Let's Go Fly a Kite!
On the last weekend of March, we had a visit from Aunt CC. That Sunday was a beautiful clear day and we all had a great time, doing lots of outdoor stuff. Andrew, Cristina, Cora, & Olivia went for a bike ride to the University. We all met up for lunch at Children's Park downtown, I got the girls a kite at Bird in Hand (one of my favorite stores), and the kite had its first test run. Unfortunately, with my help, Cora flew the ladybug kite high up into a tree at the little park. A young man offered to help, climbed the tree, and was able to shake the kite free. Then Cristina, the girls, and I drove out to 20th Street Park for Kite Day. Of course there's a good reason to hold Kite Day at this park, it has lots of wide open grass, fewer trees to get stuck in, and this was a perfect day for flying a kite. There was lots of wind, Cora got the kite up right away, among hundreds of other kites. We ran into one of Cora's friends from preschool, Ian. Cora & Ian ran around together for awhile, looking at all the kites. Olivia & Ian's little sister, Emma, joined in the fun as well, rolling around in the grass.
After flying kites, chasing bubbles, and rolling in the grass, the kids found the mud puddles on the baseball diamond. We sort of halfheartedly told the kids not to jump in the water, but they were having too much fun, splashing themselves and each other, even sitting in the puddles. I got a few good pictures of the kids after they were all soaked and muddy! Cora & Olivia were so muddy and wet that we had to take them home in their underwear! It was all very fun and every time we drive by 20th Street park, you can see it from the freeway, Cora or Olivia points out the park where all the kites were.
Ever since Aunt CC's visit, Olivia has wanted to pretend to be Aunt CC pretty much every day! If you call her Olivia or something else, she corrects you, "No, Aunt CC!" Another after effect of the visit has been a significant change in Barbie's attire. No longer is Barbie always seen dressed in her best finery, which always meant splendid gowns and fairy tale dresses. Aunt CC taught Cora about casual wear, and that it was Okay for Barbie to wear pants & shorts. It was very shocking for Cora at first, she did not think Barbie should be wearing any of the clothing meant for the boy dolls! And Barbie clothes that have been in the box with all the other doll dresses actually got used for the first time, Cora never had any desire to put Barbie in her jogging suit or tennis outfit before. Some of the Barbies have made it back into their usual dresses, but Barbie will never be the same again!
Today, I took Cora and Olivia to see their first ballet, Swan Lake. The girls have seen the ballet on DVD before and are familiar with the story and the music. There's also a Barbie version, a computer animated movie that doesn't have as much dancing and has a happy ending. The Tchaikovsky Ballet and Orchestra came to Chico from Russia for performances at the University, including the field trip presentation that we saw. The field trip performances are shorter, about 50 minutes, during the day, and the tickets are only $3, it's a great way to take the kids to the theatre. The performance included the 2nd act, and it was simply beautiful! Just being in Laxson Auditorium was a big experience for the girls, they thought it was wonderful! They showed some of the costumes from the 1st and 3rd acts and of course they were all gorgeous. The dancing was fantastic and you could tell the girls both enjoyed it. Olivia liked to point out the prince, "There are the prince!" or wonder where Odette was, or whether all the swan maidens were on the stage. I especially liked that there was a live orchestra, the music was so beautifully played, and it added so much to the dancing, although a few times Olivia thought it was too loud and covered her ears. After the show, the girls played outside on the lawn and among the trees with a friend of Cora's, also named Olivia, who is in Cora's ballet class. While the bigger girls played hide and go seek, our little Olivia gave her own ballet performance on the brick planter "stage." Even when we got home, Olivia immediately wanted me to put on the Swan Lake music so she could dance. When Daddy got home they excitedly told him about seeing a REAL ballet with a REAL orchestra!
