Seasonal Fun

Other than cat news, two Christmas things happened this weekend. My dad and I went to Magic Mountain's employee  Family Night, though the girls were party poopers and didn't want to go.

Mom was working as Mrs. Claus, so Dad and I waited in a short line to get a photo with her and Santa.

We enjoyed our free tamales, chips, cookies and s'mores. Seeing all the little kids enjoying the activities made me reminisce about the girls being younger and coming to this event over the years, playing the man-made snow.

It was cold enough that I didn't feel like riding the rides. Maybe next year!

On Saturday, Violet and I went to Placerita Nature Center for the annual Christmas Craft Fair. I was so pleased when she had asked me a week ago if we could go again, after creating yule logs last year.

Colleen and Liana were free and interested in joining us, which was fun.

Nice!

Kittens

It's been a rough week, especially for Violet, and me as well. 

We've been giving Sebastian so much extra love this week, and at one point we found him inside the tunnel, where Spence was hanging out a few days ago. But truly, Seb has been acting fairly normally, for which we're grateful.

Along with our sadness, we're thinking ahead to getting new kittens. Violent went through a phase a couple of years ago of desperately desiring kittens, as she's never really had the experience. She was only 1 when Spencer and Sebastian were babies.

It's helped her to feel a bit better to look at Petfinder and find kitten pairs we might take a look at. Plus, we don't want Seb to get used to being an only cat.

One afternoon this week, we went to play with the adoptable cats at our Petsmart.

I contacted a rescue with a lot of kittens, and on Saturday, the girls and I went kitten-looking. 

We went to two different Petcos and to the home of a woman who fosters cats, and saw three different pairs of bonded babies. Playing with them all was good for our hearts!

Here's Lucy, who had the most beautiful eyes.

Violet is holding Flower, Lucy's littermate. Flower liked to nuzzle right up in our neck area.

And here, Cora is holding Winston and Vi has Evie, a sister of the two above. Winston isn't related, but was raised with Evie and they're very attached. He was found all alone at a few days old, and Evie and her litter were also found without their mother, so all these were bottle-fed from a few days old.

We also visited with these brothers, named Ben and Jerry (photo taken from the web site). I would have taken them home, but to Cora, they were too much like Seb and Spencer when we got them (and she DOES remember their early days with us). 

We've decided to adopt Winston and Evie, and we're excited for them to move in.

Spencer: 2011-2023

Monday marked a day our family will always remember but would like so badly to forget.

We had a knock at the door from a man who lives on the next street over, gently reporting that he had found our dear Spencer in the corner of his yard, with a bobcat standing over him. 

Spencer's days of longing to be outside had caught up to him, though I'll never forgive myself for being the one to have let him out the final time.

Stace and John, our neighbor who loved Spence as well, went back and brought him home in a box so we could give him a proper burial.

He was the best friend a little girl could ask for, and Violet loved him so. She slept with him every night for so many years, and we'd all dreaded the day that would come to an end. But we thought it would be several years away still.

Spence and Seb were 12, going on 13. Spencer still seemed young enough, jogging everywhere he went.

We made sure Seb was able to see and smell Spencer in the box, so he would know, and not wonder where his brother went. He seemed scared, and his tail puffed up. We think he could smell the bobcat.

So many good memories - we all loved Spencer. He knew what he wanted, meowed to get it. He liked being in and out of the house all day long, and in and out of the garage to eat his "garage food," as we've had Seb on weight-control food inside.

He was quite a puzzle helper.

Violet took this in the spring.

The girls took some time off school as we all mourned together, and we gave Seb lots of extra attention.

We will always love and miss you, dear Spencer.

Telestrations Fun

Over the weekend, Grandma and Grandpa came over for dinner since Grandma had missed out on Thanksgiving. We ate turkey soup she made, and played Telestrations. 

Then, on Sunday, Stace and I went to a play together with Colleen and Rigo and had dinner, and then returned home to play more Telestrations. Lots of laughter!

Check out that smile! Love seeing her laugh.

Here are a couple of examples of some funny Telestrations rounds: First, a person was given the word "football player," and drew this. (American football, not English.)

The next player guessed it was "foosball, so the the following player drew this:

The following player (Violet) guessed "smoked herring," because she thought the above drawing looked like the old process of preserving herring she saw on a TV show with Stace.

So, the next person had the word "smoked herring," drew this, and the final player wrote the word "shark."

We went from "football player" to "shark." 

And with this one, the initial word was "Double decker bus," so the first player drew this:

The next player saw the drawing and wrote down their guess "yearbook," so the following player drew this:

The following player saw this drawing and guessed "WWII Morse Code," which wound up leading the next player to draw this:

And the final player guessed, "morse code." So, we started with double-decker bus and ended with morse code. As I said, lots of laughs.

Black Friday hike

On Black Friday, Stace and I went out and got a few deals. He was excited about this one - two batteries for his rechargeable battery tools, plus a tool, for $199.

Later in the day, Stace and I took Violet to Vasquez Rocks, but Cora didn't want to go. We strongly urged her to get outside for some fresh air, so she sent this photo of herself on a little walk in our neighborhood. 

See! It didn't kill her!
 

Violet liked these beautiful leaves we came across. She has a great eye for natural beauty.

Vasquez was glorious. 

We even came across some Mandalorians! 

Many, many people were out taking family photos - and other photos - at these amazing rock formations. It's a popular spot for people taking their Christmas card photos. I don't know if the Star Wars couple was also posing for Christmas? Hmmm...

Thanksgiving: Mrs. Claus and Dinner

 Grandma had to work Thanksgiving, so we all went to visit her at Magic Mountain as she portrayed Mrs. Claus.

Grandpa took this family shot, and then we tried to recreate a classic Christmas photo I enjoy each year. 

It didn't quite turn into an exact replica, as Violet refused, so Cora took on the disgruntled role.

Then, home to cook the turkey and enjoy a fabulous meal. I had brined the turkey over 24 hours, and used herb butter under the skin, and it was so yummy! I actually wished I'd bought a bigger bird, for additional leftovers.

Melanie made most of the sides, and all was delicious.

Thanksgiving Week

 
The girls were off school all week for the Thanksgiving holiday. Violet and I went for a hike at Elsmere Canyon with Colleen and Liana one of the days. It was so pretty!

Also this week, Cora had a voice lesson, and we all met up with Stace at lunchtime to go to Best Buy for the girls to look at iPads, PS5s and laptops. We then went to Chipotle for lunch. 

And then we returned to Best Buy so the girls could spend our early Christmas monetary gift while items were discounted for Black Friday.

Cora decided to hold off on a laptop in favor of a PlayStation 5, which allows her to play the new D&D-related game she's been excited about.

Violet got an iPad, which she's been planning for months, so she can do more digital art, along with some accessories.

On Wednesday, the girls made pies and I had coffee with some girlfriends (Christina, Tiffany, Liz, Melissa and Jeana).

Violet made the pumpkin, and Cora made the apple. Thanksgiving ready!

Theatre Saturday

On Saturday, Cora was able to work as an extra on a little short film. Here, she's chilling in the "living room" set of this studio, which has many different sets. 

Cora's third on the right here. They're playing members of a cult.

That evening, we went to see Mamma Mia at Hart. Cora enjoyed seeing her old castmates again.