient sleep Saturday night thanks to a jetlagged little one.

Stace returned to work Monday, and the girls and I went grocery shopping.

On Tuesday morning, we met up with our friends Jaimie, Mackenzie, Luke and newborn Presley at the mall. It was great to catch up, and the girls got along so well, considering they hadn't seen each other in over a year.

On Tuesday evening, we made our return to Baskin-Robbins for our dollar-cone fix. Amazingly, Cora picked the ice cream (watermelon chip) that matched her coral dress perfectly. Cora was so proud to have bought this pretty dress in England with her own birthday money.

Tuesday night was the first night that we all slept well again after the girls took turns keeping us up the prior three nights at home.

 On Wednesday, we went to the pool with some school friends. Here, Cora shows off the 30-year-old Lego castle Stace brought here from Martock.

 Two other families we're friendly with from school also came to our pool playdate. It was a lot of fun, and I hope we can do it again before summer is over.

It's strange to think that this middle weekend in July marks the halfway point of our summer break - four weeks down, four weeks to go.

 On Thursday, we went out to visit JT and her family. Cora was so excited to play with Jonah, or, just "Baby," as she insists on calling him. She was such a good helper with him, too.

Melanie and little Heather also came out to visit, so I had to my two favorite Pepperdine ladies together with their two-year-old daughters for the first time.

 We absolutely lucked out with the weather. Tuesday had been over 100 degrees, but by Thursday it was cloudy and a good 20 degrees cooler, perfect for the little girls to play and picnic in the back yard.

In the evening, I made lasagna and we had Keith come over for dinner.

 On Friday, I was feeling lazy after hardly exercising for a month. So in the morning the girls and I walked to CVS and Ralphs for a few things we needed before lunch and nap.

After Stace came home, we went to the amphitheater in Stevenson Ranch for one of the summer concerts.

It took Cora some time to warm up to the music - she sat glumly for a while, saying it was boring - but once she got into it, she had a great time.

Violet loved dancing, too.

The girls also have had a lot of good playtime together this week. Cora watched one of her Tinkerbell movies, and brought back out her fairies to play with.

She's back to making things for her fairy houses, and talking about her figurines as if they are living, breathing members of our household. She also announced this week that she does believe in the tooth fairy, and she will when she's 16 or 18.

Sunday Funday

 On Sunday, Stace and the girls harvested our cauliflower crop. This was our first time growing it, and it went very well. We let a couple of the cauliflowers grow too big, but I think they'll be fine in a curried cauliflower soup recipe I'm going to try out.






I had several loads of laundry to do, so I had my little helper on duty. Now that Violet is almost three, we're trying to give her more jobs to do. She's at the age where she likes to help and responds well, so we'd better take advantage of it.

 In the afternoon, Cora and Johnny and Ave worked on Cora's new fairy house. Yes, this is the third version, for those of you keeping score.

 The fairies can walk up a nice pathway of stones, laid into th newly dug-up grass, before reaching the wood chip deck.

Then, it was off to the races, the big girls on their roller skates, the little girl on foot.

The new Fairy Garden

 

After Cora's birthday party, we opened presents at home with the Roberts. Cora was thrilled with their gift - a set of resin furniture for her outdoor fairy house. Michelle, Rob and Brooke gave her a door and set of windows (for putting on a tree) from the same company, and all of this lead to hours of fun on Sunday afternoon.

Here, Ave is putting little flower bits into the tiny bird bath (which became a water bowl for Sebastian).

The "Fairy Garden" was absolutely adorable, with rows of flowers and berries.

We're now on the hunt for a right-sized log/stump to put the door and windows onto. Our friend Rigo, the tree-trimmer, is going to hook us up.

Tinker Bell Treat

What could be better for a couple of fairy-loving girls (OK, one fairy-obsessed girl) than watching the newest Tinker Bell film in a very special theater?

A couple of months ago a friend of mine invited us to come along as part of a large group - to get the cheap group rate tickets - to see "Disney Fairies: Secret of the Wings" at Disney's El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

Obviously, this would be a super-exciting thing for Cora Rose, who has been really into fairies since Nan and Pop sent her a Tink movie at Easter.

We got there nice and early to meet up with our friends and collect our tickets, and to get a great seat on the balcony. While we waited to be let in, Stace found Ron Howard's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Grandma and Grandpa also came to the movie.

 

The movie was sweet, about Tinker Bell meeting the Winter Fairies, including the twin-sister-she-never-knew-she-had.

The Tink movies are released directly to DVD, but Disney shows them at El Capitan for a few weeks as a special engagement. "Secret of the Wings" comes out on DVD at the end of October.

It was nice seeing and catching up with our old friends Heather and Libi at the movie.

Before the film started, we watched an organist play Disney classics, and then saw Tinker Bell and Periwinkle (her sister) dance live on stage as "snow" began falling on the audience. Magical!

Violet did really well during the film, sitting or standing quietly the whole time.

We had a great afternoon together, and for Cora, it was a great reward for earning 20 marbles!

(Nice how that timing worked out, eh? She can earn them for good behavior and positive attitudes, and for staying on track in the morning and getting out the door on time for school. In that respect, she's been doing really well this week.)

Beach Fun with Alison and Tyler

My cousin Alison and her husband Tyler are visiting, so we spent Saturday on the beach in Ventura with them and Bill and Patty.

The wind was chilly when we got out of the car, but we soon warmed up and had a great day together.

 Of course, the water was a bit too cold for most of us to enjoy, other than from the relatively dry confines of the kayak. Stace and I went around the harbor, and then Stace and Cora took a ride.

Cora also took a nice walk down the shoreline with her great-aunt and great-uncle, looking for aquatic life (and death, like that deceased pelican).

Violet decided to check out the napping situation inside Auntie Patty's sit-inside kayak.

Then, she did a bit of practicing for when she gets big enough to go out in the boat.

This was an interesting game to watch - a lot of serving, not much returning, and a lot of chasing down the tennis ball.

Happy Violet enjoyed her beach trip.





















 Stace and Uncle Bill relaxed on Labor Day weekend, after Bill's first weeks of work as principal of a junior high school.

Cora had fun creating her sand castle.

Stace was inspired by the work of art behind him, to the right, and came up with this masterpiece.

After the beach, it was time for baths at Auntie Patty's (so nice to not take home sandy girls!) and homemade pizza for dinner. While the pizzas baked, Tyler provided music for a daddy-daughter dance session. Cora really likes dancing right now, especially twirling.

I'd like to find a casual, low-stress dance class for her, maybe a short session, because I know she'd love it. But I also don't want to overschedule our family, as she's in Pioneer Club on Wednesdays and soccer on Saturdays, and that feels like enough for the school year.

Alison and Tyler spent Tuesday at our house, and we had a great time together at the pool and barbecuing in the back yard. 

Alison, who is very creative, spent some time helping Cora with her fairy house. 

This fairy house is a big deal to Cora. Ave and Maya also have helped her with it, making little decorations out of sticks, leaves, buttons and rhinestones that the fairies might like, should they ever visit. 

(Speaking of which, Cora remains sad that she has yet to see a fairy. She's told me that when she loses her first tooth, she will leave a note asking the Tooth Fairy to bring her "a real live fairy" instead of money. This is because the Tooth Fairy brought Ave real pixie dust for her latest tooth. THANKS, Genia!)