Pirates Anniversary Special

We had a great evening out at the Pirates Dinner Adventure this weekend, in celebration of Grandma and Grandpa's 40th wedding anniversary.









It was a lot of fun cheering on the Orange Pirate, though Violet found it all a bit too loud for her taste. Cora loved it... except for the part where the Blue Pirate kisses one of the beautiful young ladies.

"It's a good thing we're not on the blue crew. I would be humiliated!" she said
"YOU would be humiliated?" I asked.
"Yes! Because he would be OUR guy!"
Cora is in the phase where all thoughts of boyfriends, romance, or - gasp! - KISSING, is disgusting.

After the show, we posed for photos with our Orange Pirate, Andre.

Mom and Dad generously invited us all out and paid for our evening. It was great spending time with all of these dear friends. 

Forty years is quite a milestone! Many congratulations!

The week before, a smaller group of us celebrated Mom and Dad with a fun visit to an Escape Room. This is a live action puzzle, where you are locked in a room with a few clues to figure out the answers to win your freedom.

Sadly, we did NOT get all the answers to all the clues to our 1970s era murder mystery, but it was a lot of fun trying.

Violet's Big Day

Violet had fun with Melanie one afternoon this week, while Cora and Cami made cake pops.

We took a little walk and I noticed how coordinated their outfits were -sparkly animal tops with black and gold.

Of course, Violet couldn't pose normally for a photo with her friend!

On Thursday, Violet had an early morning appointment at a hospital in Tarzana for an MRI of her head, to make sure her pituitary gland looked OK. Since we opted for sedation, it meant an IV and a lot of medication.

She handled everything like a champ, though she was quiet and nervous at the start. When all was over, she enjoyed her orange popsicle immensely.

Stace and I took her out to lunch, where she chose a chocolate chip pancake meal. We are so proud of you, Violet!

And, her MRI showed no problems with her pituitary - we don't have a good reason for why it's not putting out the right levels of growth hormone. We'll move forward with the plan to give her a boost in that department.

Um, Violet, when I ask you to make the bed, this is NOT what I meant!

Reflecting on a Win!

 This year, the national PTA Reflections Art Program's theme was Within Reach, and both girls entered pieces.

Cora wrote a story for the literature division, about two children who taste magical fruit and are able to enter a place called Sweetland. She won first place for her age group!

 It was Cora's first time winning a prize, let alone a first place. She was so happy! Here's Cora with her teacher, Ms. Packer, in front of her story hanging on the wall.

The banner hanging on the stage said "Reflections," with the letters written with a collage of photos of all the artwork. Violet and Cora are pointing to Violet's piece, a clay sculpture of a kitty reaching for a ball.

The kitty, though not an award winner, received lots of positive comments. The visual arts category is the most competitive, since most children draw or paint pictures.

Cake Pop Craziness

Cora, with her love for baking, was hoping to make cake pops to take to our friends' Halloween party. But it was the night before, and I knew enough about cake pops to know she didn't have time to start the process.

At the party we saw our friend Rachael, and Rachael is an expert baker. She invited us to come to her home for a cake pop-making class, and on Saturday, that's what we did.

Rachael was awesome - she showed Cora how to grind up the cake in the food processor, mix it with frosting, and fashion it into the ball shapes.

She also let Cora (and Violet) work with fondant for the first time, rolling it out to make designs and a simple ghost covering. Cora had heard lots about fondant on the Food Network baking shows, so she enjoyed experiencing it.

Here, Cora is covering a cake pop with melted chocolate.

Rachael showed Cora her technique for getting the extra chocolate off the cake pop, tapping it while holding it at an angle.

So cute!

Violet rolled her first ball in Rachael's gold sprinkles. Rachael generously sent us home with lots of goodies - more cake pops to make, the leftover chocolate, fondant, and assorted sprinkles.

Cora had so much fun, she invited Cami over on Monday to make some more cake pops. Chris popped in, and Cora tried unsuccessfully to convince him to try the fondant.

Very nice, girls!

Skate Park Spectaculars

Cora had such a great time at the skate park for Andre's birthday last month, she's been asking about going back. And rather than just have a daddy-daughter date, the whole family made the trip Saturday morning.

From 8 to 10 a.m. on the weekends, the park is open to 12 and unders only, so it's a perfect time for those in Hello Kitty helmets to get their feet - or scooters - wet.

Both girls had an absolute ball, and I think we'll be making more trips to the skate park over the next few years.

They now need better scooters, though. Their foldaway Razors are great for around the neighborhood, but they don't work so well when you're doing tricks.

Stace took the girls back to the skate park Sunday morning, and Cora actually rode down into this bowl from the top. She tried several times unsuccessfully, but kept at it, and eventually landed it. Where she gets her bravery from, I'll never know!

And Violet had such a great time, she said that night that the skate park is her Disneyland. (And, it's free! And doesn't require two hours in the car!)

Halloween Day

On Halloween day, I went to Mom2Mom, Violet's class had a party, we went to our friends Jen and Jason's Halloween party after school, we watched a Dodgers World Series game, and we trick-or-treated around our neighborhood.

Whew! No wonder we were tired the next few days!

Violet's craft in class was a make-your-own-mummy, with a black cutout of a person, and white yarn.

Violet also was happy to show off the Halloween gram she received from Cora. (I gave them both dollars to buy each other the pencil and eraser grams - and Violet gave one to her friend Camryn, too.)

Violet's class also had a snack, and played Halloween bingo.

Then, it was time to get home and get costumed.

Here's my dragon and my newspaper girl playing the mummy game in Jen and Jason's front yard.

We headed home as it got dark and met up with our neighborhood friends for trick or treating. Cora was done early, as her face was itching from playing around in the grass at Trent's house, so I was able to watch most of the Dodgers game.

 Violet the Dragon, meanwhile, was a hard-core trick or treater with her Dad and the rest of the group. Here, she is showing off the pumpkins she and Cora carved on their own Sunday night.

 I made Violet get one photo with the mask she made, though she didn't like it once she had finished it. It was such a creative idea - she punched brads into a paper mask, and the put duck tape on the back to cover the sharp parts.

Here's Violet after her night out - what a haul! Thankfully, she's always willing to share!

Carving and Cora's Party

We spent our Sunday evening watching our Dodgers battle the Houston Astros in the World Series, while the girls carved their pumpkins. Never have we watched our baseball team this late in October - they haven't made it to the World Series since 1988, 29 years ago.

Cora's class had a Halloween party on Monday, and I was able to help out with the planning and execution as one of Ms. Packer's room moms.

Here, Ms. Packer is helping Cora with her silhouette pumpkin craft.

The kids also watched the Peanuts Halloween special while eating their snack.

Then, the kids split into two groups to play a game similar to pin the tail to the donkey, but Halloween-ified into Pin the Bone to the Skeleton. The skeleton the children were forming, by pinning bones to the black paper.

Dinorah worked her face paint magic again.

Here, Cora shows off both her spooky face paint, and her spooky Halloween pastel artwork. I love this piece, and look forward to framing it as an October home decoration for years to come.

More Halloween Fun

Beyond the school Fall Festival, we had fun at the Valencia Methodist Trunk or Treat, where Stace and Cora ran the game with our MG.

My friend Kelly, who has been coming to Mom2Mom with Noah and Ethan, brought them to Trunk or Treat.

While Cora was busy working our car game, Violet had fun with the crafts and the cookie-decorating.

Earlier in the week, Violet and I went with Grandma and Grandpa to the Magic Mountain employee Halloween trick-or-treating party. (Cora and Stace went to a GATE night put on by the school district.)

Violet enjoyed riding the rides and collecting candy.

Also this week, Stace celebrated with his buddy Keith as Keith retired from Woodward. It will be a sad thing for Stace, but they will continue their tradition of Friday lunches together.

This is a group of the English contingent from Woodward; several are now retired.