Working Hard, and Bunny Sadness

Stace has been reorganizing the garage, redoing his cabinetry. While Violet and I were in Arizona, Stace and Cora finished the project, building the shallow shelves he sought to keep his tools in.

As usual, Cora was an excellent helper.

Beautiful job!

Cora also worked hard in the yard, enough to earn a tidy sum. She learned to to the string trimming, adding to her lawn care repertoire.

While Stace and Cora were working in the yard, Spencer brought in a second dead baby bunny, after I found him with one Friday morning. Then, after Cora buried Bunny No. 2, there was a third!

This one, like the Monty Python plague victim, wasn't quite dead yet. Cora cared for it as best as she could, and set it up on the hill in a hidden spot, with water and grass.

So cute. Cora visited it several times Sunday, and it seemed to be doing OK, well enough that she named it Twitch.

Alas, the final time she checked on it, it had passed on, apparently from internal wounds.

Stace and Cora made sure the cats were then in the house, but the next morning, another dead bunny on the lawn! This one had been torn up, so by something more wild than our cats (who were locked inside).

We kept them in for the next week. We are assuming a mama rabbit had a litter in a nearby yard, and then was killed or otherwise left them defenseless. In our 11 years in this house, we haven't seen rabbits in our yard, and our cats have never caught one.

Sweet Friendship

 A dash of cute to brighten your day!

(Thanks, Sara!)

Awesome Arizona!

If we hadn't already had a big enough week - driving to Medieval Times on Thursday, going to Disneyland on Friday - Violet and I were also busy packing for our weekend adventure.

Stace took us to Burbank Airport on Saturday morning for our flight to Phoenix, where Sara and Alli picked us up for a fun girls' weekend getaway!

Once back in their hometown of Gilbert, we went to the cute old town area, where we had a yummy lunch at Joe's Real BBQ.

After lunch, we went home and chatted, while the girls played. Then, Sara and I had naps! I'm not good at napping, but I needed this one!

That evening, Tony made a lovely charcuterie board.

Sunday afternoon, we went to the lovely new regional park in Gilbert that we visited in October, when Christina, Cami and Melanie were with us all.

These two have such a sweet friendship!



















I love this pic Sara got of Violet trying to take a selfie with her polaroid camera. She hasn't used this much in recent months, but was very excited about bringing it on this trip. We ordered new film and a new carrying case on Amazon while we were having our Dole Whip at Disneyland, and had the order delivered to Sara's house.

On Sunday night, Sara, Tony and I went to their favorite sushi place, where they have Happy Hour all day on Sunday. It was yummy, and so inexpensive!

Back at the ranch, Alli and Vi had s'mores, and then watched Harry Potter outside.

On Monday, after we got packed up, we went to Top Golf, a fun place that Sara and Alli had taken Violet to when she flew out on her own to visit them.

It's a driving range, with electronically monitored balls and points awarded for hitting the ball into targets.

We then went to an Ethiopian restaurant, a place special to Alli and family because of her Ethiopian heritage. I enjoyed the meal very much, and especially enjoyed learning about the cuisine.

 We then headed to another cool park, with this giant climbing structure.

And then, it was time to say goodbye and head back to the airport! What a fun weekend! 

Disney Again!

 When I looked at the Disney annual pass blockout calendar, I knew that Violet and I had to make another trip to Disneyland on Friday - the last Friday open on our passes until late fall!

We took off after school and had a great afternoon/evening at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Violet always has to do Animation Academy, so here are our Stitches.

 Another must-do is check on the kitties near Grizzly River Run in California Adventure, and the ducks (and ducklings) in Disneyland. We then went over to Redwood Creek so she could run around.

 Back at Disneyland, we shared a loaded Dole Whip. This has become another must! And it hopefully made up for the fact that we did NOT go to her favorite restaurant, Lamplight Lounge, because I was sticking to our budget.

We then went on Thunder Mountain.

We also went on the Ariel ride - why not?

We were actually able to get fast passes for Radiator Springs! This was a rare treat.

And back to Disney for a reservation at Oga's Cantina for a quick one.

Before heading home, we went to a Star Wars Land store, to check out the Kyber crystals, which you can buy to power your light sabers.

It was another fun Disney Day!

Medieval Times Field Trip

 Later on Thursday, Cora had a field trip with her entire seventh grade, to Medieval Times.

Violet's mom Lara is a teacher, so she got this shot of Cora and her friends. It was great that they all found each other.

Cora had been really worried about the long bus ride to Medieval Times, which is nearly as far away as Disneyland. I got permission from the school to drive her.

It was a long drive for me to NOT go to  Medieval Times, but I wouldn't have gone in with her class if I was asked - I wouldn't have wanted her to be the only junior higher with her mommy there as a "chaperone."

So, to fill my time, I had lunch next door at Porto's, and picked up some goodies to take home. Porto's is a fabulous Cuban bakery, well-loved, and none of its locations are close enough to SClarita.

I also walked down the street to Knott's Berry Farm, where I visited the replica of Philadelphia's Independence Hall. I walked down on my own, and after picking Cora up after her field trip, we made a quick side trip before getting back on the road home.

 The Independence Hall is an exact, brick-by-brick replica, and inside is a great little free museum focused on the time surrounding the Declaration of Independence and Revolutionary War.

 This is the model of the room where the Declaration was signed. I remember going on a field trip here when I was a kid, and when I walked down, a field trip of fourth- and fifth-graders was taking place.

 Because Cora loves the movie National Treasure, which features the real version of the building near its exciting climax, I knew Cora would enjoy this detour.

I'm happy that this girl loves history like her mama and dad!

Arboretum and Folk Dancing

Look at this amazing tree! I met up with my college friend Melanie on Tuesday at the Arboretum, with her son Andrew. My mom, my sister and Eloise also came along for the beautiful setting, weather and company. Andrew loves climbing around in here.

Spring was springing!

 Peacocks owned the arboretum.

On Wednesday, I picked Cora up from school in the morning to take her to her 13-year well-check. She is well, and now 4'11". We'll hope she makes 5'1" or 5'2". And with her growing maturity, she treated Dr. Brockett much better than in years past.

 On Thursday morning, Violet's class had a showcase of the folk-dancing they've been learning for the last couple of months.

Week in Review

Melanie's friend was sick and couldn't help her with her biggest wedding to date, so I stepped in Saturday as a flower transporter.

She did a beautiful job, as always. I was lucky that the wedding was near JT and Jim's home, so I was able to visit with them before I headed home.

 When I got back, Stace and I met up with our Mom2Mom friends at the bowling alley. It was a fun night!

 On Monday, Cora made us dinner, a lovely shrimp pasta. We'd like to have the girls make dinner more often now that they are getting older.

 Tuesday was Kona Ice day at Violet's school. She was happy to get some!

 And Friday was Western Spirit Day, where the students were encouraged to dress up. Violet had chosen these jeans and cactus print shirt at a consignment sale the day before, and the boots were hand-me-downs.

We then went to a Mom2Mom leadership meeting, where Violet played with her friend Daniela. We then picked up Cora, and two of her friends came over to play on the hill. I'm so happy that they still play imaginatively.

 On Friday night, we went to Vincenzo's, where we enjoyed pizza and the comedy of our friend Charlie. It was open mic night, and this was his second time performing. We were unable to make his first performance, so we were sure to be there for this one! He did great!

 Char had a big crowd of friends, including one who is an amazing artist, and was wowing Cora and Stace with his sketchbook.

Char came over on Saturday to play, and on Sunday, the girls went to their house to play games. The friend with the sketchbook was there, too, and he brought his virtual reality headset. Cora absolutely loved it.

Guess what these two are researching? Yep, VR headsets! Ummmm, they're REALLY expensive. Cora asked me how she can make some money... Char suggested she sell her left kidney.