Back Home

 We are home from England, and now commences the remainder of the girls' summer break.

We returned to an interesting time - my mom and Uncle Bill's brother Bob has passed away, and Bill and Patty are down here to gather his important documents and handle that side of the death. They also planned a small memorial with my mom, at her home.

Unfortunately, I got sick, and wasn't able to make it. 

But I did see them briefly on Thursday, the day after we got home, before I got sick. And Violet hung out with them and my parents, joining them on a day trip to Ojai. 

We returned to some ripe apples, and ton of ripe nectarines, and ripening grapes. This is shaping up to be our best grape crop ever.

Cora ran some errands for me while I was out of commission - I'd asked for milk; I hadn't asked for a giant bag of sugar cereal.

Violet did something big this week - she decided to repierce her right ear, the one that had closed up when she was 7.  We went to a longtime piercing parlor, where the owner took good care of her. He measured the current hole on the left side, to make sure the right would look even.

And he used a piercing needle, not a gun.

Celebratory boba! With all her henna tattoos, Vi fit in at the piercing parlor.

Stace had some Man of the House jobs to do when we got back, besides working at work. He put up a new clothesline, washed the car and tried to fix our faulty air conditioner, but unfortunately the new motor didn't do the trick. I'll hunt down a new A/C contractor. He had better success building his Lego F1 car.

Birthday Fun

Even though Stace took Thursday off for our trip to Universal Studios, Cora really wanted to see him Friday morning, too. So, he stayed home for a little while to make Cora her birthday breakfast - crepes, his speciality.

Before school, Cora opened a couple of her presents - a Lego microfighter from Violet, and a set of framed Harry Potter prints from me and Stace.

After school, we got a few things ready for Cora's birthday party Saturday morning. Then we went to Trent's birthday party, a bingo party at his house.

Cora won one of the prizes - a mini bundt cake. Yum!

Later, Jen was so sweet to bring out a second mini cake for Cora, and we all sang to her, after singing "Happy Birthday" to Trent.

Thanks to Pam for this sweet photo of our 11-year-old, and the next pic.

Cora's bigger present from us was this big Lego kit of Kylo Ren's TIE fighter. Stace just loves having a daughter who is as into Star Wars Lego as much as he is!

Fun with Friends

Our friends Sara and Tony had an event planned with their big girls Friday evening, and we enjoyed spending time with Alli while they were gone.

Violet was very excited bout her long playdate, especially during Cora's practice, when they entertained themselves with a puzzle book.
When Sara and Tony picked up Alli at bedtime, they ended up taking Violet with them for a sleepover! Such fun for our little one!

A week later, Cora's class had its turn to walk to COC for a show at the Performing Arts Center.

Sorry, Cora, but standing by the bus stop won't get you a ride to the show!

I was reminded of how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful valley, with gorgeous scenery and weather for a walking field trip.

After the field trip fun, Elaine picked up pizzas and we had a fun lunch at the park. Here, Vivi and Cami make Cora into a mermaid.

I will miss these lazy Friday afternoons at the park, when my girls are too old to enjoy them properly.

We all have fun when Chris and David are visiting Toni next door. The Legos have been out for the past week or two, and it's great listening in on their creativity.

Week in review

 We're getting into our new school groove, with Cora now in school until 2:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday.
Our neighbor Toni, Chris and David's grandma, has been kind enough to bring Cora home in the afternoons, so Violet can still get a decent-length nap.

On Fridays, Cora's out at noon; it's such a treat to still have lunch together once a week with both of my girls.

Violet's preschool program and Mom2Mom don't start until September, so Violet and I are doing our own thing each day until lunch- and naptime. Morning walks, the park, grocery shopping, house-cleaning - the normal stuff.

On Tuesday morning, Miss Carol offered a storytime, and Shannon and Sarah came along, too. The theme was "A Bug Hunt," and the girls listened to bug stories, made bug hats and then hunted for bugs.

 After the story, Violet had a haircut. As her curls have grown longer, we've had more trouble brushing through them, and she actually asked to have it cut.

 More manageable, and she still has her sweet curls.

 This week Cora (finally) earned 20 marbles, enough for a treat. Since she's gotten into Legos, I got out a new-to-her bucket of Legos for her to play with. She was thrilled.

It literally took Cora all summer to earn the marbles, because she'd get close to 20, and then lose three or four at a time by being mouthy. Stace and I were wondering if marbles were still a good motivator, but her joy over earning the Legos seems to have answered that.

Cora's homework project for her first full week of school was to make a "Flat Cora," a paper doll representing herself. Her school models the project on the Flat Stanley book series, and in the spring the paper dolls will be mailed to other families.

So far, Cora is doing well with school each day. She's had more good mornings than bad, and she's enjoyed having lunch at school with her friends. This transition seems to be going a lot easier than getting used to school last year.

Playing Around

We've been blessed with some brilliant weather this trip. Last June, it rained for most of the two weeks we were over, but this time around the rain has mainly stayed away.

We all headed to Nine Springs park in Yeovil a couple of times. Here, the Brave Captain Poodle conquers the invading pirate.

(Violet has adopted the word "poodle" as her new favorite. It makes her laugh all the time, and she fills in many words in her favorite songs with it. See, it sounds like her old favorite word that she isn't allowed to say.)

One evening, we met up with Dunc, Lindsey and their children at a park for some evening fun. We played football, rounders (a game like softball) and had a picnic dinner.

Violet invited Charlie to play pirates with her, using plastic jewelry as their treasure. It was sweet to watch.
Thanks, Lindsey, for the photos!

Pop got all of Stace and Dean's old Legos down from the loft. They rebuilt this complete castle set from 1983, and then moved on to build a boat, a spaceship and some tractors.

Cora is now officially a Lego fan. With her English birthday money, she bought some Legos of her own. I actually have a big pink box of Legos at home that I picked up last year at a consignment sale; I'll have to get those out as a treat when we're settled at home and summer boredom sets in.