Spring Break

Stace got to play golf at fancy Sand Canyon Country Club on Saturday morning, and enjoy this gorgeous view. 

Later on Saturday, Grandma and Grandpa took Violet on their annual whale watch trip. They again saw many marine animals - dolphins, whales and sea lions.

Violet and I climbed our hill on a beautiful evening last weekend and captured this scene.

Violet is on spring break, so she and I went to Vasquez Rocks on Monday. 

Healthy snack with a great view. 

On Tuesday, Liana and Sofia came back over for D&D again, and Colleen stayed so we could chat and catch up. 

Cats, Cows and Cupcakes

 Our neighborhood kitty friend has been coming back around this week. I've taken to calling him Stripes.

He was about in the summer, driving Winston crazy, but then we didn't see him for months. This week, one afternoon I'd left the big garage door open, and when I went into the garage from the house, I saw a scurrying out of an animal. I guess he was nosing around the cat food? He's super friendly, but we must try to keep him out of sight of our resident kitties.

Winter is a short season here for some of our plants and trees. It's January, and the mock pear is already all abloom.

Exciting times here - the home and field bordering our favorite nearby walking trail has new owners, and they've acquired cows! Or, young steers or bulls. Not entirely sure on the right word; they are young and male. 

Violet would go several times a week to walk and visit them, if she could.

On Wednesday, after youth group, Vi and I took a walk at Bridgeport and then went to Lowes to look at solder. We came upon a VW meetup! 

On Saturday, we had Eloise with us for a half-day, and Violet was in charge for a few hours. She did a great job with her - they played the Cupcake Game and then made chocolate cupcakes from scratch!

Yum!

Also this week, I dropped Violet off with her school hiking club for a walk at Vasquez Rocks. I wasn't able to stay, as Stace wanted me to go with him to an appointment. But, the advantage of having another driver in the house - Cora went to pick her up. More solid freeway practice!

Tidbits

Winston joined Seb on the bed, and was sniffing him a lot. Seb hissed a bit. Then Winst settled down, lying ON Seb's tail. So silly.
 

I went back to the bargain store that sells closeouts and Amazon returns on Thursday, when all items are $2. I found a lot of interesting things to buy, amid the bizarre. The best deal was the protein powder on the left - these are $50 on Amazon! The probiotic OraStix dog treats sell for $25; the box of several cheddar almond flour crackers goes for $24. The dried passionfruit sells for $17, and a couple of supplements I bought go for $14 and $17 each.

Later on Thursday, Violet asked if I would take her to Vasquez Rocks for a bit after school. My nature girl needed her fix.

On Thursday night, Stace, Violet and I went to Cora's high school to watch the improv club have their first show of the year. Unfortunately, Cora had rehearsal for her college show, but we enjoyed seeing friends again. 

Stace saw Cora's name up on the plaque in the trophy case from her award in May.

The electronic cat toy I got from the bargain bins store came with a foil ball and a glittery soft small ball. I'd forgotten how much the cats love those, especially Seb, who has been playing with it like a kitten. 

Evie enjoyed playing with it by pushing it under the chair, then wriggling under the chair to try to get it. So so silly.

Week in Review

Violet and I had a summer adventure day on Thursday. She's taking a summer school class online, so she's not free all day, but we snuck out in the morning to Quigley Canyon and saw two deer. Then, in the afternoon, we went northeast to Agua Dulce, to a market I'd heard about to get drinks.
 

We took our drinks to Vasquez Rocks, where we sat at a table by the nature center to rest and enjoy the view. 

We also chatted with the park employee who cares for the animals there (tortoises and raptors). She was very encouraging to Violet about volunteering at Placerita Nature Center, to gain experience for a future parks job. Vi is very interested, and started looking into it online. She'd enjoy working at Yosemite someday.

Ellie came over for a few hours on Friday, and we played at the little park, along with Legos and Calico Critters.

Also Friday, we had our new air conditioner and furnace installed. I'm very pleased with the company; after several quotes, I know we got a great deal. The air is blowing so cold now!

Also this week, we celebrated Colleen's 60th birthday with a little gathering at their house. I don't have photos, but it was a great night together.

One of the installers, after removing the old one outside, found this clutch of gopher snake eggs! Yikes! He took them home to try to keep them warm and hatch them.

When the A/C guys were done and Ellie had gone home, I met up with Christina and we went to Havana Savannah for coffee and pizza for a late lunch.

On Friday night, Stace played soccer, and Violet and I went to Placerita Nature Center, where the animated film Rango was being shown in the amphitheater. We hadn't seen it (it came out when Vi was tiny), but it was well worth seeing. Johnny Depp plays the main character chameleon; if you like old Westerns, you'll like it.

Favorite Places

Stace was off work from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day, which was fantastic. He kept busy, but we also got to spend some nice time together as a family. 

On Boxing Day, we took Violet to Vasquez Rocks, one of her happy places. We also go to talk to all of our family in England, gathered at Karen and Martin's home.

 

And on Saturday, after Stace helped at the tiny house, the three of us headed to Santa Barbara, just for the heck of it. First stop was coffee in Summerland, a new favorite after our mini vacation there in April.

We got tacos and then went to the marina for Japanese at another place we like. We ate, watched the water, and enjoyed the views of the lit boats.

We had ideas of playing fun, silly games together on Christmas, but it's always too full of eating and gifts. 

So, Mom and Dad came back over a couple of days later, and we had a snacky dinner and played games. One game involved a blindfold, a bag of gift bows, a bowl, a pair of tongs and a timer. The other involved putting all the bows on the coffee table, and working in teams to blow the bows across the table, into the bowls placed on the floor. It was fun and silly.

Fun, Full Weekend

Violet and I did some PE at Vasquez Rocks on Friday afternoon, at her request. It was a gorgeous day.

We stopped for coffee drinks at San Fernando Coffee Company on the way home. 

That night, I had dinner with Christina and we saw a mystery play at The Master's University.

On Saturday, Vi got some more PE credit, taking a long bike ride with Stace. While near the mall, they came upon this hawk by a bridge, chowing down on a squirrel. Nature in action.

Meanwhile, Cora went to a big drama competition at Calabasas High with more than 60 schools, and I was able to chaperone. She took part in a musical theatre scene. Here, she is resting during this big day, and rehearsing lines with Mackenzie, who plays the second Stage Manager in Our Town.

That evening after we got home, we adults went to Fright Fest with Colleen, Rigo, Lucas, and our friends Christina and Eric.

It's always good hanging out with Lorraine-Lurane.

On Sunday afternoon, we got together with the same friends at River's End Pub on the other side of the valley. The bbq here is so good! Stace and I shared this humongous rib and sides.

Stace and Rigo drove their classics.

I found a new bread recipe that worked really well with my fresh-milled flour. Success! 

Violet and Liana went to a fun youth event at her church while we were at River's End. 

A good week!

Black Friday hike

On Black Friday, Stace and I went out and got a few deals. He was excited about this one - two batteries for his rechargeable battery tools, plus a tool, for $199.

Later in the day, Stace and I took Violet to Vasquez Rocks, but Cora didn't want to go. We strongly urged her to get outside for some fresh air, so she sent this photo of herself on a little walk in our neighborhood. 

See! It didn't kill her!
 

Violet liked these beautiful leaves we came across. She has a great eye for natural beauty.

Vasquez was glorious. 

We even came across some Mandalorians! 

Many, many people were out taking family photos - and other photos - at these amazing rock formations. It's a popular spot for people taking their Christmas card photos. I don't know if the Star Wars couple was also posing for Christmas? Hmmm...