New Library

 Friday morning after taking the children to school, Jill, Genia and I took our little ones to a new coffee shop in Newhall.

We all enjoyed our scones and coffees at the Poached Pair, and then walked over to the new library.

What an impressive building! I loved the poster-sized photographs of local history.

We didn't make it upstairs to check out the adult section of the library, instead staying in the children's area downstairs.

 Marley and Violet had fun sharing the computer. Love this photo of them!

 Then I thought that I should get a photo with the actual books in the background. Snapped this one, and then the batteries died!

Here's a sweet moment from this morning, on our walk back from taking the kids to school.

Owen and Violet are more like siblings than Cora and Violet! They love each other, love playing together, and love arguing and fighting too.

California Adventure

This week we made our first trip to California Adventure since the summer opening of Cars Land. 

The new area was as cool as we had heard, and you really feel as though you're walking through Radiator Springs. We missed getting a "fast pass" for the main ride, Radiator Springs Racers, but Stace and I managed to ride it in the evening after a 30-minute wait. Such fun!

I'm holding a "Best Wife" trophy in the store where Stace bought a "Cars" flat cap - he'd been looking for a proper hat for a while.

Then it was on to the Little Mermaid ride, which the girls enjoyed, though Violet was a little nervous about the darkness. No photos were good enough to publish, but here is happy Violet and big sister after Daddy bought Violet a Flounder plush toy.

Cora especially enjoyed the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail - here, she's learning to master the rock-climbing wall. She also played on the zip line and bouncy bridges, and collected all the stamps she needed to complete her "Wilderness Explorer Badge" (from the movie Up).

Here, Russell (from Up) and Cora hunt for a bird character as the children get their badges in the badge ceremony.

Then we headed into A Bugs Land, where we rode a few rides before dividing up. Stace, Cora and I went into the Bug's Life show, mainly to cool down. It was nearly 100 degrees, and poor Stace was really feeling the heat. The air-conditioned show was the perfect way to cool off, while my parents took Violet into another inside, air-conditioned attraction. Then, we three headed off to ride the Grizzly River Run rapids, where getting soaked further cooled us off.

We met back up with Violet and Grandma and Grandpa, and Cora went to the candy shop to spend some of her spending money. She chose caramel corn, and was very proud to pay for it herself.

At this point, Violet was well passed naptime, but I forgot her pacifier in the car. I told her that as she gets bigger, she won't use a night-night anymore - that Cora doesn't use a night-night, and we don't use night-nights. "Violet uses a night-night," she replied. She never did drop off during the day, though Flounder got use as a pillow.

This is after a quick dinner, while my mom, Cora and I went on the jellyfish up-and-down ride.

At that point, we split up again, my dad taking Violet onto the carousel, Stace and I going for the Cars ride, and Mom and Cora doing a few other rides.

We all had a fantastic day, and thanks to my parents for giving Stace the ticket for his birthday. I'm glad we were able to go together and enjoy ourselves.

The only downside of our day was the fact that in the tired haze of getting packed back into the car after our very long day, I left the diaper bag in the parking lot. No one turned it in, so we've lost our little camera, my driver's license, some makeup, medicine and snacks (including the rest of Cora's popcorn). Thankfully we didn't have any money in the bag, and the big camera and video camera were in a different bag. I only wish I'd checked my normal wallet (which I'd left in the car) before canceling my debit card, which I thought I'd taken along with my license. I canceled it, and then found it safe and sound a few days later.

Cora's writings

Cora has a few minutes' worth of homework to do every night, and so far she enjoys it. This is her homework setup, at the little desk in the kitchen.

She seems to like school enough, especially now that she is getting to know her classmates and make friends. But, she says she has to get up too early and doesn't like being gone every day. I think if Cora's school day was 9-12:35, an hour later all around, Cora would like school a whole lot more.

Cora likes writing notes in her little blue notebook. I found the following and thought I would share, for posterity's sake. She didn't ask for spelling help but I think she did very good anyway.

 The writing says: "2 bees and 2 bee hivs (.) The ber is geting the hiv."

"I love you Daddy. I wish I didn't have to go to school. I would like to go to your work every day."

Stace's response:
"I wish I could swap places with you sometimes. Love, Daddy."
(I think Stace did help her with the spelling, and you can tell that he was encouraging her to use her best writing.)

 "I love you Ave
Love cora
You are my best friend and you are my best butey (buddy)
I rely love you Ave
Love Cora"

(She later told me that Ave is her best friend, and Maya is her best friend, and Alexyss is her other best friend.)

 I Love you Mummy
I wish I could see you every day
Love Cora

"I love you Violet
You are my best sister
I wish I dinit haft to go to school"

What Cora's up to...

 This week, Cora has been sleeping in a cave/hideout made of pillows, or cushions, in Cora-speak.

The first night, she fell asleep happy in her cozy den, but woke up twice in the night crying for help because the pillows had fallen off the bed. That's not really a good reason to be woken up in the middle of the night, I explained in the morning.

Since then, she hasn't woken us up when her walls have fallen down.









Spencer is ever-so-patient with both girls...

The other day after school, Cora decided she was going to put on a puppet show in the evening. She set up the little chairs and a cushion for Violet, and moved the Cat Hotel into the playroom for a stage.

This is one great thing about Cora: she is always, always coming up with something creative to do. You very rarely hear her say, "I'm bored."

 Here's Cora's face when she realized that Spencer had come up to participate in the show.

 He served as a good puppet support when Cora was reading us a story.

And here's another example of Cora entertaining herself. She decided to create a dress for her Wendy figurine out of tissue, pretty string and tape.

She still likes making things for her fairy house in the tree out front, often saving little bits of stuff she finds when she's out and about. "Oh! This (shiny bit of broken plastic) would be a perfect window for my fairy house!"

Kelly's shower

Saturday marked the start of Kelly's wedding festivities. Dozens of her closest friends gathered to shower her with love and gifts as she prepares to marry Brad in less than two months' time. We bridesmaids, pictured above, organized the shower (mainly using Facebook messages - how modern).

 Here are two of Kelly's three flower girls, Abby (daughter of Adrianna, above in purple top) and Cora. Violet also will be a flower girl, but I left her at home so she wouldn't miss her nap.

Abby and Cora got along famously, as if they'd known each other for years. When our day was done, Cora wanted Abby to sleep over. I explained that she lived a long way away (about 75 miles) so that wouldn't work.
Cora was very sad and said, "Why do they live so far away? They should move here!"

 Here are Aunt Patty, Linda, Melanie and me, enjoying the brunch. I planned out some of the menu and planned to make three big dishes and muffins. I bought all the ingredients, and then had an endoscopy Friday morning, the day I needed to cook.

Thankfully, Aunt Patty came to the rescue, coming in from Ventura to help with the girls while I rested, and then do nearly all of the cooking.

 The shower was a lot of fun, and for the bridesmaids and flower girls, the fun wasn't over.

Kelly took us out to tea at the Tea Gardens as a "thank you" for supporting her. It was nice to sit together and chat, and my girls enjoyed the afternoon and their tea, sandwiches and scones. Since we had the room to ourselves, the girls also danced when they were finished eating.

At first I helped Violet with her tea...

...and then she took the reins...mug...into her own capable hands. She loved the sugar and milk best, and she polished off at least two cups.

Silly mum, I didn't look to see if any of our varieties were herbal/caffeine-free! She woke up and spent about an hour in the night chatting to herself, but she never asked for our help, so all was good.

Such fun Saturday was! And for such a great reason.

Violet update

Here's Violet, with what she called her "bum bracelet." It was a pretty bit of silver curling ribbon, tied around her waist.

She is such a chatterbox, and her comprehension is remarkable. She asks good questions and gives solid answers.
For example, I was planning to get gas but the station's credit card connection was down. When I got back in the car and we started pulling away, Violet said, "It not working, Mummy?"
She realized I hadn't filled up and wondered why.

When we got home, Spencer's tail was straight up in the air. Violet pointed and laughed, saying, "A flag! Spencer's tail is a flag!"

The other night, she told Stace something (I can't remember what) and Stace told her not to tell him what to do, and then asked, "Who's in charge?"

Her answer: "Cora."

Silly girl. She likes playing with the kitties, with her sister, with fairies, little dolls, bigger dollies and trains.

Unlike a lot of toddlers, I normally don't need to worry if Violet is "too quiet" in another part of the house.

When she's tired or maybe a bit overwhelmed, she's usually to be found in her room, door shut, reading books or lying down on the rocking footrest to  her glider, with her pacifier. We limit it to her bed, but she can usually seem to find one when she needs to chill out in her room.

Of course, Violet can get into things. I left her in the car for a minute while I brought in groceries, and when I went to get her, I found she had pulled out my Listerine breath-freshening strips, one by one. Kind of like the day she pulled out yards and yards of dental floss.

She's not above throwing the occasional kicking-while-lying-down tantrum, either.
But generally, Violet is still an easy-going girl who loves to smile and laugh.

In other news, we're making a push on the potty-training front. I've started giving her one M&M or similar "sweetie" when she uses the toilet for No. 2, and for staying dry when we're out and about. We also have the little potty out in the front of the house, so she can use that while she's playing.

So far, I'm going back and forth with her wearing her training panties or a diaper while we're out of the house. I did training panties for a few days straight, and she would use the toilet fine while we were out, but she also would pee in her panties. So she's been in a diaper the last few days, and wouldn't you know it, she stayed dry while we were out.

We'll see; it would be nice to be done with the process in a month or so, by the time she's 2 1/2.

Anniversary Day Out

I was lucky enough to spend my entire Sunday on a date with this gorgeous guy!

We started out with breakfast in SClarita (which I suffered through since I'd waited too many hours to eat, after taking my medicine, which SAID to take on an empty stomach...).

Thankfully I felt much better later, and we drove out to Malibu on a stunning day. It was fun (and a bit surreal) to visit the Pepperdine campus again, 15 years after I started my freshman year. What a beautiful school. Here, we are having a smoothie on the terrace overlooking the Pacific. Panoramic views of the ocean surround Pepperdine.

 We then went down to the beach for a few hours: a long walk, body surfing for both of us, some paddle ball.

Notice the lack of roof on the car behind us. The drive through Malibu Canyon, along PCH and up Topanga Canyon was greatly enhanced by the use of Uncle Bill's Mercedes. Thanks!

Then, it was on to dinner at Lala's in Studio City, thanks to a generous gift from a friend of Stacey's.

Our dinner was fantastic, as was our entire day together. Nine years later, and I'm still amazed and thankful every day for the man I'm blessed to call husband.

Cora and Violet had a fun day too - it was Grandpa's union picnic at Raging Waters, a water park an hour away. A great day all around, for all of us!

Class Mates

Colleen and I were so happy to discover that we'd signed up our daughters for the same My Buddy class!

 Both Liana and Violet had so much fun, and were excited to see each other and play together. This is the sort of class where the moms can have quite a bit of chatting time while the little ones play, so it will be great to hang out with Colleen each week for the next few months.

 I found it really interesting how Liana arranged her puffy sticky things into a straight line. Violet's were all over the paper, forming a "barn."

 Liana and Violet aren't the only friends in class together! On Saturday, Cora started her next session of Kidz Love Soccer, and who was there but Lucas (and Colleen, Rigo and Liana)?

We hadn't discussed any of this before signing up, so it was a lovely surprise. We'll enjoy seeing each other each Saturday morning, as well.

Violet's My Buddy

It's Violet's turn to take Miss Diane's class!

We had such a great experience with Miss Diane's My Buddy and Me classes when Cora was two, and later the Terrific Tots 3-year-old preschool co-op program. 

After I talked about the class a lot this week, and we peeked into the building the other day, Violet was very excited to go to her own school, with her own teacher. 

She played with Mr. Potato Head for a bit, and spent some time with the cars and ramps. 

I kept flashing back, to Cora being two and in this class. She loved playing with the trains and cars, too. My mind also kept replaying scenes of tiny baby Violet in her car seat, when I'd pick up Cora from Terrific Tots. And I blinked, and it's two years later! 

 Violet loved every bit of class, and in this picture, is starting to form what she said was a barn. She also did dot-marker art and a painting. She said her painting was of Tinker Bell and a seahorse.

 It was great catching up with Miss Diane again. She said she's been waiting for Violet to become old enough to join her class.

 

And, for nostalgia's sake, here's a photo from Cora at her first My Buddy and Me class. Sigh. Look at those cheeks!