Day Out: Santa Paula

 Violet and I had a mini summer adventure in not-too-far Santa Paula, the town off the 126 on the way to Ventura.

Months back, I'd heard about a new park near the Santa Clara River, which runs through SClarita and along the foothills here on its way to the ocean. I had the idea that Vi and I could check it out, since we've been very blessed with nice (not scorching) weather since our return home.

It was a bit of a walk from the trailhead, but we found the river. It looked to be a mile wide and three inches deep. (Not really, but it was much wider than I would have imagined.)

Lucky for us, Liana and Colleen were free last minute, and up for the adventure.

We had Mexican food in Santa Paula, and drove through the adorable turn-of-the-last-century downtown. It would have been fun to stop in some of the shops, but we were running short on time.

Later that evening, Stace and I went with Mom and Dad to a Magic employee night at Hurricane Harbor. Because it's actually been not too hot, it wasn't truly warm in the evening - weird situation to have in July. So, I didn't do the water slides, but Stace and Mom had a great time and did all the ones that were open. (At employee nights, they don't have everything open.)

I took these photos to show the results of Six Flags pouring a ton of money in Hurricane Harbor. The refurb looks fantastic! This building is open on the other side, and has the guest lockers.

Henna and Friends

I heard that a frozen yogurt place in Canyon Country has a "half off" Tuesday evening special, and we were all free, so we enjoyed a treat together. 

Violet is SO creative. Her friends came over Wednesday, and she created this little guy as a birthday present for one of them. It's many individual layers cut, colored, and taped over (to laminate), then attached with a brad in a way that you could make it jiggle from side to side when held as shown.

Violet did this henna art on her friend.

They made this confetti cake from a box, following a social media trend called a "hear me out" cake. I'm not going to waste time explaining.

Here's Violet's latest body artwork.

While the girls had fun, I cleaned frosty ice out of the freezers, both indoors and in the garage. At least it was a cool job on a hot summer day!

Back Home

 We are home from England, and now commences the remainder of the girls' summer break.

We returned to an interesting time - my mom and Uncle Bill's brother Bob has passed away, and Bill and Patty are down here to gather his important documents and handle that side of the death. They also planned a small memorial with my mom, at her home.

Unfortunately, I got sick, and wasn't able to make it. 

But I did see them briefly on Thursday, the day after we got home, before I got sick. And Violet hung out with them and my parents, joining them on a day trip to Ojai. 

We returned to some ripe apples, and ton of ripe nectarines, and ripening grapes. This is shaping up to be our best grape crop ever.

Cora ran some errands for me while I was out of commission - I'd asked for milk; I hadn't asked for a giant bag of sugar cereal.

Violet did something big this week - she decided to repierce her right ear, the one that had closed up when she was 7.  We went to a longtime piercing parlor, where the owner took good care of her. He measured the current hole on the left side, to make sure the right would look even.

And he used a piercing needle, not a gun.

Celebratory boba! With all her henna tattoos, Vi fit in at the piercing parlor.

Stace had some Man of the House jobs to do when we got back, besides working at work. He put up a new clothesline, washed the car and tried to fix our faulty air conditioner, but unfortunately the new motor didn't do the trick. I'll hunt down a new A/C contractor. He had better success building his Lego F1 car.

London: Tidbits

 More photos from our little London trip...

Our hotel was near 800-year-old Southwark Cathedral, and I'd really hoped to make it inside. But our timing didn't work. 

Also, we were very near Borough Market, which is apparently an awesome food hall. But it was closed when we were available. We needed one more day!

We went to Covent Garden after the Tower of London, before heading back to get our bags and take the train to our Gatwick hotel Tuesday night.

We came across the Noel Coward Theatre, where Mischief Theatre was putting on The Comedy About Spies. This is the group that created The Play That Goes Wrong.

Again, if we'd had one more day! Or, even 12 more hours - a later flight Wednesday - we would have bought tickets for Tuesday night's show. The girls (and Stace and I) love Mischief and seeing the crew in person would have been amazing.

We happened upon one of the best-rated pie 'n mash shops, so we stopped in for a final dinner. It was delicious.

Violet wasn't excited to spend time in London - she's a nature girl, not a city girl. So Stace promised her a pair of Dr. Martens boots, talking them up, with their London history.

He got a bit of sticker shock when we went in, but he's a man of his word. Vi would have loved a pair of black boots with black embroidered roses she saw, but they were out of her size and they're completely gone online. So, she went for a very classic pair of eight-holes, with black thread instead of the traditional yellow.

With the amount they cost, hopefully they'll last her forever, and be a memory of this trip.

Just London scenes...

Stace and Cora went out early on Tuesday morning to see the site of the original Globe theatre, around the corner from our hotel. 

The letter "G" behind her is part of the outline of the theatre's site.

That'll wrap up our England trip, 2025. Lots of great memories made and experiences shared! 

Our flight home Wednesday was uneventful, as you alway hope flights are.

London: Tower of London

We packed up Tuesday morning and took our bags down to the hotel's holding closet before walking to the Tower of London. I'd visited on my first trip to London, with JT, in 2001, but hadn't been back since. It's castle, fortress, prison, center of government and museum, holding all manner of fascinating pieces of English history.

Here, we're in front of the White Tower, built by William the Conqueror in the late 11th Century. Now, it's a main part of the museum attraction, with the Royal Armouries and much more inside.

We had to start our day with a tour of the grounds with a Yeoman Warder, who gave us great stories and details with typical dry humor.

Two of the many centuries-old suits of armor, which have been on display for hundreds of years to tourists like us!

The 12th century Valasse Cross was on display, on loan from a French museum for one year. It's bedecked with precious stones from Egypt, Iran, India and beyond, with a relic said to be from Christ's cross inset into the gold.

The cross was displayed here in St John the Evangelist's chapel, within the White Tower. Built as a place of worship for William the Conqueror, it held medieval church services for the royals, and fills the same role today. It is a majestic space.

Above, a bedroom fit for king! King Edward I, to be precise, who reigned in the 13th century. 

We're posing together in the throne room of Wakefield Tower. 

We really enjoyed this day together, learning a lot in our 4-5 hours on the grounds. We toured the rooms used by Sir Walter Raleigh while he was imprisoned at the Tower, and we also saw other prison and torture exhibits.  
 

A crowd gathered to watch the lower bridge go up, to let a tall ship - looked like a wooden old Tall Ship - go through.

London: The Globe

After checking into our hotel and resting up, we grabbed a little dinner at the nearby Wagamamas and then walked to the Globe. (We couldn't have picked a better location for the hotel - thanks to JT for the suggestion!)

We arrived early enough to peruse the gift shop before heading into the open-air theater. Stace and I had seats on the wooden benches, while the girls had the "cheap seats," standing around the stage.

See the girls? Violet is leaning on the staircase. 

The play was Romeo and Juliet, set in the American West, cowboy times, but with the actors keeping their English accents. It was so well done! We all loved it. The actors made great use of the theatre, with Romeo hiding amongst the standing audience at one point, and Juliet's balcony scene taking place on a portable setpiece wheeled into the crowd.

It was fabulous seeing Cora smile so big! She truly enjoyed the evening.

St. Paul's at night, what a scene!

Before the show, we'd walked past the Anchor Bankside, an Elizabethan-era pub with tons of history, including visits from Shakespearean actors. Cora said THAT is where she'd like to get a drink. 

Stace had been interested in having a cider with his daughter at a pub, now that's she's of age in the UK. But, Cora hasn't been that interested - not a bad thing, of course!

But, since she had an interest here, we had to make it happen. 

With her makeup on, she didn't even get carded.

She chose a Swedish fruit cider. (And hardly drank a fourth of it.)

It took a little finagling to get Violet in, but it all worked out.

Such a great day together!