Summer Fun

So, we're in a new world of summer life, with two girls who would be happy to be home all day, playing video games, or watching things. They're not anxious to see friends, and they resist leaving the house. It's weird because I value our time together and would like to DO more fun things while they're off school, but they don't have a lot of interest.

Anyway, on one late summer day, I "dragged" them to the ice rink, where we had a fun hour-plus, getting exercise and enjoying the cold air.

We then went to the mall, where I'd recently spotted a kiosk selling genuine Dole Whip frozen dessert. Since it's now been well over two years since I've had one at Disneyland, I was anxious to treat the girls to a big one for us to all share.

Over the weekend, we donated a lot of old quilts to a high school fundraiser, where they were getting paid by the pound of cloth. I finally decided to donate the adorable Classic Pooh Bear curtains a friend made us for baby Cora's bedroom. They'd been up high in the closet, forgotten, but obviously it's past time for them to move on. I got very sad though, looking at them for the last time. 

Melanie and Ellie came over and Ellie was very gentle with Barley! 

Stace took a day off during the girls' last week off school, when he woke up not feeling well. Later, we all went out to lunch, since I had a coupon for Buy One, Get One rice bowls.

Then, we all went to play in the pool, even Violet, who has decided she doesn't love playing in the pool. 

Look at these lovely synchronized swimmers!

...Oh. 

Violet had a horrible night of sleep shortly before school restarted, and said she was up basically all night. This was how I found her at 8:30 a.m.; she napped for about two hours.

Fun fact: these couches in the game room belonged to my grandparents, who had them custom made because of their height.

Swimming and Skating

JT brought up Callie and Jonah for the afternoon Wednesday, and it was a hot day. Perfect for pool fun!

From the heat to the ice...

Our ice rink reopened! So exciting. The Ice Station closed last March during quarantine - and closed for good. 

The community rallied, and the city bought the rink and refurbished it over the past few months. It reopened in April, and on Friday, we went with friends to check it out.

 

New Year Happenings

On Monday, we'd eaten out, and Violet and Stace both were sick that night. Violet ended up with a low fever and fatigue for much of Tuesday, leading us to cancel the New Year's Eve plans we'd made with JT and Jim.

By Tuesday evening, after some more ibuprofen, Violet was up enough to come out and play our new game Splendor with us. We then watched one of the Men in Black movies.

On Thursday, we went back to the Ice Station with Cora's girlfriends. It worked out so well that all of her favorite girls could make it!

Victoria was able to come, too, which made Violet so happy.

I'm so, so happy that Cora is developing friendships with these sweet young ladies.

Christmas Break Tidbits

The day after Christmas, we decided to go ice skating. Cora's friend Violet was free and able to join us - yay!

They still had the Christmas music playing, so Stace fit right in with his Santa hat.

We'd had a cold storm in the region, dropping the snow levels low. Our valley was even more beautiful than normal!

We happily received and purchased several board games for Christmas. With the girls getting older, we're hoping for some new family activities we can do together, and we had a lot of fun playing games at Thanksgiving with my Washington family.

With a new Star Wars movie out, we rewatched the 7th and 8th installments at home, and then watched the 9th movie in the theater. We all loved it.

Stace and Violet went on a long bike ride, played tennis, and visited the ducks at Bridgeport.

Cora tested for, and was awarded, her orange belt in karate.

Moving on up! We're proud of you, Cora!

We also took the girls back to MB2 Raceway.

Go, girls, go!

Here was our Winter Break Bucket List - we hit most of them.

Art Camp and Ice Skating

Violet took part in a half-day art camp this week, and she had a great time making 3-D projects. Here is the most intricate of the projects: a dragon marionette puppet.

Here's Violet with her teacher - there were only two girls in the class, so there was a lot of personalized attention. Violet's holding a clay mushroom she created and painted - so cute!

Another class the company held this week was on marine biology, with dissections each day. Violet was very intrigued, and hopes to take it in the future. On Friday, they brought in a touch tank, and Vi enjoyed this a lot.

While Violet did her class from 9 till noon, Cora and I binge-watched the Netflix series Stranger Things. There are now three seasons, and we enjoyed it a lot. Way too scary for Violet, though, so it was nice to watch without her home.

On Friday afternoon, we met up with some friends at the ice rink, a great activity when it's hot! Violet's friend Victoria and her mom came along...

...as did Vivian and Elaine. Violet ended up with a double-playdate - Liana had asked if she could come over, so I took her over to Colleen's after the ice-skating. And Jake and Char came over to swim with Cora in the evening. A fun summer Friday! 

Family Ice Skating Fun

After working in the yard on Saturday, we rewarded ourselves with some family fun at the Valencia Ice Station.

They're offering a deal with four admissions and skate rentals, plus a pizza and pitcher of soda, for $40. It had been many months since we'd ice-skated together, and we had fun trying it out again.

Cora is so fast now. She helped Stace, who didn't fall once!

Violet has been using her roller skates a lot more at home, and we could see the progress she's made.

The pizza was yummy - a good night was had by all!

Glasses, Pokemon and Slime, Oh My!

Violet let me know a few weeks ago that she was having trouble seeing the board at the front of the class, so we had her eyes checked Thursday morning. Sure enough, she's near-sighted, like her mama, and will be getting glasses.

Nice choice!

 After the appointment, we turned it into a mommy-daughter date with a cookie and a trip to visit the animals at Hart Park. The park has new alpacas. I'm so thankful to have these moments with my little one, while she's still little enough to enjoy visiting animals!

 Later that afternoon, we met up with Sue and Sophia at the Ice Station. (The big girls were too busy skating to be in my photo!)

That evening, at swim practice, Cora's classmate Oliver asked Violet if she'd like his collection of Pokemon cards. Um, YES, PLEASE!  That's one happy girl there!

Sometimes, it's awesome being the little sister, when big sister's friends outgrow things you're still into.

On Friday, Cooper and Wylie came over to watch Marvel movies with Cora, and we also had over Kat, to play with Violet. Violet was thrilled to finally have a playdate with a school friend. The girls made slime - very cool process!

Skating and Park Fun

Cora and Emily came up with the idea of having a "popcorn party," this week, on the couple of days after Emily got her braces off and before Cora had her expander put in.

This is why Cora looks glum - the day after this photo was taken, she had a metal contraption attached to the roof of her mouth. No more popcorn or sticky candy for a long, long time!

We had our popcorn party at the park, where Sara and Tony had hosted "Popsicles at the Park" for the past few summers. A few other friends joined us, including Sophia, who had played at our house Wednesday.

Violet worked with Charlie and Tommy to make a next for a hummingbird, they said, out of mud and sand. "I couldn't bring it home," she said, "because it was really sticky mud."















Violet is going into first grade, therefore it's time to become a monkey bar expert. She is able to go back and forth now, and has the blisters to prove it.

This week, the girls went to the Ice Station for the afternoon ice skating camp, as they have the past few summers.

They had fun!