Bowling Fun

 After working on the yard more on Sunday, we met up with Yass and Kell and the boys at the bowling alley.

Getting good photos can be tough. 

 So silly!

Kelly and Yass then had us over for dinner - what a great way to end our spring break!

Going for a Walk

We slept in and relaxed Thursday morning after our Disney adventure, and then Jake came over to hang out. On Friday, we went on a little hike in Whitney Canyon with Kelly, Yass and the boys. 

It was lovely and cool, with green grass and still a bit of water in the stream bed.

The boys then came over to have lunch and play.

 On Saturday morning, Violet had her first softball game with the Gators. She was so excited, eager to strap on those batting gloves and swing the bat.

Violet showed discipline at the plate, walking twice, scoring a run and even making a great catch in the field.

Cora helped her sister out a bit, cheering for her by calling her the pet name she uses: "Bagel."

Coach Ben praised Violet during the post-game talk for her catch.

Go, Gators!

We spent the rest of the day working on the yard.

Disney Trip

With the girls on Spring Break and my Disney pass blocked out on Fridays for the rest of the school year, I took the girls down to Anaheim for two full days of fun.

We left Tuesday morning, not too bright nor early, and checked into our hotel a half-mile from the parks.

We then walked down the road and started our adventure.

We aren't the only ones on spring break, so the parks were crowded. We rode Autopia, but none of the big rides on Tuesday.

This was a selfie with me and my navigator, but she edited me out of it. Like the filter she picked?

We went into Star Wars Launch Bay, where the girls played with Legos and video games. (Let's not think about the fact that they could have one the same things in Valencia...)

Violet left a message for those who were to follow her.

We went over to Tom Sawyer's Island, or Pirate's Lair or whatever they've called it. On the far side, I'd never noticed this little blacksmith's shop set up, like Will Turner's from the first Pirates movie.

The girls ran around a bit, and then we caught the raft back to the mainland.

We rode the Jungle Cruise, and then got Dole Whips. We then actually caught the bus back to our motel to rest! Never done that before, but we were all tired and lying on a bed sounded good.

Rested and rejuvenated, we headed back to the park to use our fast passes for Space Mountain.

Violet and I rode It's a Small World, while Cora did the teacups.

Then we did Thunder Mountain together, and headed home for the evening.

The next day, we went to California Adventure. After playing in the Redwood Creek area, we met up with Auntie Mel and Uncle Nick.

We did the Minnie Mouse animation - Nick went freakish for his.

We then noticed a Captain Marvel setup, and waited in line for a bit to get a photo.

She had to leave on a "mission" before our photo with her, but we got a shot in front of her plane. Grandma and Grandpa caught up with us while we were here.

Our trip was full of loving sibling moments... NOT. The girls were cranky and bickering a lot of our time together. This was when we were in line for Guardians of the Galaxy, Violet's favorite ride.

Fun to spend time with these two!

Spring Break

 Violet is playing softball!
We signed her up for a city team, and practice started this week. It's nice to have her on a team again - it's been several years.

 Violet has pretty darn good hand-eye coordination, so this should be a fun couple of months. Here she is, hitting at her first practice.

 The girls returned from Arizona to a very short week of school - just two half-days, and then Spring Break started Thursday. We celebrated by going to Disneyland with our friends.

 Violet had a haircut Friday afternoon.

 On Saturday, we were busy touching up our paintwork on the inside of the house - after 10 years, it was time.

We then went to Colleen and Rigo's for dinner. The kids love playing in their amazing back yard - this time the game included Nerf weapons.

 On Sunday, we took a drive down the 126 to Ventura - the hills are all green from all the rain, and it was just beautiful.

 We met up with Sara and Tony and the girls - yes, one week after we left them, they took a trip to SoCal. It was Emily's 14th birthday, and instead of a party, she desired a beach trip. It was fun seeing them again and it was lovely and warm on the beach.

On Monday, we met up with my college friends Melanie and JT at a park for some playtime and catchup time. Cora was the lone "big kid" but she handled it well, playing with all the littles.

Here, Callie and Jonah are sharing the side with Violet, while Cora and Heather are weighing down the other end. Melanie's other two, Sienna and Andrew, were playing somewhere else...

So, it was a great start to Spring Break!

Musical Petting Zoo

Our school district offers an excellent music program, with weekly music lessons in the primary grades,and all third graders learning the recorder. Upper graders may learn an orchestra instrument and/or participate in chorus, with two concert performances a year.

When we were in Arizona on Monday, Violet's class participated in the annual third grade Musical Petting Zoo, where the kids can try out different instruments to see if they want to take lessons in fourth grade.

When I learned that she'd be missing it, I arranged with the music teacher and her own teacher to take part in a nearby school's zoo.

Violet got to try so many cool instruments! Above, trombone, and here, a baritone.

Cora's not-so-stellar experience with the violin colored Violet's view of it, but she gave it a go anyway.

Violet entered the day thinking she'd love the flute, here, or the clarinet.

But, she found through the experience that both were difficult for her.

But the trumpet! Now that was another story. She loved it! Listen below to her first time. She's going to sign up to try it out next year.

Bearizona!

On our last day of our vacation, Grandma and Grandpa wanted us all to experience Bearizona, a drive-through wildlife park they'd visited with Melanie and Nick a few years ago.

You first drive through various areas, where the animals are separated by species. Here are some adorable bears.

The wolves were awesome to see.

Mountain goats!

You then park and enter the rest of the attraction, with smaller animals on display, a bird show, and a petting zoo. Violet took this photo of  Joe the turkey.

The youngest bears were in this area, too. Look high in the trees. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's.. a baby bear! This, despite the wraps around the trees at the bottom to try to prevent the bears from climbing them.

Cora bonded with this gorgeous jaguar.

We then started on our long drive home. The girls stayed busy watching movies on their personal DVD players we bought as a family Christmas gift. The sound of silence from the girls across the 430 miles was quite a gift to us! We were home before 9 p.m. - not too shabby.