Birthdays and Blossoms

March is another packed birthday month in our family. Tia Laurie's birthday was March 5. Clara was very excited about it and in the week leading up to it talked about how she would tell Tia Happy birthday and we would eat cake (she has decided that all birthdays should include cake). We celebrated on Tia's actual birthday with the required trip to Red Robin for dinner. Our service was extraordinarily slow and it took over an hour for our food to arrive. That being said, the girls were troopers and managed to avoid any major meltdowns for the entire two hours we were there! Clara occupied herself playing with the condiments and eating ice and Bailey was content to look around and drool!

Lemons are yummy!

Obsessed with eyebrows

And papas fritas

Thanks for the fresa Tia!

The day after Tia's birthday we headed to Deli Casa in Kingsburg for some Mexican food with the entire family. The girls were not so good that night and Clarita threw numerous tantrums due to wanting to sit on Dada's lap, wanting to run around, and not wanting Dada to go to the bathroom, etc. Bailey was better, but also got a little fussy. We walked there with los Tios and Aba and Clara lost it on the way home because she wanted to walk instead of going in the stroller. We finally agreed to let her walk but I told her she had to walk and not hold our hands and drag her feet along or be carried. We were a couple of blocks from home when she tested my directions and refused to walk, instead dragging her feet along while we held her hands. Putting her screaming little body into the stroller was quite a feat and the screams continued once strapped in! All in all, it was a good day and we had fun celebrating Tia!

She only wanted arroz

On March 7 we ran the annual Blossom Trail Run. Tia, Megan (and Baby Jack), Michael, and I ran while Tio watched the girls (he managed just fine for 20 minutes!) and Dada rode his bike a million miles. We all ran the two mile race and I was not expecting to do that great. I am super competitive and was very sad that I wouldn't be able to give it my all. However, I had forgotten that the 2 mile race is not nearly as competitive since the 10K is a point race in the Valley Runner of the Year Series and the 2 mile is not. So, I ended up getting second out of the females with a time of 14:37 so I was pretty happy. Next year I'm running it again and going for gold! Clara said that she wanted to run too so we'll give it a try next year! The best part of the race is eating breakfast at Blossom Trail Cafe afterwards and this year did not disappoint!

Megs and Jack are winning!

Teagan's birthday is March 12 and we celebrated on the 8. Tia Alyssa did a great job putting together a girly John Deere party complete with homemade cupcakes in the shape of a tractor, homemade tractor suckers and crayons, a homemade outfit, and great food. Clara had been looking forward to Teegee's party all week and told me that she planned to eat cupcakes and bounce in the bounce house. The party started at 1:00 which is nap time so I had originally planned to put Clara down early and have her take a short nap. However, it happened to be the day the time changed so that option was out since it was already an hour earlier than normal. We decided to forgo church and drive up to the mountains to see all of the poppies in bloom. We thought that maybe Clarita would fall asleep in the car and at least have some kind of nap. The poppies were absolutely beautiful and even Clara appreciated them. She told us about their colors and picked some for us when we stopped. She did great for the nearly four hour trip but never went to sleep.

Pondering the beauty

Don't forget to stop and smell the flowers!

Of course once we got to the party she had tons of energy and ran around playing with Tristan and Teegee. Once Clara saw the toy tractor that you can drive, the bounce house was old news and she wanted to play with the tractor. She was content to let Teegee drive (which was good because Teegee got really upset if Clarita sat in the driver's seat and tried to push her out) and put all of her toys in the back. Towards the end of the party, Teegee decided to let Clara drive and she took a spin. It was pretty funny to watch the two girls in the tractor. Teegee was a pro at pushing the petal down but she made absolutely no attempt to steer (or even watch where she was going) and would have driven down a little embankment had there not been a fence there. Clara wasn't so great at keeping the gas on, but at least looked where she was going and tried to steer. They also bounced in the bounce house, played in the sandbox, and ran around crazy!

Baby Eli

Clara got her much anticipated cupcake and licked all of the frosting off before abandoning it to Dada. She also ate ice cream and dipped her hand into the melted mess after she finished to make sure that she got every little bite (Dada's daughter for sure). The girls weren't quite sure about the pinata, but luckily Tristan has had a lot of practice! Once he broke it open, Clara collected all of the bubbles and maracas while Teegee made a beeline for the candy...a perfect pair! It was a great day filled with lots of fun and family!

Teagan's making sure she doesn't waste any frosting!