Super Dad

 I knew when I got to know Stacey that he'd be a great father.

And he certainly is - attentive, hard-working, caring, kind and interested in all the girls do.

Our girls are so blessed to have Stace as their dad!

Our Father's Day gift to Stace was a Lego helicopter set. They had fun putting it together, with a little help from Lily and Owletta.

Cora wanted Stace to have a full-on Father's Day experience, so she decorated the house with homemade signs.

Delightful Disney Day

 With a summer blackout of their Disney passes looming, my parents took Violet for one more trip to the Magic Kingdom this week.

Violet met Mickey for the first time, and after a few moments, warmed up enough to cuddle up for a photo.

Grandma, Grandpa and Violet had a great trip.
(Cora was in school when they left, and she still had one more school day, so a late night wasn't appropriate for her. But Grandma took Cora to Magic Mountain for a couple of hours earlier in the week.)

 Violet and this little Cinderella lookalike (named Jada) became good friends while they waited in line for an attraction. Violet is making friends wherever she goes these days. It's very sweet.

By that beaming smile, I think it's safe to say Violet had a great day. Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

Final First Grade Fun

 And with a game of kickball and a celebratory picnic, first grade was over.

Cora's class played kickball against another first-grade class Friday morning, on the final day of school. Here's Cora, kicking the ball just before jetting off toward first base.

 Heading toward home... she's in there!

Cora picked some roses for Mrs. Vasquez on Friday morning. She also drew the picture behind them on the white board, and wrote out the card the night before. She signed all her classmates' names to the card.

Cora was very sad about the year ending, and not having Mrs. Vasquez for a teacher next year. But who knows - I hear she's teaching a split 1-2 class next year, so there's always a chance Cora could have her again.

 On this special last day of school, my friend Christina and I both brought our four-year-olds in (shhh!) while we helped operate one final classroom store. The students are able to buy little trinkets with pretend coins they've earned through good behavior, while also learning money and math.

Violet and Melanie ended up playing on a mini tablet to pass the time.

 Then, the whole school and many parents attended a special ceremony, as our school was honored for being named a California Distinguished School. It's a prestigious award, and we are so grateful that Cora attends a school of such high caliber.

Here, Newhall District Superintendent Marc Winger is photographing Principal Rose and Assemblyman Scott Wilk with the plaque.

Then, school was out and it was time to party! A DJ was on hand, and a snow cone truck. The blue snow cone caused Cora and Violet to look like their mouths had turned a deep purple. A picnic lunch, lots of friends, a beautiful late spring day - it was just fantastic. We all had a great time.

And, I was left marveling anew at how fast time passes - didn't we just have an end-of-school picnic, maybe a few months ago? Hard to fathom it's been a full year.

Family time

We returned to Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty's house this past weekend so Stace could help out again on the fence project. Bill, Stacey and Bill's friend Lee put in a full day's work, completing a long length of fence.

We got a very good idea of just how much private yard space Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty will gain when the project is finished.

We ladies had a very relaxed day. The weather wasn't beachy, so we stayed in; Cora made banana muffins, while I blogged and couponed.

Violet helped me (or practiced using scissors, depending on how you want to look at it).

A couple of days later, my coupon organizer was on the floor of the car, unlatched. Violet tried to assist me by bringing it into the house. And this happened. Thirteen divided sections, in a large pile. Oh well, it was time to throw out all the expired ones anyway!

On Tuesday, we went bowling with my family and then out to dinner, to celebrate several June occasions.

We'll be in England for Stacey's birthday, while Melanie and Nick will be back east on Nick's 30th birthday, a few days later. And my parents are leaving on Father's Day for a vacation of their own. So, Tuesday was a good day to share gifts, cards and time together.

Bowling suited Stacey as a family activity much better than miniature golfing. For starters, he won. Come to think of it, that's the main reason he liked it better...

Life of Vi

 The other day, Violet realized her penguin flashlight needed a new battery. She set about to fix the problem herself - she got out Daddy's special tiny screwdrivers and the batteries.

She is growing up!

 We had a park playdate the other day with some Mom2Mom friends. Violet decided beforehand that she would bring the soccer ball, goal, and Chuck E. Cheese whistle, and be the soccer coach. It was pretty cute to watch her try to round up the troops.

 A week later, we had a playdate at Charlie and Tommy's house. This was Violet's idea, too. Charlie loves insects and other creatures, and is a very creative, interesting boy full of ideas. The children played "aquarium" for a while with bowls of water, rocks, and plastic turtles, before deciding to color the turtles.







Violet's joke-telling continues. Enjoy.

(The last one is actually funny. If you can't understand her, it goes something like this: "What does the egg say to the other egg when he does his homework right? Egggsactly!"

Cora O'Hara

When my dad showed me this photo of Cora he'd snapped at the after-Wizard class party in the park, I immediately thought of this particular photo of Vivien Leigh playing Scarlett O'Hara. 

Does anyone else see a resemblance?

The Wizard of Oz

 For more than 35 years, first-graders at Cora's school have performed The Wizard of Oz. Cora's class had its turn Wednesday, and Cora had the honor of playing Dorothy.

She worked for weeks to memorize more than 50 lines, and really did a great job with the part. This was her first real experience acting, and she did very well. She said her lines with emotion, and slowly enough to be understood. That is quite a feat, especially at this young age.

 Here's the cast after the show, with the teachers and parent helpers. It took a lot of parent help to put on a show of this scale, with the makeup and costumes (which the school provides) and snacks and after-party. 

 Stace helped too - he cut and painted the bricks that will be given to each child as a memento, with his or her photo attached.

 We were so very proud of our girl.

Since she did so well, we later asked if she'd like to take an acting or singing class. After considering it, she said she'd rather take ice-skating classes. Then, I mentioned a local theater's children's summer program. It runs from 9-noon in two-week sessions. But Cora thought that would cut too deeply into her swimming time.

So, we'll lay off of taking head shots or shopping for acting agents. But Cora did really enjoy being in this production, and she was sad it was over.

 Mrs. Vasquez was very proud of Cora, too.

 Grandpa took all the individual photos of the children for their bricks, along with the cast shot. And Auntie Mel came over a couple of times to read the script with Cora, and give her pointers.

 Cora proved helpful throughout the play, feeding lines to the actors classmates who hadn't really memorized their parts. A few other glitches - the mic feedback and mic cord getting caught in a prop - helped us all remember that it was a first-grade play.

The show was double-cast, so more children had a chance to play the "big" parts, and the children put on two performances. In the other show, Cora was part of the munchkin "lullabye league."
She was great here too, very loud and expressive.

My Little Surfer Girl

When we got ready to walk to the beach Saturday, Stacey unveiled a surprise for Cora: this 5'8" softtop surfboard. She's expressed an interest in learning to surf, an interest Stacey is eager to encourage. 

Uncle Bill found this board at a great price at Costco, so on our way up the coast, we stopped at their house and picked it up. The board stayed hidden in Rigo's camper until the right time came to get it out. Cora successfully laid on the board and rolled off, the two things Stace wanted her to learn on this first time out. Cora was disappointed she wasn't riding waves on Day One, but she's on that path.

Of course, Stace wanted to try it out too. He found it quite short - he was used to longboards when he surfed in England - and slippery. But he sure looked good!

Meanwhile, the little girls worked together to carry water to play in the sand. Then, they did some "boogie boarding," with Rigo pulling them through the water.On Sunday, after we ate another yummy breakfast and pulled out of our campsite, we stopped at the beach again. This time, playing on the rocks was the planned activity.