Fright Fest, with CORA!

Our girls have never been into scary things, and Cora wasn't champing at the bit to make her first trip to Fright Fest.

But with Grandma starring as the Witch again, we all were pulling for Cora to summon the courage to make a visit.

Friday night, after her football practice, we agreed to have Stace and Violet drop us off and then pick us up a little bit later. This would save us the long walk to and from the parking lot.

Cora was quite nervous, holding my hand tightly as we walked past the first scare zone.

But, we made it up the hill unscathed, and she was so happy and excited to finally "meet" the Witch in person!

We watched as Lurane Lorraine went through all her best lines, while a crowd gathered around. It was amazing to see how many people sought her out, called her name, and asked for photos.

The Witch introduced us to her friends, and Cora was in awe of them all. She was excited to meet them and chat with them.

We then rode on Viper for the first time, one of those big thrill rides with lots of loops. Cora's now 54 inches tall, so a lot of rides have opened up to her.

She had so much fun Friday night, she and I went back on our own Saturday night. We had thought of riding a few more rides, but Saturday was much more crowded than Friday, and we didn't want to wait in long lines.

Still, we had a great mommy-daughter time together.

Fun with Violet

 Violet jammed through her second-grade sight word list - no surprise since she knew them all a year ago - and earned the moniker "Brainy Bubble."

She and her other Brainy Bubble classmates were given a bottle of bubble solution. Watching her have fun blowing her bubbles over the next few afternoons was a joy.

 Violet also finished up her six-week Kidz Love Soccer session this week. Thanks to Grandpa for getting these fun action (and inaction) shots of Violet Mae.

Violet had fun with the soccer, and definitely participated well. She also would walk around with her shirt pulled halfway over her head, and goof off. Silly girl!

Weekend Games and Parties

Cora's friend Violet came over Friday afternoon, and the girls and Andre had some fun adventuring.

Then, Cora went to Violet's house, while I took our Violet to Grandpa's house. I then took Cora to a birthday party for a classmate at the trampoline place, and then to football practice.

Finally, Stace and I went on to meet up with Colleen and Rigo at Fright Fest.

On Saturday morning, Cora played her best game of football yet. She was able to pull six flags off her opponents, meaning she stopped their offense from driving forward six times.

It was a lot of fun to watch and cheer for her, and to hear all the other parents and coaches cheering her name, too.

Cora's Chiefs won, 28-0, so it was an overall excellent team performance.

After lunch, Violet came over again to play. The girls had all sorts of fun, and acted out their favorite parts of the Warriors book series about warrior cats.

On Sunday afternoon, Cora went to Lucas's 12th birthday party at Laser Blast, and she did very well on the games!

Also over the weekend, Stacey put together our new queen-sized bed. Yes, we have upgraded to a bigger bed.

Fright Fest Fun

We made our annual return to Fright Fest at Magic Mountain on Friday night, with Colleen and Rigo along to help us through the terror.

Our favorite witch never disappoints, though we probably disappointed her by turning down her offer of a chunky pumpkin latte.

We managed to escape her threat of turning Colleen and me into "princess stew," unlike the unlucky donor of the foot.

The hearse and undead mother with pram were particularly gruesome .

And lucky us, we got to see our friend Megan, Sara and Tony's daughter, who was on a youth group trip to Magic Mountain from Arizona. She is a lovely young lady, and it's always good to see her.

After riding a few rides, we went on to Denny's to get a midnight bite to eat, as if we were college-aged again. It was a fun night!

Week in Review

We made a family trip Saturday to Hurricane Harbor, because we had tickets from Stacey's work party a few months ago that were expiring.

We took it easy, spending much of our day by the wave pool. At one point, the cold water caused the girls to seek the warmth of the sun. It's not every day you see kids sitting out with a book at an amusement park!

Colleen, Lucas and Liana came with us, so it was nice to catch up with them.












The relaxing continued back at home.

Violet enjoyed the Captain Underpants movie a lot, and it sparked her interest in creating her own comic books again. Both girls have enjoyed this activity over the years.

On Wednesday, I had my friend Kelly's boys over for the midday hours while she worked. Noah and Ethan are normally cared for by one of their grandmothers, but both are out of state for a couple of weeks. 

We had fun together, and I was reminded what a lot of effort goes into having toddlers and preschoolers around, boys especially!

On Wednesday evening, Cora's Pioneer Club group worked on a camping badge. Cora enjoyed making S'mores - yum!

This week, Violet made sure she had a turn with the tree-climbing after her soccer class. Here's her buddy Camryn, who's taking the class with her.

Cora attended her friend Andre's birthday party on Saturday morning, at the Santa Clarita Skate Park.

She was a little nervous going in, because she had never been there before, but she had a fantastic time and can't wait to return. She used her scooter, and now wants to get a better trick-style scooter like the other kids used.

Autumn Decor

Violet has been very excited to decorate for autumn, and for Halloween especially. We found out that Michaels craft stores offer free classes to make various items, and Violet was looking forward to making a wreath.

She picked Halloween items to put on her wreath - purple bats, black roses. The Michael's employee was so sweet and helpful, and we had a great experience.

Later that weekend, the girls made more crafts in the garage - they spent hours one Sunday afternoon creating things, all on their own accord.

Here, Cora was creating a wreath of her own, with vines.

We all went to another Michaels craft event, and made yarn pumpkins. (Cora chose green yarn, and made an apple.)

Such a great assortment of homemade crafts!

Violet was very happy when the calendar turned to October, and we could add the Halloween decorations out front to the autumn things we already had out.

The pumpkins above the door light up - Violet insisted we needed new and better decorations out front this year.

Week in Review

We got together with our Mom2Mom friends Saturday night, and it was a lovely evening of eating and chatting.

Cora had her football game in the morning, but it wasn't enough football action for her. She and one of the boys had a good time with the ol' pigskin.

 We met up with Grandpa at Costco on Sunday, and Violet was super helpful.

 On Monday, these two took the big step of riding off into the big wide world on their own.

OK, they were just going to school, and there's a crossing guard, and I followed soon after on foot with Violet. But it was a big step - er, pedal - into independence for Cora, and something she's been craving for months.

 On Wednesday, we drove to school, with a quick run to Chick Fil A first for another one of their free breakfast promotions.

We got to school early enough for Cora and Chris to throw the football around at the park. It's Chris who sparked Cora's interest in football, when we went to watch him play two years ago.

 On Thursday, while Violet played soccer, our tree hugger did some climbing before heading off to play with Cooper and Wylie.

 On Friday, Chris and Big Violet came home with us for lunch and some pool fun. It was warm enough for water play - maybe the last time of the year? Who knows in SClarita...

Violet's mom picked up both big girls for playtime at their house. Cora had a great time, and was buzzing when I picked her up. It was so great to see her excited about playing with her friend.

We then went from Violet's house to Cooper's, and took him with us to the school movie night.

Our friend Liz organized it, and Captain Underpants was the feature film. Violet loves these books, and both girls wanted to see the movie when it came out this year. It was a great school event, and free!

Dodger Delirium!

My Wednesday night verged on the surreal. We came home from appointments, and I was preparing to make dinner and go to Pioneer Club.

Then I checked Facebook, and a school mama friend was offering two free tickets to the evening's Dodger game. I checked with Stace, and he was fine with me taking off for the evening.

The tickets were free because they were a gift to my pal Wendy's friend, and that lady couldn't use them. The ticket package even included preferred parking! And look where we were sitting - these were expensive seats.

I could have pinched myself all evening long - the Dodgers were winning big again, and finished the game 10-0, with a couple of home runs. Lots to cheer for.

It's fun seeing the Boys in Blue with fellow fan friends, to see their traditions. For Wendy, it's "helmet nachos," sold at special stands in souvenir Dodger helmets.

Violet and Cora were sad to see me leave at dinner time, but Cora very sweetly surprised me with a snack pack of M&Ms, peanuts, and a box of Cracker Jack. She wrote "Mom" on the ziplock bag. Thanks, Cora!

The highlight of the evening came in the 9th inning. With the Dodgers up by 10 runs, I remarked that we wouldn't get to see Dodger closer extraordinaire Kenley Jansen pitching. Closers come in at the end of a game when it's close, to maintain a slim lead.

But no sooner were the words out of my mouth, we heard his walkup music, Tupac's "California Love," blaring, and watched those bullpen doors open. We all cheered like crazy as Jansen loped toward the mound.








And then, a couple of batters in, a foul ball came off the bat of a San Diego Padre headed right for us. It bounced a few aisles in front of us, bounced again, and landed on my aisle a few feet to my left.

I quickly reached over and placed my hand on the ball, a precious souvenir from a season that has seen the Dodgers win a L.A.-record 104 games.

It was astounding to raise the ball to the cheers of scores of fans all around me, all looking and smiling and clapping.

I love how Wendy played with this photo - so cool.

It was an amazing night, and it all made the out-way-past-bedtime worth it.

The girls were just as excited the next morning when I told them the story and showed them my special souvenir. Violet even made sure we brought the ball to show our back-gate mama friends.