Nature and Trains

On Saturday morning, we returned to Placerita Nature Center for the Junior Ranger program, this time on big cats all over the world.

We then took a walk through the stream and around the trails.

It was cool, and suddenly the clouds rolled in. Before long it was pouring!

We rushed back to the car and drove home through the heaviest rain storm I think I've ever seen. It was a bit scary.

On Saturday, Nan and Pop had an afternoon flight to catch to Las Vegas. Before we took them to Burbank Airport, we tried to go to the new IKEA location, but it was so crowded, we couldn't get near it to park.

Instead, we went to Travel Town in Griffith Park. It was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day - a complete departure from the day before.

Stace barely escaped this close call.

It was a great way to spend a couple of hours before Nan and Pop caught their flight.

Earrings!

A few months ago, Sue mentioned that if Cora was up for getting her ears pierced, she and Gord would love to make that her 10th birthday present.

Cora has wanted her ears pierced for a while, but has worried greatly about how much it would hurt.

She agreed to it, and then changed her mind, and then changed her mind again - yes. She would do it. But she was still nervous.

We went straight from Laser Blast to the mall. It took a while to get to the point of Cora sitting in the chair, after the Piercing Pagoda was out of the first two pairs of earrings she had hoped to have.

Finally the moment came.

It stung. I knelt in front holding her hands; it wasn't fun hearing the piercing sound.

But she survived.

Cora's earrings are tiny flowers with her birthstone, amethyst.

Violet, meanwhile, watched with interest. She has also talked about having her ears pierced, and never expressed as much anxiety about it.

We offered to pay for it, if she wanted it done.

Cora excitedly helped her choose a pair - diamond flowers, her April birthstone. She promised to hold her hands while she had it done.

Such brave girls! No tears, and they look so pretty and grownup.

(I was 9 when I had my first holes pierced, and 13 for the second holes.)

It was great seeing them have such a bonding experience, and they can now clean them together every morning and evening.

A Birthday Blast

Cora went to a birthday party at Laser Blast last year, and had so much fun. She knew she wanted to have her 10th birthday fun at the same place.

We planned a very small party for the day after her birthday - a few friends, and all the family.

Cora wanted all her family to take part in the game with her, and we all did. (Sadly, we didn't get any great photos of the laser tag itself - it was dark inside.)

Here are the friends getting instructions for their third of the three laser tag games. Melanie won each of the three games. She needs to go into professional Laser Tag and get paid for her mad skills!

Special Birthday Visit

Nan and Pop arrived safely Monday night, and we are happy to have them with us for three weeks this time.

We went out for ice cream Tuesday night.

And on Thursday, we celebrated Cora's birthday. She woke up early and got dressed and ready for her big day. Then she came out to her birthday surprise, her new bike!

Stace stayed home for Cora's special morning, and gave her another treat: her first ride in the MG. He dropped her off at school with the balloon flying high.

Sue, Gord and I took Cora out to lunch at In-N-Out.

Later, we had dinner all together, with Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie Mel, as well, at Stone Fire. Then we came home for ice cream "pizza" and presents.

Happy Birthday, Cora! Ten amazing years with you - we love you so much.

Tidbits

We made lunch plans with our friends Luis and Audra, and I mentioned that we'd be busy the rest of the day with Cora's science project. Hearing that, she asked if Violet might like to hang out with them when they went to Placerita Canyon.

That was a no-brainer!

Such a nice offer, and I appreciate the photos, as well.

We are so blessed to have a creek in the canyon again - thank you, God, for the rain we've been praying for! Maybe this year will be the end to our five-year drought.

 One night this week, I checked in on the girls as I made my way to bed. Both of them had a warm, furry, living animal to cuddle with - who needs a teddy bear?

Violet comes out most nights looking for Spencer to carry back to her bed. She has trouble falling asleep without him!

When we lost Somer when Cora was four, I was so sad for the girls to lose that wonderful friend. But we are so thankful God blessed us with Spencer and Sebastian - they each have their own cat for bedtime!

We've also been busy getting ready for Nan and Pop's return! They come in soon for Cora's 10th birthday.

We've been cleaning and rearranging things in the playroom, to form a proper guest room for them. We purchased a foldup queen mattress and folding bed frame, so they can sleep in comfort on a bed we can later store in the garage.

And with the curtains (which we'll take down later), they'll also have privacy.

Science and School Council

For the last couple of weeks, I have been working on my science fair projected. My topic is "Which Materials Conduct Electricity?".

In the picture to the left, there are all of the materials that I needed to build my open circuit. Dad let me do all of the soldering and connecting.  

 Doing all of that soldering made my hands ache and it was very hot! I had to be careful not to touch the hot bit of the metal or it would dry all over my hands.

Dad really helped me a lot by asking me a ton of question that I could answer for my poster. We came up with four or five of them.

 

 This is me testing my circuit to make sure the light bulb worked. I had to test 16 materials to do my test experiments I think it was very interesting to find out which materials are conductors and which ones were insulators.

 This is me with my newly finished poster board.

You can see in the bottom left hand corner how many questions Dad and I came up with!

I was announced Student Council Member on Tuesday afternoon by Mrs. Shafarman. I have many awesome ideas that will make Meadows Elementary School the best school in the world.

Week In Review

Along with the rain, we've had some chilly mornings this week! It's been frosty, with morning temps below freezing, most of the week.

Stace said we couldn't use the cold as an excuse to not walk to school, so we bundled up and enjoyed crunching the grass and seeing our breath freeze.

 Both girls had their hands full Tuesday morning - Cora brought her violin, for she has orchestra on Tuesdays. And Violet brought a bear, because she'd earned a "bring a stuffed animal" pass, and flowers for Mrs. Boron.

Mrs. Boron was the class's student teacher, and Tuesday was her final day in Mrs. Hawthorne's class. Violet was excited to pick out flowers to bring her, and got them ready by herself.

 I helped in class when the students wrote out journal entries about Mrs. Boron; Mrs. Hawthorne bound them together into a book as part of her going away gift.
I thought what Violet wrote was pretty sweet.

This science work Violet brought home made me laugh.

I "guess" we "are going to" work on our enunciation in our family!

 We went back to school Tuesday night to deliver Stacey's handcrafted Christmas present to Mrs. Hawthorne. He created and installed the shelves in the upper cabinet (and added one to the lower cabinet).

I love my handy husband, and his servant's heart!

 On our rainy Disney day, I got a call from my dad about a huge eucalyptus tree that had collapsed onto McBean Parkway.

Though the tree itself was dealt with quickly, as it was blocking traffic, it took a few weeks for the city to turn the stump back over.

Crazy!

It was very fortunate the tree fell into the road and not onto the houses on the other side. And, of course, it was lucky it didn't fall onto traffic or cause a wreck!
Rigo (our good friend and tree-trimmer) tells us he doesn't park under eucalyptus or pine trees - probably words to the wise!

Week in Review

On Tuesday morning, I tried to buy U2 tickets for a show they're playing in Pasadena in May. I was online early, waiting for the tickets to become available, but they sold out while I was trying to buy them. The same thing happened the last time they came into town, and we refused to pay the crazy resale prices.

So, when my favorite band added a show, I decided to join the fan club (for $50) to get access to the presale for the new date. I didn't know if this would be worth it, or a waste of cash.

But, when my presale access opened up the next day, bingo! I'm very excited for this show, and JT and Jim will go with us, just like way back in 2001.

Cora was invited to a GATE Art Enrichment Night on Thursday, where she and other gifted students from the district had an art lesson on making a block stamp.

Cora had a good time, making a stamp with a "Cora" hot air balloon.

On Saturday, we went to Dick's Sporting Goods to look at bikes. Someone is turning 10 soon, and the lovely bike she received for her 6th birthday is getting just a wee bit small.

This GT was her favorite... we'll see!

On Saturday night, we went to my parents' home to have dinner with a couple of relatives we hadn't met before. My mom has recently reconnected with her cousin Steven, and we were all introduced to his lovely daughter Lucy. It was a great evening, and nice getting to know them.

And, on Sunday afternoon, Rigo invited us over for carne asada, with their family and Luis and Audra and their girls.

Colleen and Audra had just returned from a church women's retreat, so our family's arrival was a surprise to them. It was a lot of fun - we'll have to return the favor soon!