Adventures in Parenthood: An Entire Day of Easter Celebrations!

Easter was a long, but very fun day. We began the day with breakfast with los Tios and Bailey. Tia was obsessed with making bunny pancakes. She said she was doing it for Clarita but in the end admitted that was just a guise as she knew Clara probably wouldn't care about them, but she was super excited to make them. They were delicious! Clarita and I brought doughnut holes and she was so excited to be able to eat a doughnut for the first time. She has been asking for them for the past year and I have told her no. We walked to the doughnut store and she requested to sit at a table and eat one right away. I told her she had to wait and as soon as we got home she again requested one. She was able to wait until we got to los Tios and absolutely loved it! I let her have two and then told her she had to eat healthy food before she could have more. A tantrum ensued and she refused to eat until she saw me putting whipped cream on my pancake. She declared it to be ice cream and ate her pancake once I put some on. Bailey, on the other hand happily stared at the pancake and played in her bumpo while we ate.

Why would I eat that pancake when I have doughnuts?

I'll eat it for you Clara!

After breakfast we headed to church where I quickly hid Easter eggs for the kids. Clara "helped" me by following behind me picking up all the eggs I hid. She kept saying, "I pick up eggs" and didn't seem to understand that I wanted them left on the ground. Luckily we got them all hidden with Dada's help. We had Sunday School and Clara did her little craft with Tia's help and then hunted eggs like a pro. When she had found her share she happily agreed to be all done and stated, "I play in parque now" (aka the playground). She had a great time and cried when she had to leave. She saw doughnuts before we left and cried because she wanted one. I obviously created a monster! I finally let her have one "chocolate cake" as she called it. She ate the chocolate off the top and then let me take the rest.

Learning about Easter is hard work!

We headed back to los Tios for lunch and more egg hunting. Tristan and Teegee had been sick all week so they didn't come but it was a full house with Aba, Los Tios and Bailey, Tio Robert and Tia Erika, Fafa and Abuela Sheri, and Taco and Donna. Clara was spoiled with Easter presents and even gave her own present to Bailey; one of her Easter baskets. I was surprised at how willing she was to give something of hers that she likes to Bailey. We talked about it and she walked over and said, "here you go Bay." She even insisted that Bailey hold it for their pictures. She really does love her! We took some pictures while we waited for Aba and los Abuelos to arrive and Clarita was obsessed with the eggs she saw in the yard and couldn't be stopped from hunting them. We let her find a few and open them. Once everyone was there the hunt began. Clara ran around finding eggs, opening them to find her prize, putting it in her basket while discarding the egg on the ground, and moving on. She stopped a few times to help Bailey find eggs and appeared to enjoy putting eggs in Bailey's basket just as much as in her own. We ate a delicious lasagna lunch and Clara requested to "eat comida, eat fruta" so she had a plate of fruit and cucumber. She went down for a nap while the rest of us hung out and I got in lots of Bailey snuggles since my hands were free!

Cousins!

Bailey with Taco and Grandma Donna

So much good stuff!

Helping Bay Leaf

As soon as Clarita woke up we said adios to los Tios and Bailey and headed to Gruncle Tod and Grauntie Traci's for the Parkinson Easter party. There were tons of kids and even a bunny! Clara loved the bunny and ran over to it's cage right away requesting that the cage be opened and the bunny get out. She liked taking pictures with it and could be found throughout the evening sitting by the cage petting it. Clara had a great strategy for the Easter egg hunt, find the eggs with money in them! Every time she opened an egg she either exclaimed about the money or said, "oh candy, mama eat it" and gave it to me. She even found some candy on the ground and ran to give it to me! If she knew what it tasted like she wouldn't be so happy to give it up! Clarita had a ton of fun playing with Teegee and her other cousins. She threw a major tantrum when she had to come inside due to it all of a sudden getting cold and windy outside, and everyone got to see her true colors. The tantrum lasted forever and ended only when Eden touched Clara's Easter basket and she said "No Eden that's Clara's" and then requested to play. It was a day filled with family and fun and of course a reminder of what the day is really about, Jesus' resurrection and his sacrifices for us.