Ode to joy

Yesterday Lily had her first violin recital since moving to California. Here she is intently waiting for her turn.

 Taking the stage with Chris, the owner of the SJG School of Music.

 Lily played Beethoven's "Ode to Joy."

She was the only violinist of the day and one of the few who did not use sheet music.

 Celebratory flowers courtesy of Grandma Kathy, Grandpa Colin and Cousin Chase.

 Yesterday was not Amalia's day.

 Though she did convince Grandpa to take her out to the playground during part of the recital.

 The cousins hanging out after the show.

Spring training

Amalia's kindergarten class had "Baseball Day" on Friday. For weeks we heard about what position she was going to play--from the announcer to the guy who sweeps home plate. My favorite was when she told me that it was fun to play in the "wayback," because the ball never goes there and you can  just sit down and have fun. 

The lineup announcement had a few pauses for disciplinary action. Baseball players can be so unruly.

Amalia ended up playing third base. I was going to have her listen to the whole Abbott & Costello routine, but figured I can save that for when she's older. 

These kids know the national anthem better than some I've seen. I'm sorry I didn't catch any of the actual game on my phone. But needless to say everyone was a winner and we all got to celebrate afterward with popcorn and cupcakes. 

April Fools

 Girls, there's a huge spider on your bathroom mirror! Oh, wait. It's just rainbow wrapping paper.

 Lily was not impressed, I admit. My last-minute creativity is limited at 5:30 in the morning.

Age of innocence

Last week, I had the privilege of chaperoning Lily's third-grade class on a field trip to the Fallon House, a Victorian-era home built in downtown San Jose in 1855 by Carmel and Thomas Fallon (the latter was one of San Jose's earliest mayors).

Yes, there was a lot of standing around listening about how people lived in the 1800s (especially rich people), but the nice thing about the tour is that it also included a number of interesting activities to keep the kids engaged.

Like writing your own calling cards, which you then gave to the butler (played by a classmate) as you entered the house.

And dressing up in period clothing. Very Laura Ingalls Wilder.

 And, now, for effect--Emma, Lily, and Adrianna in sepia tones.

The kids also learned about what it was like to be the Fallons' servants and got to try their hand at a few chores, including polishing silver, grating laundry soap, ironing, and shining shoes.

They also made scones (cooked in a toaster oven for expediency), which they got to enjoy in the garden after the tour.

One of my favorite moments of the tour was when we were upstairs learning about the bedrooms and the docent asked the kids what room, which you might have in your house, is missing. She was going for "bathroom," of course, but the first response from one of the boys was, "The TV room?"

Cosplay

 Tonight Lily and Amalia went to a "Frozen" costume-slash-gymnastics party. The girls dressed up like Elsa (Amalia) and Anna (Lily), with leotards underneath.

For those of you blissfully unaware of these characters, you can use the above image for reference.

I would like to note my La Reina skirt being dusted off to play the role of Anna's green dress.

For the record, Lily's favorite character is Anna; Amalia's, the shopkeeper.

Sunrise, sunset

 

I just sent Andy and the girls off to their first father/daughter dance. Sniff, sniff.

But before they could go, we had to uphold the Freeman tradition of posing in front of rosebushes.

The girls were freshly bathed and dressed. Not really to the preening stage yet, thank goodness.

I just wanted Lily's hair to dry before she walked in the chilly air to the dance.

Wouldn't want her to catch cold, after all. ;-)

Waiting for Daddy to come home gave us time to pick dandelions.

And try on alternate wraps.

I'm not sure if she's scowling because she wanted to leave for the dance or because I was taking a picture.

Not to sidetrack us, here, but did I mention that we met Moo Cow's owners this week? A lovely mom and 4th-grade girl that live a block over. They call him "Meow, Meow" and they don't mind at all that we're sharing his company. They sometimes come by to visit him in our front yard. He apparently goes between our houses pretty regularly. I speculated that he might have still others. A cat of many secrets, that one.

Back to eating chewy Jolly Ranchers to pass the time.

More rosebush pictures!

She settled on the black shawl and the purse she got at Mt. Rushmore.

What happens when you tell Amalia to pose.

Can you tell she has candy in her cheeks?

Ah, the missing link!

Andy came home just in time for a few pictures before heading out.

As I'm typing this I'm realizing I probably should have sent the camera with Andy to capture the actual dance. Oh, well. I'm sure there will be stories. I have so many questions. Like, do the daddies and daughters really dance together or do all the girls huddle in a corner while the dads hang out and drink beer?

The wind-blown look

With Andy in Vegas this weekend for the Baker to Vegas law enforcement run, the girls and I headed out to Santa Cruz. 

 There's a reason people usually go in the summer. It was chilly and pretty breezy. 

 Though still beautiful.