A Red, White, and Blue Weekend

We had a fun filled Memorial Day Weekend which started with a celebration of "Hunky" Henry's first birthday. It was lumberjack themed and Beth and Casey did a great job of making everything super cute and the food was amazing! Clarita loved playing with all of the ninos on the slide, with the bubble machine, and "mowing" the grass like Dada. She also really liked the red frosting on her cupcake. She called it fresa and licked it all off! It was great seeing all of the kiddos playing together (even if Clara was trying to boss all of them around). I only managed to get one picture so I had to steal some from Sarah's blog who stole them from Lindsay...

"Fresa" pastelito

Casey, Beth, and Hunky Henry

Bubbles

Eden

Reedcito, Lyla, and Kierito

After the party, we headed up to the Cabin for the night. Clara immediately fell asleep but woke up after a little over an hour and was so excited about all the pine trees that she would not go back to sleep. She had a blast playing with all of the stuffed animals Abuela Sheri has collected and then we walked to the clubhouse for the Memorial Day potluck dinner. Clara was not so fond about having to wait to eat, but hung in there and ate a bit of food. She finished with a cupcake (or rather, the chocolate frosting from the cupcake) and was excited to walk back to the cabin. She saw some metal deer in a yard and exclaimed, "Oh venado like Santa Claus have!" I guess she still remembers Christmas!

Clara refused to go to sleep unless Dada laid by her on the floor (she insisted on sleeping on the floor and not the crib). Luckily she was tired and the rain lulled her to sleep. She woke up in the middle of the night and Dada had to sleep with her on the floor.

Sunday Dada headed out bright and early to ride his bike 25 miles to Cedar Grove. We followed in the car and ended up catching him a few miles before he got there. We all headed out with a few other cabin owners to hike to Mist Falls. Unfortunately, Clarita decided that she did not want to go in the hiking backpack. She threw a screaming tantrum when we tried to put her in and declared that she would walk. Needless to say we didn't get that far with her walking. Everyone else went on ahead and we made it two miles. I'd say that was pretty impressive for a tired little girl! She actually admitted she was tired, but still refused to go in the backpack. We ate lunch and decided to head back since we were obviously not going to make it the remaining two miles to the falls. Much to her chagrin, we shoved Clara into the backpack kicking and screaming. She eventually calmed down and seemed to enjoy the ride. We let her out to walk again when we were near the car and she declared that she did not like the backpack.

I may have put her in backwards

Clara was absolutely exhausted and fell asleep on the drive back. She woke up after about an hour when we got back to the cabin and refused to sleep any longer. We hung out and played while we waited for los abuelos. Clara had fun playing with them when they got back and eating her body weight in fruit and riding Dada el caballo. We headed home after dinner and were sad to leave the nice cool mountains and head back down into the valley heat.

Giddy up Dada!

Dentist and Dala Trot

On May 15, 2015, Clara had her first dentist visit...needless to say it was not a big hit! She really liked the play kitchen in the waiting room and was happy to see Kate (and show Kate her big girl panties that we bought before the appointment) who is a dental assistant at California KiDDS where we went. Kate went over good dental hygiene and then brushed Clara's teeth. Clara screamed and had to be held down, but it honestly wasn't any different than when we hold her down and brush her teeth at home. She got over it as soon as Kate was down brushing and then played with the train while we waited for the dentist. As soon as she saw the dentist (who wasn't even wearing a coat), Clarita started screaming and trying to climb over me. Dr. Evans was amazing, very calm and patient, and we held Clara down while he looked at her teeth and applied fluoride. It took less than five minutes but Clara was hysterical. She wouldn't even take the balloon from Dr. Evans she was so upset! As soon as he left she calmed down and accepted the balloon and a token to get a prize from Kate. She chose a bouncy ball and was content to play in the kitchen while we made her an appointment. Luckily her teeth are healthy and we don't have to come back for six months! I'm glad that Kate was there to help make the experience a little less traumatic! We got pizza per Clara's request for lunch and celebrated that night with an ice cream cone (don't tell the dentist)!

Yellow ice cream is the best (especially

while walking down the street in a bib)!

The following day was the annual Swedish Festival in our little town. I have run the race, the Dala Trot since we returned from Peace Corps, always with the goal to win (that didn’t always happen). This year I obviously had no chance at winning, but I still did the race. I opted for the two mile race instead of the 10K since I knew I would push myself too hard if I did the longer run. Aba pushed Clara in the two mile race and Tia tried to beat me like she did when I was 8.5 months pregnant with Clarita. Turns out I wasn’t pregnant enough and I still beat her! I managed to run a 15:50 time and keep it right under an eight minute pace. I was happy with my time and we all enjoyed the Swedish pancake breakfast after the race. Chelsea pushed Lyla and Ashley pushed Eliana in the two mile race and Sarah pushed Reedcito and Kierito in the 10K with her mom to keep her company (she was the real champion)! It was a stroller convention at breakfast and so fun to see all the kids. Tio and Bailey were the cheerleaders during the race and Bailey can’t wait to get pushed next year!

Trying to beat our neighbor pushing his daughter (we tied)

Racing is so easy...

Aba and Clarita

We made it!

Ashley and Eli and Chelsea and Lyla

The littlest babysitters

Grape Escape!

Let's shake on it

Stroller convention!

After breakfast we went to the parque with Aba and the McClartys and the kids had a great time playing. Clara and I headed home to change and then went back for the parade. She really liked all the ninos and the garbage truck with a Viking helmet on! She also liked all of the tractors and wanted to drive the little one. Dada was doing a hundred mile bike ride so he missed out on the festivities...perhaps he can join us next year. We're already looking forward to it!

Garbage truck with a hat!

Watching the parade

Wearing her wooden shoes Dada got her in Denmark to get
into the festive mood (Denmark is almost like Sweden right?)

Friends, Family, and Fiestas!

Mother’s Day weekend we headed off yet again to Newport Beach for Dada’s cousin, Shawna’s, wedding. Randomly the wedding was across the street from our friends Beth and Ken’s house so we stayed with them and Clarita got to see Hadley again. We didn't get there until 9:30 and Clara didn't fall asleep until 15 minutes before we got there. Needless to say, she went right to sleep when we got there.  Saturday morning Clara woke up bright and early so she and I went on a walk while Dada slept. We ended up at a little park and she had a blast playing. We got back and Beth and Ken made us a fabulous breakfast and the girls got to play before we headed off to Hadley’s music class. Once Clara warmed up she thought the music class was fun. We played in the park before heading to lunch where the girls were more excited about the yogurt covered raisins and the papas fritas than real food. The girls were exhausted after their long morning and went to sleep right away when we got back. We enjoyed some adult time with Beth and Ken and then got ready for the wedding.

Clara stayed with Beth, Ken, and Hadley while we went to the wedding and she had a blast. She latched onto Beth right away and was not the least bit sad when we left. Although Hadley is six months younger than Clara, they are about the same size and Hadley talks up a storm just like Clarita. Apparently Clara was her bossy little self and Hadley eventually gave up and let Clara have her way (like washing her in their bath). The girls went for a walk and blew bubbles, played with Hadley’s toys (Clara really liked the stroller and dolls), ate dinner (Clara refused to eat trout), and both requested to take a bath so Beth obliged. Clarita told us all about how much fun she had when she woke up the next morning!

We had tons of fun at the wedding. It was at a nature center and was beautiful. Shawna and Cat looked gorgeous and the kids in the wedding stole the show by being so cute. We were so glad to share in their special day and so happy for Shawna and Cat! The highlight of the wedding was the vegan food; aka the first wedding I've been to since I stopped eating meat years ago where I could eat everything! And the food was amazing. My favorites were the grilled cheese appetizers (I think it was cashew cheese) and the avocado tacos (think a fish taco but with battered avocado instead of fish)! And of course the s’mores were awesome too!

Shawna and her parents

Cutest ring bearers ever!

Holly insisted on pushing!

Cat and her parents

Yay!

Sunday morning Clara woke up early again and Dada took her for a walk and let me sleep in for Mother’s Day! We went to a gourmet doughnut shop for breakfast where Clarita had a meltdown because she did not get her doughnut fast enough. Hadley was much more patient. We headed out around 10:30 and made a stop at the beach before heading home. Clarita absolutely loved the beach and had no fear of the water. She ran straight into the waves and Dada had to grab her so she wouldn't get swept away! She then decided to “swim” in the sand and was covered in sand from head to toe. We had to wash her off in the sink before we got in the car. She fell asleep right away and slept for a couple hours in the car.

Finally got her doughnut!

The obligatory sand eating

"I swimming"

We made it to Tio Robert and Tia Erika’s house around 4:30, just in time for the Mother’s Day celebration. Clara was excited to get out of the car and run around and eat! There were lots of people there and lots of good food. We had a great time relaxing and hanging out with family. It was a busy day but I was glad to be able to spend it with Clarita and my mom!

Avocado is yucky!

The Wiggle who made me a mama

The mama who made me the mama I am

Aba and her "babies"

The whole family

One of these things is not like the others, one of these
things just doesn't belong...

Eating Dada's ice cream

 Since we didn't get to spend time with Dada’s family on Mother’s Day, we had them all over for dinner the following next weekend. Dada bar-b-qued and Clarita and Teegee played. Tristan insisted on swimming even though it wasn't that warm and Clara was jealous. The girls had a blast eating at the little table and just being silly. It’s fun to watch them play since they are so close in age and love each other so much! We didn't get everyone together for pictures, but I got a few of the girls. Next time we’ll have to make it a point to get pictures with Dada’s family!

Yumm pepino!

Even a fall off the bench didn't stop Clara from eating
brownie and ice cream!

love