Tidbits

 Cora and I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia series, and one evening Stace snapped this pic of us getting ready to read, the cats by our side. More often, I'm lying on Cora's bed next to her, when Sebastian clambers onto my stomach. He makes for a fine heater.

 I asked Violet to hang up a few dresses one morning after taking Cora to school. She assured me she had.

Later, after Vi was at school, I found this pile of clothing stuffed under the glider/rocking chair in her room.

That afternoon, we discussed what happened, and she thought of her own consequence - no games on my phone while we sat at Cora's 90-minute softball practice.

We visited Kelly, big brother Noah and baby Ethan with the girls. Kelly is doing remarkably well considering she has two little guys under 22 months old! We had a very nice time together, and Cora and Violet had fun entertaining Noah.

 Sometimes, after our morning walk after taking the big girls to school, Melanie comes to our house to play, and I take the littles to kindergarten. Or, Violet goes to Lanie's house, and Christina takes them to school.

One day last week, I looked in the back yard and found the girls sweeping out the trampoline, all by themselves.




We picked up Sophia for softball the other day, and the teammates had fun cheering on Violet and the Phillies.

Cora has a new bike helmet, with lights in the back instead of just reflectors. Stace took her on a couple of night bike rides, which was very exciting for her.

They then headed out on an early morning bike ride on a Saturday, so she could use her lights again. They stopped for breakfast, and ended up riding about 10 miles altogether. Go Cora!

Zoo Field Trip

The whole third grade boarded the big yellow school buses Wednesday, bound for the Los Angeles Zoo.

For the first time, I was one of the "lucky" chaperones to get to ride the bus. Somehow, I haven't been that lucky other times.

It was fun to see Cora playing around with her friends, including her seat partner, Riley.






















Cora was really excited to pose for a photo with me.

She did warm up to the idea. It is fun hanging out with my big girl.

Here was our little group, which included Mrs. Breneman. The class was divided into four groups.












We haven't been to the zoo since we let our zoo passes expire over a year ago, so it was very enjoyable to walk around and see the animals.

Fall Festival Fun

The annual school Fall Festival came around Friday after school, with most of the students dressing up in their Halloween costumes and returning to school for carnival games, dancing and general fun.

At a consignment sale a week ago, the girls picked out their costumes - Cora is in the morphsuit, whatever that is, while Violet wore a Hello Kitty ensemble. She also got a Batgirl outfit, which I hope she'll wear later this Halloween season.

It was super hot again, and I was concerned about Cora being too warm in her outfit, but she said she was fine. Thankfully, as the sun went down, it cooled down enough to be comfortable.

While I volunteered at a booth nearby, Violet and Cora went around the cake walk.

Last year, the girls came home with way too many cupcakes, but this year Violet was happily giving away the cupcakes she won, to her friends. She was very cute as she described her good deed, as if she were feeding the starving.

Here is the Blue Morph during the costume parade/contest, with her buddy Riley.

It was fun for Violet to take part in Fall Festival this year, as a student, with classmates of her own to play with.

Sue sent me this pic, of Violet and Sophia (as NY Yankee great Babe Ruth) dancing to the DJ's tunes.

Once again, a fun night was had by all!

Week In Review

Cora and Violet went to bed on time Saturday night, after their late night at the Dodger game on Friday. I kept hearing doors opening, and figured they each were using the bathroom.

Later, when I checked on them a final time before going to bed myself, I found a surprise - no Violet in her bed, and instead, a pillow under her covers. I went back into Cora's room, and heard giggling when I asked Cora if she was alone. Sure enough, Violet was on the other end of Cora's bed, under pillows and animals.

The girls had decided to have a sneaky sleepover, and even had fooled me twice when I'd been in Cora's room and hadn't seen Violet. So cute - they hadn't had a sleepover in a couple of months, and I love that they planned it on their own (on a non-school night).

Sunday, we went for a family bike ride, enjoying a cooler day that brought a bit of rain.


We later went to a birthday party for one of Violet's classmates. The little girl invited the whole class, and she got a good turnout - it looked like a field trip for Mrs. Hawthorne's class.

We are still taking our walks most mornings with Christina and Melanie. Some days this week were more like a nature walk than exercise.

We spotted a large praying mantis, a huge garden spider with an even bigger orb web, and this beautiful butterfly.

On Fridays, all the students go to school in the morning, until lunchtime. My friends and I walk to Starbucks, combining a Friday treat with our exercise.

This week, we returned to find Cora and her friends playing soccer at recess.

Baseball life

Here's one way to get psyched up for a big game!

At 5 1/2 years old, Violet doesn't nap often anymore. But a late night at the Dodgers game prompted an early afternoon snooze on the way to Violet's baseball game.

Violet is enjoying her baseball this year. It is "baseball," and not "T-ball," this time around, as the children hit off their coach's gentle pitches. She is quick to correct us when we call it T-ball (though if the player misses four or five pitches, they bring in a tee).

The players switch positions every inning, to give everyone a chance at the different places to play.













We now have another catcher in the family! Violet strapped on the pint-sized gear for an inning this game. It was pretty adorable.

Thanks, Dad, for bringing your good camera this weekend. Stace took some of these nice photos, too.



















Violet is the only girl on the Phillies, and all her gear is pink.

The Hart baseball and softball organization is volunteer-run, and all families are encouraged to work to earn back a "volunteer fee."

I worked a shift in the canteen Saturday before the girls' games, alongside Sendy, Chris and David's mom. It was fun and an easy way to "make" $50.

When Violet's game was over, we went a few fields over, to the Mini Minor Softball Field where Cora was warmed up and ready to play. It was a warm day - hence the cooling towel around her neck and large jug of ice water.

Here's Cora behind the plate...

...and at bat.














When I married a soccer-centric Englishman, and had girls instead of boys, I thought my dream of being a baseball mom had ended.

This has been so much fun for me, teaching the girls the particulars about the sport I love. Stace also is enjoying their games and practices, and said he would have liked to play baseball had he grown up here.

Cora still loves soccer, and hopefully it will work out for her to continue with both sports, as long as she is enjoying them.

It's been nice for Cora and Sophia to play on the same team, and have some quick after-school/pre-practice playdates. It's fun sitting in the stands with Sue and Paul, too.

David is also playing Hart baseball this fall, while Chris is trying out flag football. They (and Sendy and Jeremy) came over to Cora's game after David finished playing Saturday.

I really appreciate the friendship that has grown between these four over the past few years. Good neighbors are like gold!

Family Dodger Night

After I went to a Dodger game with my friend Emily, and learned how to get great seats way below face value, I looked to see if we could get to a game as a family. Seeing that the season was nearly over, I didn't have long to think about it.

We figured that Friday night's game against the Padres would work, on the final weekend of the regular season. My dad came with us, while Grandma was busy with her witch duties at Fright Fest.

We left nice and early, and enjoyed a leisurely walk into the stadium, with time to stop for photos at fan props like the giant "foam" finger here.

 Three generations of Dodger fans!

 Farmer John Dodger Dogs - a must-eat for decades.

 Yum.

Thankfully, the Boys in Blue gave us plenty of reasons to cheer, winning 6-2.

Both girls watched intently, and Cora had lots of questions. She really took it all in, with a few weeks of playing the sport giving her new perspective on what those guys on the field were trying to do.

With a firm lead heading into the 9th inning, we made our way out. Seven o'clock start times mean late finishes for little girls who had been up early for school, and we wanted to get a head start on the 45,564 other fans who also soon would be driving out of the stadium.

We took just another few seconds to grab a photo in front of the No. 2, the retired jersey number of former longtime Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda.












We caught the Friday Night Fireworks show as we walked across acres of parking lot. A good night was had by all.

Week In Review

We had dinner at Juliana and Daryl's house last week, and we all had a lovely time, as always. They have a projector, and played a movie in the back yard, on the wall of the garage. Such fun!

 After we take Cora to school and take our walk, Violet and I have a bit of time together at home. One day this week, Violet checked out her Halloween costume options. Another day, she decided the cats needed costumes, too.

Spencer got to be a fairy.

 Sebastian got to be Bat Girl.

Third graders in our school district learn to play the recorder, and Cora has been happy to practice her new instrument.

The students will play in a concert in the spring.

On Thursday evening, Firehouse Subs was giving our school 20% back on all orders, when we showed a flyer.

With Cora's practice ending at 6, I'm always happy to have a good reason to eat out on a Thursday, so we met up there with dozens of schoolmates. It was fun to eat with Vivian and her mom Elaine.