Frightful Beginnings

 It's been a big week for Cora! Fright Fest opened on Friday, and she had two trainings that went very late, on Monday and Wednesday nights. Her work nights will go until 2 a.m. pretty often. Also, the college play she's in started rehearsals on Saturday morning, so she had to go on very short rest after Friday's late night.

She spent the beginning of the week creating 3D-printed items for her Fright Fest character, a siren in the Devil's Triangle area. She made this mandible and painted it, and will hang it from a net she'll tie around her waist, along with other trinkets like shells and pearls.

Oh, and she also MADE the net! She looked up a video on how to knot twine into a net, and went to work. My girls are both so creative, crafty, artistic... it's astonishing.

On Wednesday night, Stace and I got to go to the training, which was a dress rehearsal for the scare actors and maze workers, and an Employee Night. This meant all employees could go, and bring one guest. Though my mom and Cora were both working, they put in my name and Stacey's name, as their one guest they were inviting.

My mom has been moved to a new scare zone, and it wasn't open Wednesday, so no photos with her yet.

It was great seeing her and meeting some of her new coworkers. She speaks very well of them all and is happy to be in this scare zone with them.

Because it was an Employee Night and dress rehearsal, Stace and I were able to go in all the mazes. That was fun, and a first for us - during normal Fright Fest, you have to pay extra to go in the mazes, and there are long lines, so we never have taken part.

Meanwhile, Violet and I went to the archery range on Monday night with Stace, and got frozen yogurt. Her schoolwork kept her very busy this week - she had a couple of writing assignments that were time-consuming. 

On Friday afternoon, she got her hair cut - not the best photo to show it off here though. Oh well. 

We watched Rango that night with Stace, and over the weekend watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, in honor of Robert Redford's passing. Vi has more of an interest in cowboy films and art, because she's been playing Red Dead Redemption 2, a western-themed video game.

On Sunday evening, Stace, Violet and I went to Colleen and Rigo's house. Our friends Christina and Eric were there, too.

I brought a keto-friendly broccoli salad, since our friends aim for that type of diet. But I totally overestimated the amount of broccoli we'd need. Ha! Four cups of chopped florets sounded like a lot but I definitely didn't need as much as I bought. No matter, it keeps in the fridge and we'll eventually eat it up. 

Tidbits

Violet and I went to Mentryville for some walking PE time, and saw a gopher peeking out of his hole. We walked to the cool collection of oil equipment and back. 

We also saw a bobcat! So neat to see them in their wild habitat. 

A day earlier, we went to the archery range and saw a coyote! 

Melanie brought over three beautiful floral arrangements Stace bought for Valentine's Day. 

Stace and I went out for dinner at Cheesecake Factory on the 13th, thinking we'd beat the crowd, but it seemed many others had the same idea. We ended up sitting at the bar. Still, a lovely meal with my beloved!
 

Branching out with my home-milled flour - we were going to have burgers so I found a recipe for quick buns!

Aren't they pretty? They were a little thick- should use a different flour next time and make twice as many buns from the same amount of dough, rolling them thinner.

Stace and Violet had a daddy-daughter experience and made Australian Crunch for a nostalgic treat for Stace. 

Sadly, they had some mishaps with the melted butter, and I don't think Vi will want to cook with Stace again for a while. Ha!

I came upon an unfortunate scene in the garage, near my laundry and pantry area - rats got into the unopened bag of birdseed and had a field day with the sunflower seeds. What a mess.

With Percy Jackson coming up, Cora was ready for a major haircut, her first in many years. 

This length will be much easier to hide under a boy wig! She'd had trouble hiding all her hair under her Velma wig last May. So cute and fresh-looking!

Vi's big haircut

Violet made a big decision and chopped off 10 inches of her hair on Friday! She had enough to be able to donate to Locks of Love, a charity that creates wigs for children with cancer. And our hair stylist, Colleen, gives you a free cut when you donate your hair.

The big snip!

Now to finish the haircut...

So cute!

Violet had admired many images of girls with short, "fluffy" hair. She's also hopeful of her waves being more accentuated with the cut.

 

I was due for a cut, as well, so Colleen squeezed me in.

Week in Review

I got a new wheat bread recipe from a friend that involves several odd ingredients, including mashed potato, but it worked! Softer, better rise. 
 

The girls agreed to haircuts. They both have such long hair, they can take off 3-4 inches and it looks healthier, but it's still long.

Violet had her school friends over for a pool date. They had a great time, and we're all happy that Vi is making plans with friends. 

Hard to draw when you're on her arm, Winston!

Week in Review

Summer is drawing to a close. It's been a bit slow and a lot "at home" since our trip to Maui in June, with Cora taking Spanish keeping her busy. 

Violet went to Liana's house the other day and they baked this lovely cake - vanilla cake, homemade lemon buttercream and strawberries.

And we baked up most of the last of our nectarines into a nectarine upside-down cake.

Stace has, at long last, finished painting his Spitfire airplane model his Mum and Dad gave him years ago.

Looks great!

He's ordered a jeep to paint, to make a full diorama.

A '90s tribute band was playing at our SClarita Concerts in the Park, and Stace and I went alone for a simple, free date night. The band was great! So many songs that were hits when I was in high school and college.

Voila! Violet agreed to cut off about five inches - look how nice it looks!

Before - it was SO long. It's still long, but a bit more manageable. She also now has some layering in front. 

My parents had promised Cora two aerial lessons with Cheryl for Christmas, and she still had one left to cash in. They finally got to do it last week. 

Also, my dad has been talking about taking Cora out shooting again, for the first time in a long time. 

She did good!

Cora has been playing D&D at the local gaming store weekly, and at her friend Logan's house when possible. Now, she's also running games for her friends online, many of whom had not played before. Seb wanted to be part of the game too, I guess.

Week in Review

 These girls have grown to be such good friends. It's a delight to see. Stace and I are fortunate parents.

Stace and I snuck out for a drink Friday night - we love Pocock Brewing Co.! They have an amazing selection of brews, and great pizza and soft pretzels too. I always enjoy a flight of tasters.

I was really excited when Violet said she'd like a haircut, so I immediately booked it. She has so much thick hair! Very pretty.

You can see that it was plenty long before, and with a bit of curl, making it hard to keep tangle-free.

I always have ideas of our family playing games together, rather than staring at screens after dinner. Every now and then, I get my wish fulfilled. 

Cora always wins. Always. 

I was able to get to a Dodger game with my parents on Tuesday! Always good to be back.

Thanksgiving Break

The girls were off for Thanksgiving week, and we started the first weekend by going to the Christmas Tree Lighting festivities in Newhall. To be perfectly honest, neither girl wanted to go, and it wasn't exactly a "fun time had by all." 

We had more fun the next night, when we went out to try a new ice cream place. All the ingredients are fresh and organic, and we enjoyed trying four flavors.

On Monday, we helped paint and decorate Cora's set for her upcoming Great Gatsby play. Stace installed molding and chair rail.

Cora finally trimmed her hair!

On Thursday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with this lovely turkey. I forgot to take more photos!

We did a little shopping on Black Friday.

We also visited with Colleen and Rigo and the kids. Not a great photo but I was sneaking a shot of them all cracking up at the video game they were playing.

The girls helped get the Christmas lights up.

I was sitting on the couch on Sunday evening, and Spencer raced into the house from the side yard, through the hole in the screen door he uses as a cat flap. (Why fix it, when it's so useful?)

Anyway, he raced in with this huge RAT in his mouth! He put it down, and thankfully it was dead, so it didn't race under the TV stand or couch. Seb jumped off the couch to have a closer look.

 

Thankfully Sebby normally has more fun with his catnip felt pizza, and doeesn't catch many rats.