Weekend Work and Play

 We had a long weekend for Memorial Day, and around our Santa Barbara day out, Stace got some work done on Saturday. He added in a new sprinkler head, since we get very dry patches in the lawn every summer.

He was very glad he'd taken such great notes when he initially redid the sprinklers a few years ago - it made a tough job easier.

 On Monday, it was a good deal warmer, and Stace and Violet had fun watering the plants...and each other.

 I'm taking part in a popular quarantine pastime - puzzles! The girls help now and then, but it's become mainly my thing.

I completed this kitty puzzle that my friend Sue gave me - she's also doing lots of puzzles.

 And we finished and hung this family picture puzzle I made on Shutterfly a year and a half ago. You can tell their older photos now - I'm still significantly taller than Cora!

We decided to paint the wooden frame to make it stand out better, since the natural color blended into the background. And, painting it blue complemented the blue-framed mirror we've had since our early years in the condo.

 Next stop - Paris! Gosh, I wish it were last summer again, back when we could travel freely! Thanks, Sue and Gord, for the perfect Easter quarantine present!

Also, this huge puzzle gave us a purpose for the science fair board we'd picked up in March, and then never used since the science fair didn't happen. The board is the same size as the puzzle, just a few inches wider than the coffee table.

Seb has proven a faithful and very helpful puzzle buddy.

Santa Barbara Day Out

Hot at home, gorgeous at the beach!

We took our bikes to Montecito on Sunday, and Rigo and Colleen met us there. We all rode along the bike trail, past the zoo across the lagoon (pictured here), and along the bike path on the beach.

 Cora introduced Lucas and Liana to her favorite climbing tree.

 The kids created a Wings of Fire dragon role play and had creative fun with it.

It felt so good to be out! We got a snack of Japanese food, and then roe back along the beach, stopping along the way for more playtime.

Suddenly, it was 7, and we were needing to find dinner. Staying light later tricked us!

Ventura and Santa Barbara counties have begun allowing restaurants to serve dine-in customers again, but not all are doing so yet. We actually had trouble finding a place open so late on Sunday, too.

We ended up finding a Mexican place in Carpinteria, with no tables set up inside, but a couple outside. It worked!

We had a great day together. One thing about the stay-at-home order, it has helped us to appreciate seeing friends again.

Week in Review

We were tired of staying home, and we had another set of camping plans messed up. So when Colleen and Rigo told us about a hiking trail with a creek less than a half hour from home, we were happy to check it out.

The creek was great, but the flies were biting like crazy! Ended up scratching all week.

These two aren't social distancing.

What does your mask say about you?

Mine says, why yes, I did just cut up my girls' old holey leggings so I could follow the grocery store rules.

Our vines on the front arbor bench are finally doing great. We've gone through a number of plants here over the years, and hopefully we have winners for a while. The left side is a star jasmine, smelling gorgeous, and the right is a morning glory, winding itself around the frame.

Why sleep in your cat bed, when there's a Lego Star Wars ship? Much more comfortable.

Friday featured perfect weather, so the girls and I rode scooters/walked to Granary Square to run an errand and pick up lunch. I've said it here before - these two are getting along so well, now that they don't see their friends at school. They've really come to appreciate one another (though I'm sure they wouldn't admit it!).

Between their own masks, and the cashier wearing a mask, the girls had trouble getting their order correct, because it's hard to understand what people are saying in loud environments. Oh well.

Simple pleasures!

Tidbits

 On Saturday, we should have been in Ojai, camping at Wheeler Gorge with Colleen and Rigo for our girls' birthdays. But, the campground was closed. So, after taking part in a Zoom group birthday call with Liana, we stopped by their house with a gift and card.

Liana's neighbors have alpacas and baby goats now! So fun!

 See that tiny baby skunk? We've been making time each evening to watch these adorable creatures - there have been at least five from the same litter that dig around for whatever they eat.

 Violet had her 10-year well-check on Tuesday, and we met up with Stace afterwards for a picnic lunch.

Violet was very well! She's growing amazingly, and is 4 inches taller than a year ago. She has reached the 49th percentile, at 54 1/4 inches. She's 75 pounds, or 56th percentile.

The visit was interesting, given the coronavirus situation. We stayed in our car until our room was ready, and everyone wore a mask.

 After lunch, we went grocery shopping, and then we got doughnuts and went to Bridgeport to check out the turtles. Violet is so into these simple pleasures. I need to do more such fun and easy things with her!

 Violet was feeling pretty bummed about missing out on camping, and so much of her normal life. So on Thursday, we took off to the beach.

Los Angeles County beaches have just reopened after being closed for a couple of months, but they have ridiculous rules about not sitting or lying on the beach. As if sitting on a beach will give you a virus.

Thankfully, Carpinteria beaches are in Santa Barbara County, where they have more sense.

Violet took with us her Flat Mrs. Zamperin, a fun little project for the last few weeks of school. The kids write each week about some adventure they take their teacher character on.

 You can see, keeping away from people was easy on a Thursday afternoon.

 Violet boogie-boarded for well over an hour. She had so much fun! It was great to see her enjoying herself and the sea.

Cora enjoyed having a few hours to herself! She also couldn't go because she hurt her foot with a scooter mishap, and the salt water and sand would NOT have been helpful.

Mother's Day

 Mother's Day! 

I was pleased to get these sweet cards and flowers from my family.

 Stace and the girls organized a brunch in Quigley Canyon, Stace's new favorite spot. The picnic tables were perfect, and no one was around. What a lovely setting!

After enjoying breakfast, we took a little walk. It was just perfect! Thanks, Stace!

 Later, we went over to my parents' to take gifts and hang out for a bit in the back yard.

This was the most interacting Cora has done with Ellie since she entered the world! Baby steps! Cora loves talking movies with Uncle Nick.

 We all painted a rock. Thanks, Mom! Happy Mother's Day! And to Melanie, her first one.

Week in Review

 Monday was May 4th, and May the Fourth is officially Star Wars Day, as in, "May the Force be with you." We all wore our Star Wars shirts, and started rewatching the TV series Mandalorian. I took the photo of Violet for her school, because they were having an online Spirit Day.

 Violet presented her California project to her reading group, via an online Google meeting.

 We got a great deal from the Newhall Refinery for Tuesday, which was Cinco de Mayo, or May 5th, a big holiday in Mexico celebrating a military victory over French. We got all these food - tacos, chips, guac and salsa, rice and beans, and a cake - and basically 3-4 margaritas for $50. Yum! And enough for two meals.

 Schooling at home means sometimes, your sister is your math tutor. Violet had some long division with big numbers, and she has learned different ways to solve the problems than I learned. But Cora could figure out how to help her, thankfully.

On Friday evening, we took a scooter/walk to Granary for ice cream at the Habit. And who rode up on their bikes, but our friends Sue, Pauly and Sophia. Always nice to catch up with friends, especially nice these days.

Quigley Canyon

Our weekends have been pretty relaxed the past two months...i.e., boring. No dinners with friends, no events, not much of anything of course.

But here and there, we've gotten out for a lovely nature walk, as was the case Sunday evening. We went out to Quigley Canyon, where I'd taken the girls a few weeks earlier.

It was Stace's first time there, and he loved it.

The girls have been getting along so well during this quarantine, I'm sure partly because they are each other's  main friend now. They talk a lot about books and story ideas and dragon characters, and they watch shows and things on Cora's phone or laptop together.

On our walk, they urged Stace and me to give them space because they had things to discuss.

We actually saw a deer on the hill! On most of our walks, we don't see too much real wildlife. This was a treat.

 Pretty purple wildflowers

 We returned to the area with the log bridge, to show Stace.

 Stace found a log set up to work on his backflips.

Almost landed it!
Too bad I wasn't filming!

Week in Review

A neighbor gave us a bag of lemons, and among other uses, Stace and Violet made little tarts. They were so tasty!

While we had our backyard camp set up, Stace and Cora did some singing and playing. Their rendition of The Cave by Mumford and Sons got dozens of encouraging compliments when I shared it with my Facebook friends.

I've got a puzzle of cats to complete, and a cat who wanted to help.

My friend Lara, Violet's mom, is finishing her teaching credential and wants to specialize in junior high P.E. She was student teaching at Cora's school when school went online for the year.

Lara set up an awesome fitness course using chalk on the front entry to Placerita. We decided to challenge ourselves with it...meaning I forced the girls to take a bike ride to the school so we could try it out.

It was a great little workout, and made me think I should get back to doing some core training.

We had steak Friday night! A rarity for us... but when Vallarta has a two-day sale on T-bones for $3 a pound, how could we not? (These two fed the four of us, and the leftovers stretched into a taco meal.)

Violet chose to learn about the cougar for her fourth-grade California project. She presented her little guys to her reading group online this week.

Having the tent out for two days wasn't so good for the grass! Yikes!