Birthday Fun

Even though Stace took Thursday off for our trip to Universal Studios, Cora really wanted to see him Friday morning, too. So, he stayed home for a little while to make Cora her birthday breakfast - crepes, his speciality.

Before school, Cora opened a couple of her presents - a Lego microfighter from Violet, and a set of framed Harry Potter prints from me and Stace.

After school, we got a few things ready for Cora's birthday party Saturday morning. Then we went to Trent's birthday party, a bingo party at his house.

Cora won one of the prizes - a mini bundt cake. Yum!

Later, Jen was so sweet to bring out a second mini cake for Cora, and we all sang to her, after singing "Happy Birthday" to Trent.

Thanks to Pam for this sweet photo of our 11-year-old, and the next pic.

Cora's bigger present from us was this big Lego kit of Kylo Ren's TIE fighter. Stace just loves having a daughter who is as into Star Wars Lego as much as he is!

Universal Fun

For Cora's 11th birthday, we took a family trip to Universal Studios, primarily to soak up the Harry Potter magic in the section of the park focused on the books and movies. It was our first time there since before Cora was born - and it was outstanding!

The area consists of two rides, including the main ride behind the girls here in the Hogwarts castle, and many shops that mirror shops in the movies.

Auntie Mel and Uncle Nick came with us, and Grandma and Grandpa met us after Grandma got off work. We decided to go on a Thursday, to experience the park properly without the long lines.

Grandma's friend gave the girls her Harry Potter wands, purchased at Universal Studios, and Melanie let them borrow her Gryffindor scarf. Cora's eyes when we walked into Harry Potter World showed her wonder and awe.

We went on the little coaster first, because Violet could enjoy it. The second ride - the biggie - was an amazing experience. The whole line was filled with interactive displays and little things from the films.

When we got to the front of the line, Violet and Stace went into a waiting area with comfy seating and the movies playing on a television. After Cora and I went on the ride with Melly and Nick, Stace and Cora went. Sadly, the motion made Stace really sick for most of the rest of the day.

After the ride, we had butter beer!

If it hadn't been such a warm day, you really could imagine you were in Hogsmeade. Just going in and out of the shops is a thoroughly enjoyable experience - and the pub! Like being back in England!

Ollivander's wand shop was one of the fun ones; another was Honeydukes sweet shop, where Melanie treated the girls to chocolate frogs.

After our Potter adventures, Stace, Cora and Violet and I went on the hour-long studio tour. The girls really enjoyed it, except for the Fast and Furious portion at the end - Violet found it scary and had her head in my lap.

We met up with the family again, and walked through the Simpsons section. We didn't go on this ride - maybe next time! The pricing made it better to get a season pass for the year, so we will definitely be returning.

We had a bite to eat and then went on the Jurassic Park water ride - except for Stace, who still wasn't feeling well. He served as our photographer - nice shot of us, SOAKED! Thank goodness it was such a warm winter's day!

We then watched the Waterworld show, before hurrying to ride the Mummy a couple of times. By this time the park had pretty well cleared out, as it closed at 6 p.m. We then hurried back up to the Harry Potter rides for one more go.

My dad captured this beautiful shot of the castle at night.

It was a very fun day, with the exception of Stace feeling sick.

We had dinner at Bubba Gumps - Uncle Nick answered every quiz question from our waitress correctly!

The server asked Cora to make a birthday wish when she brought out a cupcake and we all sang to her. Her wish was to watch her daddy dance - he was a good sport!

Happy 11th Birthday, Cora! Another year older, speeding toward those teen years. But for now, she's still young enough to eat the frosting first... We love you!

Science Fair

Cora chose to investigate which glues would work best to repair squishies for her science project this year.

She was inspired by an incident, when Livi tore Violet's squishy, and we were googling which glue would work best. We found online that super glue can dissolve squishies - interesting!

For the project, Cora cut up a large squishy and used five types of glues to adhere the pieces together.

After letting them cure for 24 hours, she used a luggage scale to measure the force required to tear them back apart. A few didn't break - those were some strong glues!

She found that epoxy, super glue and wood glue worked the best - and the super glue did not dissolve the squishies, in her tests.

Cora came in first place in her grade!

Should we mention that she came in first, out of two entries?

Naahh!

(There were actually nearly 100 participants in the fair, mostly in the primary grades.)

We're proud of your hard work, Cora!

Fun Stuff

A group of my girlfriends got together last Saturday night for an Escape Room and dinner. I missed out on the Escape Room fun, but enjoyed dinner out at a new brewery/restaurant in Old Newhall.

Earlier that day, my parents took the girls on a whale watch, and Stace and I did some planning for Cora's bedroom. We also stepped out to shop for supplies and get a drink, at a new brewery near the mall.

Yes, SClarita is sprouting new breweries like spring wildflowers.

And Saturday, we went out with friends from Mom2Mom. Instead of doing another bowling night, we went to Claim Jumper for dinner.

Bed Re-do

 Cora and Stace created a captain's bed for Cora over the weekend, transforming her old dresser, along with a new bookcase, into the base for her mattress.

As always, Cora proved herself quite the hard worker, using Dad's tools like an expert. Here, she's countersinking holes in the slats that the mattress would rest on, in the space between the wall and the back of the dresser.

 With supervision, she also used the table saw to shorten the lengths of wood.

Stace had the idea of filling the gap between the dresser and bookcase with an additional small bookcase he fabricated. My engineer is a creative genius.

 Sebastian approved of the open drawers. Behind the dresser, you can see the string of lights Cora later put up in the area that will serve as her secret hideout.

Sanding the edges of the finished edging...

 Ready for a mattress and a good night's sleep!

Happy girl in her new bed, with double the floorspace in her bedroom!

Tidbits

Stace and Cora had a Star Wars movie date this month; Cora really enjoyed the latest installment.

And last week, I got to take her to a movie, too. We saw the Greatest Showman, which we loved. She'd been wanting to see it since watching all the previews on the Internet, and then all my friends were raving about it.

It worked well for us to see it in Glendale, at the fancy Americana shopping center, because Cora participated in a paid focus group nearby.



We had dinner at Porto's amazing bakery, and we also went shopping at Barnes and Noble. Cora was super impressed with the gigantic, three-story bookstore. Cora bought herself a book, and I bought one for her and Violet to share.

Cora was in such a great mood with the books and movie - a musical - that she was dancing around to the music playing in time with the fountain. Love seeing her joy!

On Friday evening, Cora and Cami went to a fun Open Night at Hugo's Gym, where the Cora and Violet did a class a year ago.

On this evening, the fifth- and sixth-grade youth group at Valencia Methodist organized a group trip to the open gym. It wasn't a private event, and several other kids from the girls' school happened to be there, too.

After the gym, we went to watch Stace play soccer with his new team, made up of Woodward employees. He's having a great time getting back into playing.

No, Cora didn't take a trip to the rainforest. She's up on the hill, in one of her hideouts. She took Stace up to show him around. This kid loves her hill! She also loves taking friends up for adventures.

Also, we found one of the monarchs we've helped raise struggling on the ground outside.

We brought it in for a couple of days and fed it sugar water. Here, Cora and Violet are offering it cantaloupe. Sadly, it didn't make it more than a few days.

First Lost Tooth!

This photo needs its own blog post - because after more than 7 years of waiting, the Tooth Fairy was finally able to pay Miss Violet a visit!

Violet waited all through kindergarten, as students shared each time they lost a tooth and were added to the lost-teeth tally charts for the month. Then, she waited all throughout first grade, with more of the same celebrations every time someone lost a tooth.

Last week, nearly halfway through second grade, Violet was finally able to join in the fun...except that in second grade, not much is made of lost teeth!

The new tooth is already clearly visible behind the empty space, so she won't be toothless long.

Oddly enough, on this same day, she was joined in the tooth-loss department by both Cora and SEBASTIAN! Cora lost one of her upper teeth, while Seb had to have an infected tooth pulled. Poor boy, and poor us! Pet dental work is pricey, because it was basically oral surgery, with the anesthesia and everything.