She's 9!

After Cora's Big Birthday Weekend, we still wanted to make her actual birthday on Tuesday feel special.

She wasn't thrilled about having to go to school, but Daddy went into work late so he could stay home and make a birthday breakfast of crepes.

We also let her open her cards, and a couple of presents in the morning.

Stace made Cora a birthday card with a 3-D drawing of Jedi Mickey Mouse, with a light saber. Yes, that was a bit of foreshadowing for her birthday gift!











At lunchtime, I picked up Cora from school and took her to In-N-Out for a burger, fries AND a shake, a very special treat for the birthday girl.

This was the first time I've ever taken her out of school for lunch, and it was lovely to spend time with her like this.

Our after-school period was busy, with Violet's tennis lesson and Cora's softball practice. Cora passed out doughnut holes to her teammates, and then we headed over to Stone Fire for a birthday meal.

Auntie Mel and Grandma and Grandpa met us there, and we all ate well. Auntie Mel gave Cora this Star Wars T-shirt and the tiny Marie Tsum-Tsum stuffed animal you see on the table.

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Grandpa and Grandma gave Cora this hardcover "ultimate" guide to Star Wars, a big hit, as you can see.

And there you have it.

Cora has entered her final year of single-digits, a big girl in every way. She is becoming more independent and more grownup, and we are so proud of the young lady she is.

Magical Sunday

The last part of Cora's Big Birthday Weekend was a trip to Magic Mountain with her friend Emily. She specifically requested to go to this theme park, because she loves the big thrill rides.

Since we don't have season passes, we were very grateful to Grandpa for giving us tickets he acquired through all his photographic services during Fright Fest and the Christmas season.

Making the family deal even sweeter, Grandma came with us, so we got free parking and a member of our party in for free as her buddy. Emily has a season pass, so it was easy to bring her along.

We started our day with me, the big girls and Grandma taking on Twisted Colossus. Grandma thought it was a bit much, but Cora, Emily and I loved it. Meanwhile, Stace took Violet to the kiddie area.

Then, the big girls and got in line for Goliath. We were hoping that since it was Super Bowl Sunday, the park would be empty, but the long line for Goliath proved otherwise.

But, Goliath, shown here, is well worth waiting for.

Notice I'm by myself? My dear darling husband was going to ride with us, but changed his mind.

Then we met up with Stace, Violet and Grandma, and had a bite to eat. The girls all wanted to ride Scrambler (above), and Violet needed an adult to ride with.

I can do loops and drops, but I don't normally like twisty rides. BUT, Violet wanted to ride it, and Stacey didn't want to, so I made the sacrifice.

The picture with Violet alone here are in Bugs Bunny World. She had a good time, too.

Spending the afternoon with these girls was so much fun!

After a forgettable experience on the wooden coaster Apocolypse (too jarring), we ended our day on Goldrusher. Then, we went home for a simple pizza dinner with Emily before her parents picked her up.

Whew! Now THAT was a birthday weekend!

Watching for Wildlife

Continuing the fun of Cora's Big Birthday Weekend, we met up with my parents and Bill and Patty in Oxnard on Saturday for a boat trip off the coast to try to spot whales.

The whale watch was a Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa, who've taken the girls the last couple of years. It was the first such trip for Stace, and my first in decades.

Not long into our four-hour voyage, we spotted a pod of dolphins surfing the wake of our boat.

Sadly, it was darn near impossible to get decent photos of their antics. Suffice to say, they were adorable.

We also saw a sea lion and an otter.

Eventually, some people spotted a humpback whale, and a grey whale. It's pretty incredible to see such large creatures in their natural habitat, on their seasonal migration from the frozen north, to Mexico, and back again.

It was also nice to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty. Getting an up-close look at the Channel Islands was pretty cool, too.

The girls took breaks inside, where Grandpa bought them snacks.

Back at the harbor, the Tall Ships were in town for a couple of weeks, replicas of 18th century ships. If we'd arrived early for our whale watch, we might have gotten on board for a look around. Next time!

Birthday Disney Fun

Cora turns 9 next week, and if that doesn't warrant a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth, I don't know what does.

On Friday, we left for Anaheim from the school parking lot, with Grandma and Sophia along for the ride.

When we arrived, we met up with Elaine and Vivi, Sue and Paul, and Jen, Jack and Trent.

Aren't the girls cute in their Minnie ears? I love how Cora's interest in all things Disney has improved in recent months. She even wore her Minnie shirt without a fight.

We met at California Adventure, where our friends had arranged dinner reservations.

We then got fast passes for Tower of Terror, one of the top rides on Cora's Birthday Trip Wish List. (Others included California Screaming, and the Matterhorn and Space Mountain at Disneyland.)

After Tower of Terror, the girls couldn't resist the water attraction in Bug's Land

A cute photo of Sophia and Violet, photobombed by Trent.

The bunny ears were from an extended preview our friends saw from an upcoming Disney movie. Violet said she plans to wear them as her costume to the next school dance.

Our Disney gang - these kids had so much fun together!

Here was the "kid table" for our fancy dinner at the Wine Country Trattoria.

Violet was disappointed to be stuck with the moms (and Grandma), but we convinced her that she'd have a much better view of the parade from a seat at our table.

We were right. It was so fun to watch the parade while we dined, a nice treat suggested by Disney experts Sue and Jen.

Cora was not the only one celebrating a birthday: she and Trent were born a few hours apart on Feb. 9, 2007. They met as Skippers when they were 2 1/2, and it's great fun to see them growing up together.

They got birthday buttons to wear, and each received a birthday dessert complete with a candle. So, even though Cora isn't having an official party this year, she still had friends singing, and a candle to blow out.

After dinner, we went to the Toy Story ride, where you get 3-D glasses to wear while you shoot targets to rack up points.

The birthday duo rode together.

Then, it was time for California Screaming. Sue took this shot while I had Violet on the carousel. Then, I took Cora on Screaming, with a fast pass that Violet wasn't tall enough to use.

We thought about then going to Disneyland for the Matterhorn, but a quick check of the Disney app showed that the ride was closed at that time. Instead, we went over to the Redwood Creek area to run around.

We ended our night with Sue and Sophia buying Cora a Disney pin as a birthday present.

On this trip, it really struck me how Cora is growing up. She definitely has entered the phase of her friends mattering more and more. 

When we were considering leaving our group and heading to Disneyland, Cora was truly upset at the thought of saying goodbye and being "alone" with me, Violet and Grandma.

It's natural and normal, I know, a developmental milestone like learning to walk or ride a bicycle. Still, it's strange and a bit sad, nonetheless. Nine years old! Our Cora Rose is growing up.

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.

Tidbits

Cora has become very interested in Star Wars over the past month, much to her daddy's delight. She's checked out numerous books from the library to expand her knowledge, and now has seen the original trilogy.

She loves playing trivia games with Stace, including this game you see here, where others have to guess which character you're pretending to be. Any guesses as to whom Cora is impersonating?

Violet also has been doing a fair share of reading lately. She's improved so much over the past month or two, and now can pick up an early reader book and read most of the words without stumbling. It's an exciting time!

We had a couple of mornings this week so cold that even I had to deal with a sheet of ice on my windshield.

Stace faces this fairly regularly in the winter, but usually it's warmed up enough by the time I need to drive that any ice has melted away.
That was not the case Monday, when it took several cups of water, the defroster and the wipers to get my car road-ready.

When we got home from taking Cora to school, Violet had a little fun playing with sticks on the frozen birdbath. "Look! The birds can ice skate," she laughed.

we  made  valentines.

(Violet pecked out the above sentence, after climbing onto my lap to see what I was working on.)

Yes, Violet and Cora both settled down to write out Valentine's cards for their classmates, getting a bit of a head start  because we know next week will be busy.

100 Times the Fun

On Sunday evening, after a rainy afternoon, we went to Coach Cory's house for a hitting practice session. Cory worked with Cora (and the other girls) on stance and swinging the bat. He and his wife even provided cookies and hot dogs ! We are so blessed to be on this softball team.





 On Monday morning, Violet's kindergarten class walked to College of the Canyons for a show in the Performing Arts Center.

It's hard to believe that after doing this walking field trip with Cora for the last three years, I'm now doing it as a chaperone for Violet's class. I was in charge of Violet and Sophia.

Tuesday was another fun day at school - it was the 100th Day, and that's big cause for celebration in the younger grades. Violet's class has been preparing for weeks, and a recent homework project involved making a cape from a t-shirt, and decorating it with 100 things.

Violet handled this project nearly entirely on her own. She chose the 100 things (which happened to be leftovers from the same bag of confetti that Cora used for her 100-day kinder project) and glued them on, by herself.

The class also counted to 100, clapped 100 times, rang a bell 100 times, jumped 100 times, ran for 100 seconds, and wrote about a food item they would eat 100 of.

After school on Tuesday, we went to La Crescenta to celebrate Maya's birthday. Yes, Maya and Cora are at the birthday time of year, and they are turning 9. Nine! I can't even think about it.

Natalia and Violet were happy to see each other again, as this whole school thing has really gotten in the way of our playdates!

Happy Birthday, Maya!