V.B.S.

This past week was Vacation Bible School at our church. I love VBS, it's such a fun way for kids to learn about God, and we knew that Clara would love it (singing, dancing, kids), but had no idea just how much fun she would have. I was in charge again this year (luckily I had Tia Laurie to help a lot!) and Clarita was a trooper. We went early and stayed late. She also helped Tia Laurie and I decorate (well, made a giant mess while we decorated). Clara is too young for VBS, so I stayed with her in the classroom most days. There were two days when I had to lead a class because the leader could not be there, so I sent Clara with an eighth grade helper, Morgan (who I taught in VBS when she was in preschool), to the preschool class. The little Wiggle did great. She loved Morgan and didn't really have any problems. She saw me a couple of times and would come give me a hug and then be off with her class.

The teeny gang

We have a band, Captive Free, who leads the music portion of VBS each year and Clarita absolutely loved the singing and dancing! She tried to do the motions for the songs and danced away! She also loved the little kids and they loved her. She was always surrounded by a heard of kids giving her hugs and kisses and making sure she was ok. It was absolutely adorable!

Leading the program

Dancing with Grace

Craft time was also a hit with Clara. She got to sit on the table since she is so tiny and now expects that she should be allowed to sit on all tables. Clarita loved coloring with markers (one line from each marker), taking the lids off and putting them back on the markers, and dumping all the beads out only to put them back in their bowls! Clara also became obsessed with necklaces this week and insisted on wearing one each day. Once we got to church she added her VBS name tag (or necklace as she called it), and a necklace that she made as a craft. She was quite decked out!

Since we were gone all morning I used this as a way to transition Clara from two naps to one since she hadn't been sleeping well in the afternoons anyway. She was great all morning, but definitely tired by the time VBS ended. She generally ate her lunch while I got ready for the next day, and then fell asleep in the car on the way home and didn't wake up when I transferred her to her crib. 

On Monday we took the band to Kings Canyon National Park to see the Giant Sequoias. Clara took an hour nap on the way there and then was ready to go. We left the house at 8:15 in the morning and didn't get home until 8:30 at night! Needless to say, she slept the whole way home and didn't even wake up when Tia Laurie moved her entire car seat with Clara in it to my car! 

Captive Free

Clara was most definitely exhausted by the time the week ended. We hosted two of the band members, MJ and Sarah, and took them to San Francisco on Saturday since they had never been to California before. We left at 7:00 AM so I had to wake up the tired baby early to get her ready. She slept for a half hour on the way up and then was ready to go. She did surprisingly well considering how tired she was. Clara loved walking on the pier and screamed when I put her in her stroller. She also liked the wind and growled at it! It was fun taking MJ and Sarah to San Francisco and watching them see everything for the first time! We also got to meet up with Tio Josue and meet his girlfriend, and see Todd who grew up down the street from Dada. Clara took an hour or so nap while we walked through Chinatown and then was ready to go again! She was really happy on the ride home and finally fell asleep around 9:15. 

Tio Josue and Rachel

MJ and Sarah in Chinatown

By the time Sunday rolled around Clara was beat! She fell asleep on the way to church, slept an hour while I cleaned up from VBS, and then took a 4.5 hour nap in the afternoon! She's already looking forward to VBS next year!