Ship Life

Dressing up for dinner was a special treat for us, since we don't have many occasions to do so! One night was designated as a dressy night, and this is when we celebrated my birthday especially, with a lovely cake.

Cora in particular took great pleasure in wearing pretty clothes and getting more "done up." The change in my former total tomboy has been astonishing.

Thanks to my parents for the cake!

The pool and water slide was a great attraction for the kids, but on a 62 degree day, it was a bit cold. No matter to Cora! She took off her warm coat and had fun on all the water slides...

...before joining the other kids in the hot tub.

Cora also was adventurous in her eating. Because Jake has tried shark and alligator in Florida, Cora had to try alligator when it was on the menu as a "rare find" appetizer on our first night. Then she had a bite of my fried calamari - squid - and on subsequent nights tried duck, rabbit and, here, escargot. She enjoyed them all!

The ship's photographers are everywhere, and it's fun to get formal shots taken when you're gussied up.

We didn't end up buying any photos, but my dad grabbed a few shots during the process.

The girls loved the mini-golf course! They would play multiple times a day, if they could find opponents. We played as a family, and Christina and John both also gave them a game.

We also enjoyed the entertainment on board, the shows, the comedians, the karaoke. Melanie wowed everyone in the karaoke bar on our last night.

It was a fabulous trip altogether! I'm so thankful for the opportunity and the friends and family who shared it with us.

Exciting Ensenada

Our second day, we woke up in the harbor at Ensenada, Mexico. We had much better weather, and it was a short few blocks walk to get to the main shopping/touristy district.

We did some shopping, and stopped for lunch. Margaritas and beers, chips and guac, tacos, quesadillas. Yum!

The girls had fun picking out jewelry, and tried out bartering, the normal method of pricing here. Auntie Mel bought Cora some leather sandals, since she'd ended up walking around in her dressier shoes and was getting a blister.

Stace was so honored to hold THE REAL WORLD CUP!! So cool.

Later, back on the ship, we sat with coffees (and ice creams - the 24/7 free soft serve machine was a big hit with the girls!) and enjoyed a gorgeous sunset.

Cruise! Catalina Fun

Sunday was the big day, one I'd been anticipating for over a year - my 40th Birthday Cruise!

We took a four-day trip with family and a few close friends to Catalina and Ensenada, and enjoyed all the fun activities (and food!) on the Carnival Imagination.

The fun started when we entered our room and found it decorated with birthday goodies from Aunt Patty and Uncle Bill, who also sent a bottle of wine and glasses. We also enjoyed a plate of truffles from our friend Lynnette, who helped us as our travel agent for the trip.

That night, we changed and enjoyed our first of several yummy dinners. Traveling with us included my parents, Melanie and Nick, John and Linda, my cousin Lucy and friend Christina. 

 We woke up Monday morning anchored near Catalina, the beautiful island "26 miles across the sea" from the SoCal coast.

We boarded a shuttle boat and braved the mist and fog, getting a bit wet on our way to the harbor. Thankfully, the misty rain died away and we were able to enjoy a day of walking around the sweet town of Avalon.

 I hadn't been to Catalina since I was 9, and obviously Stace and the girls had never visited the island. The main drag had shops and restaurants, while side streets had colorful wooden houses and churches, businesses and civic buildings.

 The large building behind us is the Casino, which in Italian means gathering place. It was not a gambling hall, but a theater and performing arts center, dating from 1929.

We looked at the shops and then stopped in at Luau Larry's, a tiki bar that Melanie wanted to take us to. 

She bought me a classic drink that included a hat and bumper sticker.

Meanwhile, Grandma and Grandpa treated the girls to a trip on a semi-submersible watercraft. Catalina is known for its sea life, particularly the orange Garibaldi fish, which is California's state fish.

Milestone Birthday

I woke up Thursday to a new decade!

Stace made it special from the very start - when I emerged from my room to get my coffee, he had hung decorations and balloons everywhere before he left for work!

We went to Egg Plantation for breakfast with Christina and her girls. Egg Plantation is a great birthday breakfast choice, because the birthday person gets a free omelet.

After breakfast, we went to a nice resale shop around the corner and got a few things. Cora was in need of some dressy things for our upcoming cruise.

Later, I went out and got a fancy coffee drink at Undergrounds, with a gift card I'd received from the nursery coordinator at church a couple of months ago.

Isn't it pretty?

I took that drink with me through the car wash - yes, a birthday treat to myself was getting my car washed. It was so good to have a clean car again, especially the inside after I'd vacuumed it thoroughly.

Our evening was even more exciting than a car wash. We went out to dessert at Melanie's restaurant in Hollywood, and then walked around the corner to the Pantages to watch Wicked.

Melanie took great care of us, of course, and we even enjoyed a fabulous champagne toast. The desserts were all delicious, and I was sung to by my table and the table next to us.

Then, off to our musical! I saw Wicked 10 years ago when it was last in town, and I knew the whole family would love it. It tells an alternate story "behind the story" of the Wizard of Oz, with how the Wicked Witch of the West became who she was.

Since the girls both loved appearing in their school's productions of Wizard, I knew they'd enjoy this fabulous musical.

And Stace, who's not much of a musical guy, enjoyed it too. We all had a great night!

Stace and I bought the tickets, and took my parents as their Christmas present. For the first time, having a birthday so close to Christmas worked to my advantage. This was a birthday to remember!

New Year's Eve, Day

We spent the next couple of days tidying up the house and back yard. December is month the leaves fall here, and after ignoring the yard for a few weeks, it was in quite a state.

Along with working hard, Violet worked to build her Lego Christmas gifts. Nan and Pop gave her the Newt Scamander set she really wanted, from the Fantastic Beasts series, and Stace and I gave her a coding robot set. First she built the robot, hooked into the app on her kindle, and then programmed it to move and talk. Cool stuff!

On New Year's Eve, we went out to run some errands and ended up having a late lunch/early dinner at Pei Wei.

Here you can see yet another funny face of Violet's. She's becoming quite a champion of face-making at photo time.

Stace was fighting a cold, so we didn't do a lot on New Year's Eve. We watched a movie together at home and toasted the turn into 2019 as a foursome.

Cora turned a gold mirror into this beauty, adding the paint, marbles an crystal accents. She is very crafty, and was proud of this one in particular, because she didn't follow any YouTube instructions!

On New Year's Day, Stace still wasn't feeling good, but he rallied and prepared a lovely meal. My parents came over for a roast dinner, and we then played Apples to Apples. New Year's Resolution: more family board game nights!

Here's to 2019. May we notice the blessings.

Fun with Friends

We drove to JT and Jim's house after our time in Newport Beach, and it was great seeing Violet play with Callie and Jonah.

Jammies, hot cocoa and dessert - we enjoyed a delicious English Christmas cake that JT made from scratch. And then we spent the night! Always fun to have a family sleepover.

We had the best lazy morning on Thursday! We then had lunch and went to the fabulous Bonelli Park, where the kids loved playing on the wide variety of play equipment.

On our way back to SClarita, we stopped for dinner and fun with Daryl and Juliana and their girls.

It has been seven months or so since we'd seen them, but Maya and Cora got along so well! I'm truly grateful to see her relationship with Maya, her oldest friend, still going strong.

Violet and Natalia had fun too... and the four adults got along famously. So much so that we didn't get home until close to midnight!

And on Friday night, we went to Yass and Kelly's house, and got home even later! Too much fun!

We had the boys over Saturday evening, and the four - er, five - kids loved playing Cora's new PS4 games. We got a couple of new ones that work for four players, so we bought a couple of new controllers. Listening to the kids laugh and shout during "Gang Beasts" was so much fun.

Also on Friday, Violet saw her endocrinologist, and she's now 48 5/8 inches tall, up to the 10th percentile. We are so pleased!.

Boxing Day at the Beach

 We woke up at a lovely hotel in Newport Beach on Boxing Day, and after relaxing, eating a great breakfast and working out in the hotel gym, went down to the beach again.

It might be a cool December, but the girls rolled up their pant legs and splashed in the surf. They also held jumping contests.

 It was a gorgeous day, and lovely to spend it in this gorgeous part of Orange County.

 OK, so when did she become a teenager?

 Stace has a new phone with a great little camera. He had fun trying it out with the pier.