Celebrations: Pioneer Club and School

Somehow, another year of Pioneer Club has flown by. The girls had their last night Wednesday, with the closing ceremony and celebration. Christina was a fabulous teacher for Violet's class.

Here's Cora's class - she had such a great year, too! I wish I had remembered to take a photo with Cora and her teachers - they are excellent!

After the ceremony, we all ate ice cream and chatted and the kids ran around and played. Until September!

The girls' school had its Open House on Thursday night, where we enjoyed seeing their classrooms and some of the highlights of their work from the year.

Here's Violet with her Whingdingdilly.

I realized that I didn't have any photos of Violet with Dr. Porter this year. I made sure to remedy that at Open House. Dr. Porter is such a fabulous teacher, and such a blessing she has been to our family.

I loved Cora's artwork here, and her goals. Behind her, above her head, is her excellent work on the southern colonies.

The girls were eager to play on the playground after showing us their classrooms. I'm appreciating still having children young enough to play on a playground!

Lisa's Fun with Friends

My friend Emily moved back to Texas two years ago, and planned a big 40th birthday trip to California this week. Lynnette and I had a great day at Disneyland together with Emily on Tuesday to help celebrate her special day.

It's fun to be at Disneyland, with or without children.

We even enjoyed wine at the rooftop wine tasting terrace in California Adventure.

A couple of days later, we got together with Emily and other friends for a hike near Colleen's home in the hills of Val Verde. It was a good workout with lovely scenery. It was great spending time with Emily again and catching up.

Birthday Camping Trip

 Violet's birthday wish was to go camping with Liana, and thankfully, Colleen and Rigo were happy to make that happen.

They booked a site at Wheeler Gorge, up in the hills behind Ojai, and we set up our new tent behind their trailer.

 The campground is in a beautiful setting, with Matilija Creek running through it. The kids had a fabulous time, playing in the water, playing in the mud, being kids.

 While the kids burned off energy, we parents relaxed. This sweet spot was just down an embankment from our campsite.

 Back at the campsite, we had this pretty Steller's Jay visiting us often, while a brave squirrel made a lunch out of a pancake left on our picnic table. We also found interesting fuzzy caterpillars and frogs, and listened to their croaky serenade while we went to sleep.

The girls absolutely loved being out in nature all weekend. Our new tent and sleeping bags were great, and it was a great camping experience for us all.

 We also enjoyed some fabulous camping meals, especially breakfast.

Cora tried starting a fire with a stick and some kindling, and developed a new respect for what life was like before matches and gas lighters.

 Liana's birthday is 12 days after Violet's, so our trip fell right in the middle of their birthdays. Violet asked for a cookie cake, and she was happy to share the billing with her friend. I love how the lady at Ralphs put in a tent and tree on the cookie.

Violet was happy to pick out a birthday gift for Liana and wrap it herself. She had a very specific way she wanted the gift wrapped, one on top of the other, with ribbon and a bow.

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After cleaning up and checking out on Sunday, we went into Ojai, where we walked around the cute downtown and had lunch. It was a great end to a fun weekend with great friends.

Week in Review

 Our exciting news of the week was we bought a new car! We traded in our Hyundai Veracruz, which we owned for five years, and bought a five-year-old Mazda CX-9 with fewer than 40,000 miles.

It's a lovely car, with light tan leather interior, a sunroom and a third row option for when we have extra friends with us. Our Veracruz had reached the point where we weren't sure of its reliability, so the time had come. Welcome to the family, Mazda!

 The school's Volunteer Tea was this week, and along with eating yummy food, we got to find our portraits by our children. Violet's cracked me up.

I loved Cora's too; I look like a superhero!

 On Thursday, Violet's class had an artful afternoon, and parents were invited to help. The second graders made Whingdingdillys, a fun animal character from a children's book.

Violet had fun creating silly characters, too. She loves laughing, and making other people laugh.

Here's her feathery creation, with a panda-like head. The curriculum has changed since Cora was in second grade. When she had Dr. Porter, the Whingdingdilly project was a big at-home event, and Cora spent hours on her creation.


Violet also had her 8-year well check Thursday, and Dr. Brockett was so pleased that she's grown 3 inches since her 7-year appointment. That growth hormone treatment is working! She's back on the growth charts, around the 3rd percentile for height at 46 inches. She's also reached the 50-pound marker, putting her in the 25th percentile for weight.

Birthday Saturday Fun

 Vasquez Rocks hosted an Open House on Saturday, so we made our attendance part of Violet's birthday weekend fun.

We made it just in time to catch the tail end of the animal presentations; the ranger is holding a red tail hawk.

I love this photo - my girls seem to fight all the time these days, but this unscripted moment show that they do have some affection for each other!

 This expert on the local Native people showed the girls how they used juniper berries and a mortar and pestle in their daily lives.

 The local astronomy club came out as well.

 We also took a nice hike, going down a direction we hadn't explored before. Cora and Violet both had on new hiking boots, and they loved them - so much better grip on the rocks!

 Wonder of wonders, a blooming cactus! So pretty.

Later, we went to Melanie's 8th birthday party, where they showed The Greatest Showman. We had a great time with a great movie and great friends.

Birthday Girl!

The happy girl is now 8 years old!

When she went to bed for the last time as a 7-year-old, she gave us instructions on how to lay out her gifts, and was pleased Friday morning that we followed through.

Stace met us at school to give Violet a birthday morning kiss, and off she went to class, wearing her birthday shirt.

Since it was a half-day, Violet, Cora and I went out for a birthday lunch at Lazy Dog. She chose it because she likes making her own pizza here.

This is her "Do I have to take a photo, Mom?" smile.

When Stace got home from work, we went to the Wildlife Learning Center together, with Grandma.

This was Stacey's first time to the small zoo-of-sorts, though Violet loves it and has been numerous times with my parents. It's close, easily navigable, and inexpensive - a perfect place to spent a couple of hours.

The employee brought out a snake to touch, and since it was Violet's birthday, brought out another for her to hold.

We were there at feeding time - perfect! The animals were all out and active, either eating or waiting to be fed. These bald eagles were enjoying their rats.

There wer several interesting smaller wild cats, including a lynx, a bobcat and a couple of servals.

The monkeys were cute, climbing all over and vocalizing.

Stace loved his experience at the WLC, and had a great time chatting at length with the owner/zoologist, who happens to also live in SClarita.

After a birthday dinner at MOD Pizza, we went back home for cake with Grandma and Grandpa and gifts. Because Violet's birthday "party" is a camping trip next weekend with Liana and Lucas, Cora's gift to her sister was a s'mores kit.

And because Vi has formed an after-school art club with some of her friends, our gift was an art kit.

We also gave her this adorable Peanuts backpack, which will be great for hiking and little trips.

Happy Birthday, sweet Violet. We love you and we're so happy you're ours!