Tidbits

 We enjoyed a three-day weekend, and on one of the days we went to see a funny musical set during WWII featuring songs by the Andrews Sisters. Colleen and Rigo went with us, and we later went to their place for dinner. Liana was sick (and stayed in her room), so the girls didn't go with us, but the adults had a great time.

We also recently enjoyed Arsenic and Old Lace at the Canyon Theater Guild, with our long time friend Coach Greg, who was the girls' teacher in Pioneer Club and is a big supporter of Cora's theater pursuits.

Switching gears, the monarch caterpillars on our back yard milkweed are spreading far and wide to undergo their transformations. 

This guy really did go a long way from his home plant!

And i was standing in the yard when a little Skipper butterfly landed on my knee. That's got to be good luck!

Also over the long weekend, Violet, Stace and I went to Placerita Canyon Nature Center to take photos right after a rainstorm. I'll make a separate post about it... but here was our yummy dinner on the way home, from a fried chicken restaurant we'd heard about from foodies on Facebook.

Nature Time

Violet has had a sluggish start to her 8th grade year, missing a couple of days a week with illness and upset tummies. She just doesn't like school, sadly.

But she does like going to Quigley Canyon, and when weather allows, we're going frequently. She loves being in nature, looking for interesting flora, fauna and geology.

She found this lovely big bit of quartz.

 

It is a peaceful place, unlike junior high school.

Can't make them out, but this hollow in the oak tree was full of bees.

On one of the days she was home early from school, we met up with Stace and had coffee and lunch at Havana Savannah, one of my local favorites near his work.

L.A. March

 I had an adventurous Tuesday, attending a rally/march in Downtown L.A. for parents' rights against our crazy state, with a new friend. 

The sign says, "Cali Parents Do Not Co-Parent With Newsom," our terrible governor who supports policies that effectively mean children belong to the state rather than their families.

It was a beautiful day in L.A., my old stomping grounds when I covered L.A. County government.

The sign outside the Starbucks kiosk made me smile.

My new friend and I went over to Olvera Street for a taco lunch before heading back to SClarita. It was a successful and very interesting day.

Storms and Cats

We spent part of Saturday getting ready for Hurricane Hillary, a very unusual tropical storm that came on Sunday. We invested in a new permanent rain barrel, which Stace installed.

He and Cora also tried coating the playroom roof again, although we still had leaking around those pesky skylights.

After our hard work, Stace and I met up with Colleen and Rigo at the Queen tribute band at the Concerts in the Park. They were outstanding!

We certainly did get the rain on Sunday! Nearly 6 inches! It's pretty crazy, our average rainfall is 17 inches, and we've had 40 inches this year!

With all our rain collecting, we gathered over 170 gallons of water.

The girls were absolutely thrilled when we got the phone call Sunday evening that school was cancelled for Monday. The district just wasn't sure what kind of damage the facilities had sustained, and it was hard to predict how much damaging wind would occur that night. They were jumping around and dancing, like I hear kids do with snow days.

On Monday, Violet and I enjoyed a nice walk, with Spencer coming with us part of the way.

Speaking of cats, we bought them a new water fountain bowl.

Naughty boy!!

Ren Faire, Newhall-style

I heard that the city was giving its monthly "Block Party" on Main Street in Newhall a Renaissance Fair theme, and Cora was well up for going. She was very happy to get all her gear on, and she invited a few friends, who were all game for dressing up Thursday, too.

One of the free activities was ax-throwing. Here, Cora and her friends are getting their instructions.

Look at that! Cora got several in.

Twice the success!

There was also music, food, drink, and entertainment acts, like a juggler and a contortionist (jester). Stace and I had fun and saw quite a few people we knew.

After the event, the kids all came to our house and played cards for a bit. It was really nice having Cora's friends over, as she no longer invites people over very often.

Adventures of Gregorny

 When we were setting up Cora's filmed at-home audition, we had to take down her armless skeleton she's had hanging from her window for the past, oh, five years or so.

Cora then decided Gregorny, displaced from her curtain rod, needed to have some fun.

She made him our version of the "Elf on the Shelf," giving me a fun thing to look for each morning as summer drew to a close.

First, I found him reading the Bible - appropriately, he was taking in Revelation.

He decided to try driving.

Take Your Skeleton To School Day

Take Your Skeleton To Wherever Day

THIS MADE ME SCREAM!

I opened the microwave to reheat my coffee and did NOT expect to see Gregorny. My scream woke up my sleeping beauty. Served her right!

Careful, might get toasty bones!

Keeping up with the day's news

Meteors at Riley's Farm

 Violet enjoys nature, including star-gazing, and Stace and I love Riley's Farm in Oak Glen. We've now been twice as a family over the last few years, once for Colonial Christmas and once for the Sleepy Hollow dinner theater. 

So when I saw Riley's note that they would be opening up late on Saturday night for the Perseid Meteor Shower, I thought, maybe we should make the (long) drive out and spend the night!

Plus, Vi has had a rather boring summer, and getting her out of the house seemed like a good idea. 

She didn't agree, to be honest, but in the end I think she'd say she had an OK time. And Cora stayed behind.

We got in around 5, in time for delicious dinner of chicken pot pie and beef/mashed potato pie. We then walked a bit of the grounds, through apple orchards and berry vines, past the goats and pigs. 

Stace got himself caught up in the stocks...again.

Cidery cheers!

Apple pie for dessert!

Then, we settled onto our blanket and waited for darkness.

We borrowed one of my dad's good cameras and figured out how to do a long exposure, for decent nighttime photos.

What glorious skies, our God has created!

Violet said this was the Milky Way in view here.

We were able to see a handful of meteors, too, which was very special. I've seen a few shooting stars in my life, but never a half-dozen in one night! 

Someone was able to catch a meteor on film! Well, digitally. Whatever. Riley's posted it on their Instagram - so cool! (Check above the tree on the right.)

We then headed to our hotel for  the night, and enjoyed the rest of our mini getaway.

Back to School

And just like that - summer was over and Violet started 8th grade, and Cora began her junior year.

Violet didn't love school last year, especially her first semester, but she said she was ready to get back to a routine. She had quite a boring summer, so it was nice to have her OK with going back to school. 

She's still taking yearbook, and her friend Leah is now in the class with her. She has a few of the same teachers Cora had, too.

Cora started her first day at the new high school, and it went well enough. She's not a super social kid, especially with people her own age, but things went OK. New campus, all new teachers (except for Jarod!) and a couple of thousand new faces. She's taking algebra II/trig, English 11, U.S. History, ceramics, theater and stagecraft.

The traffic around her new school is atrocious - the high school is directly across the street from the area's junior high, and though the starting/ending times are staggered, it's still one main road in and out for them. Ugh, I miss the traffic patterns at her old school, that's for sure. We'll have to figure out a system.
 

Seb also had his first day - of sitting in this box.

I turned around and caught him in the playroom, surrounded by new school supplies, squeezing himself into the box for Violet's new tall black boots. 

This was Violet after her registration day last week, with her new books and her look of "Why a photo, Mom?!"

And I wish I'd taken a photo of Cora at her new school on registration day, but I forgot.

Beach Fun

Colleen, Rigo and Liana were spending a couple of days at the beach, so Violet and I went up Wednesday afternoon to hang out and take advantage of their primo beachfront spot.

We took a long walk together, and Violet thought was awesome to throw sea foam at me. Where was her sister when I needed her, to deflect this little sisterly energy?
 

The girls played with cards in the trailer, but used them to stack rather than playing the actual card game.

Colleen and Rigo were camping with friends of theirs, who I also enjoyed talking with.

Playing a game the real way after dinner...

The sunset was beautiful, of course!