Disney Day

This week, the girls had their parent-teacher conferences, with a half-day Thursday and a day off on Friday for the conferences. Thus, Thursday was the absolute perfect day to go to Disneyland!

Several of our school friends agreed, and we met up with Trent and Sophia (and Jen and Sue) for part of the day.

Violet's top thing she wanted to do was run around in the Redwood Creek area, which is where we played with our friends.

We also rode the bumper cars in A Bug's Land...

...posed in front of the giant baubles in Bug's Land...

...and decorated Christmas cookies.

Cora generously took hers home to share with Dad, who had to work.

My No. 1 goal was to ride the revamped Tower of Terror ride, now turned into Guardians of the Galaxy. Though the ride has just a 40-inch height requirement, and therefore can't be that scary, Violet was very nervous.

We convinced her to put on a happy face, though. The ride features lots of straight drops and quick rises.

In the end, Violet (and Cora and I) loved it! She asked to go again, but we had used up our Fast Passes and I didn't want to wait in a long line for a second turn.

The Christmas decorations were up - isn't Cars Land awesome? The girls pointed out the adorable snowflakes made from giant wrenches.

We then met up with our friends again, and Grandma and Grandpa, who came late after Grandma got off work. We drew a cartoon character together in the Animation Academy, and then California Adventure shut and we headed over to Disneyland.

We got Fast Passes for Thunder Mountain, and then went on Jungle Cruise and into the Tiki Room.

After the rides, we posed in front of the beautiful decorated castle.

It was nice spending time with Grandma and Grandpa, too. Thanks, as always, for the girls' annual passes!

Pirates Anniversary Special

We had a great evening out at the Pirates Dinner Adventure this weekend, in celebration of Grandma and Grandpa's 40th wedding anniversary.









It was a lot of fun cheering on the Orange Pirate, though Violet found it all a bit too loud for her taste. Cora loved it... except for the part where the Blue Pirate kisses one of the beautiful young ladies.

"It's a good thing we're not on the blue crew. I would be humiliated!" she said
"YOU would be humiliated?" I asked.
"Yes! Because he would be OUR guy!"
Cora is in the phase where all thoughts of boyfriends, romance, or - gasp! - KISSING, is disgusting.

After the show, we posed for photos with our Orange Pirate, Andre.

Mom and Dad generously invited us all out and paid for our evening. It was great spending time with all of these dear friends. 

Forty years is quite a milestone! Many congratulations!

The week before, a smaller group of us celebrated Mom and Dad with a fun visit to an Escape Room. This is a live action puzzle, where you are locked in a room with a few clues to figure out the answers to win your freedom.

Sadly, we did NOT get all the answers to all the clues to our 1970s era murder mystery, but it was a lot of fun trying.

Violet's Big Day

Violet had fun with Melanie one afternoon this week, while Cora and Cami made cake pops.

We took a little walk and I noticed how coordinated their outfits were -sparkly animal tops with black and gold.

Of course, Violet couldn't pose normally for a photo with her friend!

On Thursday, Violet had an early morning appointment at a hospital in Tarzana for an MRI of her head, to make sure her pituitary gland looked OK. Since we opted for sedation, it meant an IV and a lot of medication.

She handled everything like a champ, though she was quiet and nervous at the start. When all was over, she enjoyed her orange popsicle immensely.

Stace and I took her out to lunch, where she chose a chocolate chip pancake meal. We are so proud of you, Violet!

And, her MRI showed no problems with her pituitary - we don't have a good reason for why it's not putting out the right levels of growth hormone. We'll move forward with the plan to give her a boost in that department.

Um, Violet, when I ask you to make the bed, this is NOT what I meant!

Reflecting on a Win!

 This year, the national PTA Reflections Art Program's theme was Within Reach, and both girls entered pieces.

Cora wrote a story for the literature division, about two children who taste magical fruit and are able to enter a place called Sweetland. She won first place for her age group!

 It was Cora's first time winning a prize, let alone a first place. She was so happy! Here's Cora with her teacher, Ms. Packer, in front of her story hanging on the wall.

The banner hanging on the stage said "Reflections," with the letters written with a collage of photos of all the artwork. Violet and Cora are pointing to Violet's piece, a clay sculpture of a kitty reaching for a ball.

The kitty, though not an award winner, received lots of positive comments. The visual arts category is the most competitive, since most children draw or paint pictures.

Cake Pop Craziness

Cora, with her love for baking, was hoping to make cake pops to take to our friends' Halloween party. But it was the night before, and I knew enough about cake pops to know she didn't have time to start the process.

At the party we saw our friend Rachael, and Rachael is an expert baker. She invited us to come to her home for a cake pop-making class, and on Saturday, that's what we did.

Rachael was awesome - she showed Cora how to grind up the cake in the food processor, mix it with frosting, and fashion it into the ball shapes.

She also let Cora (and Violet) work with fondant for the first time, rolling it out to make designs and a simple ghost covering. Cora had heard lots about fondant on the Food Network baking shows, so she enjoyed experiencing it.

Here, Cora is covering a cake pop with melted chocolate.

Rachael showed Cora her technique for getting the extra chocolate off the cake pop, tapping it while holding it at an angle.

So cute!

Violet rolled her first ball in Rachael's gold sprinkles. Rachael generously sent us home with lots of goodies - more cake pops to make, the leftover chocolate, fondant, and assorted sprinkles.

Cora had so much fun, she invited Cami over on Monday to make some more cake pops. Chris popped in, and Cora tried unsuccessfully to convince him to try the fondant.

Very nice, girls!

Skate Park Spectaculars

Cora had such a great time at the skate park for Andre's birthday last month, she's been asking about going back. And rather than just have a daddy-daughter date, the whole family made the trip Saturday morning.

From 8 to 10 a.m. on the weekends, the park is open to 12 and unders only, so it's a perfect time for those in Hello Kitty helmets to get their feet - or scooters - wet.

Both girls had an absolute ball, and I think we'll be making more trips to the skate park over the next few years.

They now need better scooters, though. Their foldaway Razors are great for around the neighborhood, but they don't work so well when you're doing tricks.

Stace took the girls back to the skate park Sunday morning, and Cora actually rode down into this bowl from the top. She tried several times unsuccessfully, but kept at it, and eventually landed it. Where she gets her bravery from, I'll never know!

And Violet had such a great time, she said that night that the skate park is her Disneyland. (And, it's free! And doesn't require two hours in the car!)

Halloween Day

On Halloween day, I went to Mom2Mom, Violet's class had a party, we went to our friends Jen and Jason's Halloween party after school, we watched a Dodgers World Series game, and we trick-or-treated around our neighborhood.

Whew! No wonder we were tired the next few days!

Violet's craft in class was a make-your-own-mummy, with a black cutout of a person, and white yarn.

Violet also was happy to show off the Halloween gram she received from Cora. (I gave them both dollars to buy each other the pencil and eraser grams - and Violet gave one to her friend Camryn, too.)

Violet's class also had a snack, and played Halloween bingo.

Then, it was time to get home and get costumed.

Here's my dragon and my newspaper girl playing the mummy game in Jen and Jason's front yard.

We headed home as it got dark and met up with our neighborhood friends for trick or treating. Cora was done early, as her face was itching from playing around in the grass at Trent's house, so I was able to watch most of the Dodgers game.

 Violet the Dragon, meanwhile, was a hard-core trick or treater with her Dad and the rest of the group. Here, she is showing off the pumpkins she and Cora carved on their own Sunday night.

 I made Violet get one photo with the mask she made, though she didn't like it once she had finished it. It was such a creative idea - she punched brads into a paper mask, and the put duck tape on the back to cover the sharp parts.

Here's Violet after her night out - what a haul! Thankfully, she's always willing to share!