So Many New Friends for Clarita!

This past weekend was a busy one! I bought a Groupon for a hot air balloon ride (I love Groupons!) two years ago and tried to use it for our anniversary then, but they were booked. It expired this September so I had booked a flight for a few weeks ago. It ended up being really hot that weekend so we had to reschedule. We rescheduled for October 4 which just happened to be a couple of days before our seventh anniversary so it worked out perfectly!

Kevin, Clarita, and I headed down to San Diego Thursday afternoon. Clara slept for three hours on the ride down, woke up played, we stopped and fed her, she played and then slept some more. It was perfect. When we got to San Diego we met my friend Mikaela for dinner (Shannon was convinced we'd never been to this restaurant before but Kevin new better and Shannon ended up losing a bet to Kevin :)). She just moved back to San Diego from Colorado and had not yet met Clara. Of course they loved each other!

Big girl in a high chair!

Auntie Mikaela!

After dinner we headed down to La Jolla to Phil and Kelly's place. Phil and I went to college together and he was good friends with my friend Jon. When Kevin started grad school in San Diego Phil started law school and they both needed a roommate so they lived together for a year. We got in around 9:30 and Clara was asleep. I woke her up, fed her, put her pjs on, and she went right back to sleep.

Clara had fun with Phil

The balloon ride was Friday at 6:00 AM in Temecula, about an hour northeast of San Diego, so we had to leave around 5:00 AM. I woke Clara up and fed her thinking she would go right back to sleep. Wrong. She was wide awake and ready to play. It was literally my worst nightmare as I did not want her to wake up Phil and Kelly. Luckily after some rocking Clarita went back to sleep and slept until 7:00! Phil and Kelly have two daughters, Maya three and a half, and Lana fourteen months. They have a sitter who comes to watch the girls and were nice enough to let Clara stay with her too. Luckily the Wiggle was on her best behavior and did not cause any problems. She didn't mind that we weren't there when she woke up or that she was with complete strangers (she had met Phil once but I bet she had already forgotten).

Playing with Maya is soooo fun!

Our balloon ride was great. We had to go to a different location since the Santa Ana Winds were crazy, but it was still very nice. We headed back to SD right after the balloon ride to collect Clara and went to the beach and our favorite taco shop, Ramiro's. Clara enjoyed strolling down the boardwalk in Pacific Beach and looking at all the people.

On the pier

On Saturday we headed to the beach with the Askims and met Mikaela and her fiance Zack there. Getting three tiny kids ready for the beach was no small feat nor was packing all the stuff they needed into the minivan! We finally made it and Clarita loved the sand and the water! She went in the ocean up to her diaper and thought that the water was pretty neat. She also really loved sitting in the wet sand and playing with it. She of course put a handful straight into her mouth and didn't seem to mind the taste. Clara even took a nap at the beach. Kevin and Phil snorkeled with the leopard sharks while the rest of us hung out on the beach.

Clara really seemed to enjoy hanging out with Maya and Lana. She would watch them attentively and smile and talk to them. She even tried pulling herself up into standing position on their toy box. I think she wanted to be like the big girls! They were super cute and sweet to Clara offering to share their toys and play with her.

Lana, Clara, and Maya

Taking a picture of three tiny kiddos was tough!

On Sunday we headed out early to visit my college roommate Nicolette, her husband Jeremy, and their 16 month old daughter Bennett. We hadn't met Bennett yet and they hadn't met Clara so it was a fun morning. Clara immediately grabbed onto Bennett's hair, but Bennett didn't seem to mind. Nicolette made us a great breakfast and Clara had fun playing with Bennett's toys, and getting licked by the dog (I think that may have been her favorite part)! I can't wait until the girls can play together again!

College roommates turned mommies!

After breakfast we headed to Newport Beach to visit Beth and Ken, and meet little Hadley who was born September 14. Hadley was teeny and precious. I honestly can't remember Clara being that little or fragile. I had almost forgotten how to hold a newborn! Clara was indifferent about Hadley but loved hanging out with Beth and Ken. We went to lunch and they played with her while I ate (Hadley slept the entire time like a perfect angel). Clara had never really met a baby smaller than her and she seemed so huge compared to Hadley. I'm sure the next time we see them Clara and Hadley will be much more interested in each other! It was perfect because Nicolette, Beth, and I all lived together and now all have little girls. I can't wait for the fun the girls will have together in the future!

A glimpse into their future

Future roommates like their mommies?

After lunch we headed home and Clara fell asleep right away. We stopped to eat dinner in Bakersfield and Clara thought that the high chair at In N Out was pretty fun to lounge in. Clara was not so happy when we loaded up again. She screamed bloody murder and I finally had to sit in the back with her (which I haven't done since the day we brought her home from the hospital). She eventually fell asleep but there was a lot of crying involved. I think that she had a great weekend but the poor little Wiggle was exhausted from all of her adventures and new friends and ready to be home.

The only bad part of the weekend was that Clara started waking up numerous times during the night and not being consoled until I picked her up and rocked her. I was hoping that it just had something to do with being in a different place, but she has continued to wake up two or three times a night since we got home (which she never even did as a newborn). Now I'm hoping that she's teething and that her teeth come in quickly and she resumes her normal nighttime sleep pattern. Kevin and I now fully understand how lucky we have been that Clara started sleeping through the night so early on. I also realized that what I have always said is true...I cannot function properly if I don't get a good night's sleep and I want to kill Clara by the third time she wakes me up (luckily she's cute so I get over it). All in all it was a great weekend filled with tons of new friends for Clara (all girls too)!