Tidbits

Violet decided to draw one of her favorite characters - pretty darn good, huh?

She also decided to dig her finger around the new loaf of fresh-baked bread, before I'd sliced it.

Sometimes, you really need a cat on your lap at dinner time.

We are now a house without a mouse.

Sadly, Barley seemed unwell one morning this week, so I took her outside with me to sit in the sun, and to let her get some fresh outside air for once. 

She seemed to perk up and was OK the rest of the day, but died the next day, For now, I think our rodent days are behind us. Violet was always excited to get a new pet, but didn't get excited to get her out or clean the cage. 

Anyway, our mice were all sweet and I'm glad we had the experience.

Our friend is the new advertising spokesman for Advance Auto Parts - this is a national campaign, so it's a huge deal. We chose to drive to Canyon Country when we needed a few new wiper blades, and took this photo for him.
 

Back Home, at the Beach

 Here's a big advantage to having a big kid - when she wakes up super early from jet lag, she bakes an apple pie!

Yep, Cora had this baby in the oven by 6 a.m. Friday morning after we returned home late Thursday night. It was yummy, too!

Meanwhile, Violet made her own tin-can telephone, out of red Solo cups and ribbon.

 To thank Cora for the pie, Stace made her mow the back meadow! Just kidding, she was paid a fair wage for a big job. Three weeks away leads to a long lawn!

 We had lost a couple of fish in recent months, and now that we're home for a while, we replenished our tank with three new platys.

The four of us took off to the beach on Sunday, and Cora was happy to take her surfboard out.

 On Tuesday, the girls needed bloodwork and Cora had an orthodontist appointment. We then made everything better by returning to the beach, joining some of our friends.

Cora had a bit of an adventure when she swam out to the dock with friends. We know stingrays are in the water this summer, and signs advise beachgoers to walk with a shuffle to warn the shy creatures to swim away.

Cora saw one swimming in the water when she was on the dock; her friends swam back, but she froze in fear. She was out there by herself for a long time, before an adult joined her and informed her that stingrays are safe in the water. It's when you step on them that they sting.

She then swam back, and later went back out again with her friends.

 Violet had fun in the water, and making sand balls to threaten her mother with.

 Cora always has fun with Trent.

We had a big group! This was the last beach trip for the big kids, who started junior high later this week.

We ended our day at Padaro Beach Grill, a favorite dinner spot that's perfect for big groups with lots of kids.

Here, Fishy, Fishy!

In Hawaii, after all our snorkeling fun, Grandma was kind enough to suggest we get fish of our own.

Naturally, Cora and Violet thought this was a fabulous idea. They spent the rest of the trip giggling about what types of fish to get, and what to name them.

And so, after lots of discussions, lots of studying up on it, and lots of begging, the girls got their fish this weekend.

They had so much fun choosing the decorations, plants and rainbow gravel.

After setting up the tank and waiting a few days, Stace and the girls went to the pet store Sunday for the most important, but least expensive, purchase: two platies.

Why platies?

The girls wanted multiple fish, so Betas were out. Cora didn't want goldfish, so the simple cool-water-and-bowl were out. But, considering we needed a tank with a heater and filter, these are supposed to be pretty low-maintenance fish. They are similar to mollies and guppies.

Flash (the green one, bottom left) is Violet's, and Blaze (the orange one) is Cora's. Once they've settled in and survived a few weeks, we'll probably get them some friends.

And, in case you're wondering, the cats have hardly noticed.