Skate Park Party

We were up and out early Saturday morning to meet up with some of Cora's favorite friends at the skate park for a little birthday celebration. The park is open to kids under 13 from 8 to 10 a.m. on the weekends, so we had our friends meet us at 8:30. Above, we have Trent, Wylie, Violets (Big and Little), Vivian, Sophi and Sophia, Cooper, David and Chris. And, of course, Cora herself.

Violet was very happy we brought doughnuts to share. (Thanks, Dad, for coming and serving as official photographer!)

Just hanging around...

Cooper being tricky...

Chris getting some air...

David had fun, too.

Stace borrowed the twins' skateboard. And now he wants a longboard for his birthday.

Hanging with the ladies while watching our kids have fun and be active - priceless! We all agreed we'll have to meet up here again.

Chris and Cooper had fun dropping into the bowl. Cora has accomplished this once, a few weeks ago, but she also landed hard a couple of times and she's been nervous to try again.

Skating around the bowl is tons of fun, though.

You don't even have to have wheels to have fun. The girls were running and jumping up the sides of the bowl, and then sliding down on their pads.

Sliding down the ramps on their pads was fun, too.

Violet made up her own game - running up the sides of the slope we mamas were sitting near, to collect high-fives.

Up and down, back up and down, so much running!

These kids are growing up together! Thanks, Sendy, for the photos.

And thanks to Elaine for sharing a few too, including this one of the gifts. Cora was very excited to receive some lovely presents, including money for more Warriors books.

Birthday Fun

Even though Stace took Thursday off for our trip to Universal Studios, Cora really wanted to see him Friday morning, too. So, he stayed home for a little while to make Cora her birthday breakfast - crepes, his speciality.

Before school, Cora opened a couple of her presents - a Lego microfighter from Violet, and a set of framed Harry Potter prints from me and Stace.

After school, we got a few things ready for Cora's birthday party Saturday morning. Then we went to Trent's birthday party, a bingo party at his house.

Cora won one of the prizes - a mini bundt cake. Yum!

Later, Jen was so sweet to bring out a second mini cake for Cora, and we all sang to her, after singing "Happy Birthday" to Trent.

Thanks to Pam for this sweet photo of our 11-year-old, and the next pic.

Cora's bigger present from us was this big Lego kit of Kylo Ren's TIE fighter. Stace just loves having a daughter who is as into Star Wars Lego as much as he is!

Universal Fun

For Cora's 11th birthday, we took a family trip to Universal Studios, primarily to soak up the Harry Potter magic in the section of the park focused on the books and movies. It was our first time there since before Cora was born - and it was outstanding!

The area consists of two rides, including the main ride behind the girls here in the Hogwarts castle, and many shops that mirror shops in the movies.

Auntie Mel and Uncle Nick came with us, and Grandma and Grandpa met us after Grandma got off work. We decided to go on a Thursday, to experience the park properly without the long lines.

Grandma's friend gave the girls her Harry Potter wands, purchased at Universal Studios, and Melanie let them borrow her Gryffindor scarf. Cora's eyes when we walked into Harry Potter World showed her wonder and awe.

We went on the little coaster first, because Violet could enjoy it. The second ride - the biggie - was an amazing experience. The whole line was filled with interactive displays and little things from the films.

When we got to the front of the line, Violet and Stace went into a waiting area with comfy seating and the movies playing on a television. After Cora and I went on the ride with Melly and Nick, Stace and Cora went. Sadly, the motion made Stace really sick for most of the rest of the day.

After the ride, we had butter beer!

If it hadn't been such a warm day, you really could imagine you were in Hogsmeade. Just going in and out of the shops is a thoroughly enjoyable experience - and the pub! Like being back in England!

Ollivander's wand shop was one of the fun ones; another was Honeydukes sweet shop, where Melanie treated the girls to chocolate frogs.

After our Potter adventures, Stace, Cora and Violet and I went on the hour-long studio tour. The girls really enjoyed it, except for the Fast and Furious portion at the end - Violet found it scary and had her head in my lap.

We met up with the family again, and walked through the Simpsons section. We didn't go on this ride - maybe next time! The pricing made it better to get a season pass for the year, so we will definitely be returning.

We had a bite to eat and then went on the Jurassic Park water ride - except for Stace, who still wasn't feeling well. He served as our photographer - nice shot of us, SOAKED! Thank goodness it was such a warm winter's day!

We then watched the Waterworld show, before hurrying to ride the Mummy a couple of times. By this time the park had pretty well cleared out, as it closed at 6 p.m. We then hurried back up to the Harry Potter rides for one more go.

My dad captured this beautiful shot of the castle at night.

It was a very fun day, with the exception of Stace feeling sick.

We had dinner at Bubba Gumps - Uncle Nick answered every quiz question from our waitress correctly!

The server asked Cora to make a birthday wish when she brought out a cupcake and we all sang to her. Her wish was to watch her daddy dance - he was a good sport!

Happy 11th Birthday, Cora! Another year older, speeding toward those teen years. But for now, she's still young enough to eat the frosting first... We love you!

Science Fair

Cora chose to investigate which glues would work best to repair squishies for her science project this year.

She was inspired by an incident, when Livi tore Violet's squishy, and we were googling which glue would work best. We found online that super glue can dissolve squishies - interesting!

For the project, Cora cut up a large squishy and used five types of glues to adhere the pieces together.

After letting them cure for 24 hours, she used a luggage scale to measure the force required to tear them back apart. A few didn't break - those were some strong glues!

She found that epoxy, super glue and wood glue worked the best - and the super glue did not dissolve the squishies, in her tests.

Cora came in first place in her grade!

Should we mention that she came in first, out of two entries?

Naahh!

(There were actually nearly 100 participants in the fair, mostly in the primary grades.)

We're proud of your hard work, Cora!

Fun Stuff

A group of my girlfriends got together last Saturday night for an Escape Room and dinner. I missed out on the Escape Room fun, but enjoyed dinner out at a new brewery/restaurant in Old Newhall.

Earlier that day, my parents took the girls on a whale watch, and Stace and I did some planning for Cora's bedroom. We also stepped out to shop for supplies and get a drink, at a new brewery near the mall.

Yes, SClarita is sprouting new breweries like spring wildflowers.

And Saturday, we went out with friends from Mom2Mom. Instead of doing another bowling night, we went to Claim Jumper for dinner.