Vasquez Rocks

 On Sunday, we took a trip to Vasquez Rocks in Agua Dulce, on a day the county park was celebrating an open day with lots of fun family activities.

Violet can still be a bit of a slowpoke, so we used the back carrier on the trek from the parking lot to the nature center.

 The interpretive center opened earlier this year, and it was nice to see, since back in my reporter days I wrote many articles on plans for the building.

 Cora was able to to make a necklace out of part of a yucca plant, an important plant to the native Tatavium people. There were several craft options for the children to choose.

 Both girls painted rocks to resemble bugs and lizards.

 A local astronomy club brought out large telescopes, through which we were able to see the sun.

 Cora also enjoyed an archeological "dig" for various treasures the Nature Center volunteer hid in the dirt.

 Cora had a kitty painted on her face, while Violet chose a ladybug.

 Then, we went off for a little hike and rock-climbing adventure. Cora has been talking about hiking, and with the summer heat behind us (and snakes hopefully hibernating), it was a great day to be out.

 Cora was in her element, climbing everywhere, asking to come back again soon.

 Violet surprised us by climbing everywhere, too. She was very brave.

Sleepy girl, dancing girl

 Before Violet moved into her toddler bed, she slept during her naptime about half the time. Since we've moved into a bed, that's dropped to maybe one day every two weeks.

That's NOT to say she doesn't still need a nap! Often if we drive somewhere in the late afternoon, she drops off in the car. After our big park day on Tuesday in Montrose, she couldn't make it through dinner.

 On Saturday, Cora went to a Hart High Show Choir fundraiser, where the elementary kids were taught a routine by the high schoolers.

Stacey, Violet and I went to my parents' house to watch the Dodger/Cardinal playoff game. (This is one of those rare times I do wish we had cable!)
We also got to catch up with the NEWLY ENGAGED Auntie Mel! It was fun to look at her wedding research online.

On the way to Cora's performance, Violet of course fell asleep.

She even slept through the performance, a lively and loud version of "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid.

Daddy has his hands full with these two!

After the show choir event, we went to Petsmart for cat food and litter. It was an adoption day for a kitten rescue, and I figured the girls would enjoy seeing the cats, along with the small mammals, birds, fish and lizards.

But, for the first time, Cora fell in love with the kittens to the extent that she was crying when I said we couldn't bring one home. She cried off and on the rest of the night, and her sadness carried into Sunday.

"I want one of my own, that I could take care of," she said. Spencer and particularly Sebastian are too big for her to carry, she said.
I tried to explain that we can't handle three cats, that she's lucky to have two fabulously loving cats, and that kittens grow up in a matter of months anyway. But, there is no arguing with a girl who wants a kitten.

For her part, Violet said she wants to get rid of Spencer and Sebastian so we can get a dog.

Another Coraism: "Mom, are there really other planets?"
Me: "Yes..."
Cora: "Is New Jersey another planet?"

Good Friends

On Tuesday, Violet and I met up with some San Gabriel Valley friends at a beautiful park in Montrose, about a half hour's drive away.

Violet had fun playing with Natalia and Heather, while Melanie, Juliana and I had a nice morning catching up.

This was Violet's first time wearing these stylish brown sneakers with laces; I remembered why I didn't use them too much with Cora when Violet spent several minutes sitting to knot them up. Cora did the exact same thing to these same shoes a few years ago.

Violet told me that she didn't like bows anymore; she likes knots. By the time we got home later that day, after she had some time in the car to work on them, they were knotted up halfway up the length of the lace.

Here's Heather and Violet showing the love as Heather and Melanie went home. The next time we see them, they'll have their next baby girl at home with them.

At the end of the week, we saw our other San Gabriel Valley friends, when JT, Jim, Callie and Jonah came up for dinner.

Jim got to go with Stace for a little ride in the MG, after he helped put the newly cleaned/painted wheels on.

I love this shot Cora took of my beautiful friend! Sweet Jonah will be turning 1 this week; Cora and Violet had a lot of fun playing with him.

Lombardi Ranch, 2013

It's October again! Time for pumpkins, costumes and Lombardi Ranch.

Cora went to bed Wednesday night asking if we could "go to the pumpkin patch" on Thursday, and repeated the request Thursday morning and afternoon.

Lucky for her, Daddy was up for it, and able to get home in time.

We were also glad to take advantage of some cool autumnal weather, which always makes the trip feel more right.

Gobble, Gobble. Here's looking at you next month, Mr. Turkey.

Cora's much better about taking photos these days, but Violet is in a "maybe not" phase. This year, the Scarecrow Alley sign posts have been overrun with rats and crows.

Of course Violet would like the Lombardi Ranch Bake Sale Wars scarecrow, while both girls liked the Angry Birds entry.

(Cora loves climbing into our bed on Saturday mornings with Stacey's tablet to play Angry Birds, and Violet can carry on playing by herself if Cora is finished. Stace finds that his tablet background is ever-changing, and sometimes it's set to "airplane mode" with the internet off. Hmmm.)

More dinnertime silliness!

Long Weekend

On Sunday afternoon, Stace replanted a back planter, moving plants around according to their size so the big ones stop blocking the sprinklers.

He and the girls put in some winter color, and the girls had a pack of pansies to put in their fairy house area.

I spent the time indoors, going through boxes of clothing. Cora found these Hello Kitty pajamas, loved them, and needed to wear them. Never mind the October warmth; she just rolled up the legs and arms.















On Monday, Cora had a random teacher in-service day off. It was so nice to have a quiet morning at home before we took Violet to Terrific Tots!

During Tots, Cora and I worked hard to tidy up the house, and then we picked up Violet and went to the park to meet Daddy at lunchtime.














When I left the workforce, Stace and I had nice ideas of meeting for lunch on a regular basis. They haven't exactly come to fruition, but at least we have the option.

 During Violet's rest time, Cora and I made a big batch of pumpkin-apple muffins. She was so happy to help, and now she is truly useful in the kitchen.

 That night, the girls and Stacey were being silly together after dinner. Lots and LOTS of happy laughter.

With our strong-willed girls, we have our share of tears and angry emotions; but boy, the laughter, hugs and love do make the hard times worth it.

Babies, babies

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage...

A year ago we were getting ready for Kelly's wedding, now we're happily anticipating her first baby!
She and Brad are expecting a boy in December, and on Saturday we showered her with love and gifts.

Melanie is due in three weeks with her second little girl, and Cora is an excellent caretaker to Cuddles, Fluffers or Fluffy (whatever his name is at the present moment).

Violet's favorite part of the shower was the cupcake!

 Cora also had a lot of shower fun playing with Abby, Kelly's other flower girl last November. The girls created a secret hideout by a tree in the corner of the backyard.

After the shower, we headed to the park for a Mom2Mom family picnic. most fun might have come when Cora ran into one of her classmates, who had brought her big pink jeep to the park and offered everyone rides.

 On Sunday, we spoke to our family in England, including Uncle Dean and little cousin Olivia.

Between the baby shower and seeing their newborn cousin, Cora and Violet had babies on the brain. Out came the box of babies and doll clothes and accessories.

Cora was an attentive mother to Velvet (later renamed Scarlet), and Violet took good care of Blueberry. Cora even took the stroller and Velvet with her to the park and grocery store. I never saw that coming with my 6 1/2-year-old!

Friday Fun

 Friday was the big day, the one Cora and Sophia were talking about for about a month.
The SLEEPOVER!!!

Sue offered to have Cora spend the night, and on Friday after school she took the girls to Magic Mountain, with some other friends of ours.


Grandma walked Cora in as her "buddy" on her buddy pass, and then used her discount to buy dipping dots.

The girls did a craft in Bugs Bunny World, along with the carousel and trick-or-treating.

They had a ton of fun, before heading home for dinner, more playtime and a movie.

 

 Meanwhile, Violet had earned 20 marbles, so Stace and I took her out for a Friday night treat: a trip around on the mall carousel. She was so excited, talking about it all through dinner. This is the first time we've taken her on the carousel.

 We also got a special dessert at Shave It. I had a buy one, get one coupon, so we went large, and took a lot of it home. Should have told Violet beforehand that we were planning to stretch this treat over a couple of days - she was in tears on the drive home about not being allowed to finish it!

Later, with Violet asleep, we got a call from Sue. Cora was overtired but not asleep, missing us and wanting to come home.
The next morning, she was distraught about what she'd done. It was hard to comfort her, and hard to hear her so disappointed in her decision to come home. These things happen; better luck next time!

Terrific Tots

Violet is having a lot of fun in Terrific Tots. I helped out Monday for the first time, and it was great to spend the time with her there.

I've actually been a bit sad to leave my little buddy at school sometimes. The three years since I was helping at Cora's Terrific Tots class, leaving baby Violet with Grandpa, have just flown by.

Violet gave Miss Diane a happy "Good morning" during the morning circle time. After greeting each child by name, Diane lead songs, read a story, went over the calendar, and did some letter identification with large plastic letters.

 I forgot to take photos of the fall/autumn crafts Violet made! But here she is eating her lunch.

 On Thursday, after Violet and Liana did gymnastics, we had Liana over for lunch.

The girls had a lot of fun playing together. Liana liked playing at our house so much, she told me that in a little while, she, her mommy and her daddy will move into our house. She said that we could move into her house.

On Friday morning, we played at the park and planned to take a walk with a friend, but it was too windy. Instead, we had the friends over for a couple of hours.

I think we can say that Violet had a good week.