Sleepy Hollow

We had quite a fun little getaway this weekend, heading 110 miles east to the foothills of Oak Glen, one of Southern California's big apple-producing regions. Riley's Farm has apples, historical reenactments, and dinner theater productions.  

We attended a Friday night showing of Sleepy Hollow; our evening started with a spooky hayride with Ichabod Crane on board! Colleen, Rigo and the their kids came, too.

We then got our first course (soup) and drinks, and watched Act One of the play.

In between acts, we took part in fun family activities, including pumpkin carving. Liana and Violet were a team...

...and Cora and Lucas were another team.

Riley's version of apple-bobbing involved an apple on a string, and a one-minute time limit.

And there was square-dancing! Cora was excited about this, getting to use her skills learned in the 7th grade P.E. dancing unit, and on 4th grade Gold Rush Day.

There was also a pumpkin-pie-eating contest, and Cora was brave enough to take part.

Rigo tried out in the adult competition.

We then watched the second act of the show, went outside to watch the headless horseman ride past, and then went back in for the finale. Very cute show, which we all enjoyed.

It was so wonderful to have a normal-feeling evening with friends and a show and a dinner. 

We then all went to our hotel in Banning for the night.

Week in Review

While Stace and I were away, the girls stayed with my parents, and Grandpa and Cora made a special trip to the sporting goods store. She's now the proud owner of an airsoft rifle and pistol!

My dad is a natural to help her with shooting, and helped her figure out her dominant eye, and what other gear she could best use, like a thigh holster for her pistol.

She put the target on the trash can to start practicing.

Cora had her turn to get braces on, on Thursday. She's smiling through the pain here - the braces aren't just on the front teeth like her first phase, but on every tooth, and the side ones cut her cheeks. She took a lot of advil over the next few days.

Violet's school had Picture Day on Thursday and Friday, and I helped volunteer on Thursday afternoon. Everything was socially distanced, and everyone wore masks, except for the few moments that the children took their photos.

I got to sneak a pic while Violet was posing. It was so nice to be in campus and see some kids and parents!

We took part in the a citywide cleanup day on Saturday. Stace and Violet went to pick up our gear - gloves, thick plastic bags, etc - and were also given some nice drought-tolerant bushes we can plant.

We started our cleaning behind the pool, where we came across this ugly pile of trash.

That's better.

Full disclosure - Cora didn't want to walk around the neighborhood looking for trash. But, she came along.

The girls went up the gutter on the other end of the neighborhood and found some junk to clean up.

 

It was a low-key weekend. Besides the trash pickup, we did some pool-time, some board games and some television (Timeless, a series we're catching up on and enjoying) and movies.

Anniversary Trip

A couple of weeks after our 17th anniversary, Stace and I got away for the night and escaped to our favorite little Montecito hotel.

We got on the road after dropping the girls off at a birthday party Saturday (yes! a party! So exciting, six months after Covid upended the world). 

We settled in and enjoyed a little pool time before getting ready for dinner.

I'd seen an article comparing two favorite Santa Barbara taquerias, and decided to try them both. We went to the first Saturday evening - La Super Rica Taqueria one was one of Julia Child's favorites. 

We then went downtown, to State Street. Many restaurants have moved their dining rooms outside, because indoor dining still isn't allowed. It was so fun to walk down the newly pedestrianized street and see people enjoying their Saturday night.

Even nail salons are operating outdoors to comply with Covid restrictions.

On Sunday morning, we borrowed the hotel's bikes and went for a ride.

We rode down to the wharf, and then up into town to find our next taco place, Lilly's Taqueria. You can see we branched out and were a bit adventurous in what we tried. We took the tacos to the wharf and enjoyed an ocean view while we dined.

Stace likes taking these portraits of me. 

We asked a passerby to get a photo of us - see our cute beach cruisers?

After riding back to the motel, we drove north into Goleta and drove around until we found the condo my grandma lived in a few years, up until her passing. I hadn't been there in over 16 years, but it looked the same. 

We then walked along a nature trail from her old place to the ocean.

After our nature walk, we went back to State Street and got some treats at Andersen's Danish Bakery, a place I remember my grandparents taking me when I was a teen. 

Then, it was time to call it a trip and head home. It was a wonderful getaway!
 

Tidbits

When we were in Gold Country, we picked up some special gifts for a very special teacher. Mrs. Shafarman was one of Cora's absolute favorites, and she's dealing with some health issues and retired over the summer. 

Mrs. Shafarman ran the school's Gold Rush Day for years, and did an amazing job. It was one of Cora's fondest memories, and I was so sad that Violet missed out the educational experience.

So, when we were at the Marshall Gold State Historic Park, we got her some mementos. 

On Monday, we stopped at her home to deliver them. We kept our distance for our outdoor visit, except for a couple of moments to take this photo! It was wonderful to see her again.

Violet and Stace worked together on a plan for a bedroom remodel the other night. They measured the room and created a scale model, and it's a fun thing to think through. Stay tuned!

Cora had Violet and Melani over to swim Friday afternoon. When they were finished, they wanted boba, so we went over for a drink. Little Violet, with her top and bottom expanders, chose a popping boba instead of regular boba. 

But she wasn't thrilled with it...
 

Week in Review

The big day came for Violet this week - the day she's been dreading. 

But, next stop, nice straight teeth (and room for the rest to come down!).

She didn't want to take a "normal" photo with her braces on, so hear you go. You can kind of see her bottom expander, too.

On Saturday evening, we all went to a park to say good-bye to our friends Morgan, Adam, Sophie and Norah. They've had enough of California and are moving back near family in Florida. Can't say I blame them, these days! (On that note, this gathering, I guess, was illegal, but we WERE all outside.)

The best part of the night was seeing all the kids running around playing soccer and kicking the can. Even though the girls have seen friends since we stopped quarantining, it's hard to play certain games with just a few kids.

We had my family over Sunday to celebrate Grandma's birthday. Cora thought that Seb needed to met Ellie.

 Happy Birthday, Grandma!

Part of our gift to her was pictures of the granddaughters, including this one of them together.

Beach, Boba, Blocks and Babies

For this week's beach trip, we went Tuesday with Colleen and the kids. We went back to Rincon, and the kids had as much fun in this cool driftwood structure as they did in the ocean.

Stace and Rigo came out after work and met us at the beach, and then we all went to Padaro Beach Grill for dinner.

We treated the girls to special boba drinks on Thursday night after they survived their orthodontist appointment. They'll both be getting braces on later this month.

Violet is learning volume in math, and was having trouble conceptualizing her assignment. I remembered that we still have baby blocks, and they helped the lightbulb go on above her head.

Melani came over Wednesday, as well as Melanie and Ellie. Later, Liana and Lucas came over. Liana and Violet will be perfect babysitter candidates in the years to come.
 

Kittens and Pool Fun

The students at Violet's school were asked to decorate these "trees" to hang together on the main hallway bulletin board. Here's Vi's - you can see that she's still very interested in her Wings of Fire dragons.

Sue and Sophia got a new kitten, and we stopped by this week to say hello. Coconut is adorable, but was a bit scared of the girls. We persevered to get this one photo.

Chris and Aiden came over to play, and we spent some time in the pool. Chicken fight!

Melanie, Nick and Ellie came over for dinner Saturday, and we captured this sweet pic of the girls together.

It's cooled off enough that the mornings are nice, and Violet asked if she and I could go for a walk in Quigley Canyon on Sunday morning. There's a request you don't turn down!

We ended up seeing a rabbit and a few deer! Very nice morning together. Meanwhile, Stace and Cora went out for a coffee drink in the MG; he took Vi on a bike ride to Dink's for bagels Saturday morning.

Sunday afternoon pool fun

How many Howards can you get on a raft? Three!