Fourth of July Weekend

We had a very fun filled Fourth of July weekend! We began the weekend Friday morning with Mommy and Me Yoga. Clara and I have been once before and she loved it. Since I had the day off I decided to go and we invited Sarah, Reedcito, and Kierito to come along. We also invited Tia and Bailey but Tia wasn't sure if she wanted to go. Tio, however, was really excited about and decided to bring Bay Leaf! It was a full class with 14 families (there were even three dads) and it was a ton of fun. Clara spent most of the time right with me on my mat and did a few of the poses. Reedcito sweetly tried to lead her through the parent tunnel we made, but halfway through she realized I wasn't behind her and came running back. Bailey had a ton of fun and screeched away to show it!

We came home and Clara took a 3.5 hour nap to prepare herself for more fun! As is our tradition for the past three years, we had a few friends over to eat pizza, swim, and watch the fireworks from the high school. There were a ton of kids and they all had fun swimming and playing. Clarita worked up such an appetite swimming for nearly two hours that she ate two pieces of pizza (and one before she swam)! The fireworks did not disappoint and we had a pretty good view (you never know if they're going to be behind the trees). Clara practiced her commentating skills telling us about all the fireworks while Jon egged her on. It sounded something like this, "Oh, a green boom! A blue one! Yay fireworks, good job! The booms are tooting! They're making little nubes (clouds complete with the sign)!" She stood up while yelling all of these and was very into the fireworks. Connor decided that he had multiple mamas and took turns sitting on mine and Sarah's laps and referring to us as "Mama." I say he's pretty smart not to worry about learning multiple names when we will all answer to Mama! Bailey was really into the fireworks and then fell asleep despite the booms. It was a great night, but the kids were exhausted by the end. Clarita didn't get to bed until 11:00!

Bailey and Grandma Donna

Tio's good at blowing up pool toys

Piper and Bay Leaf

This is what happens when you let a two-year-old have sunscreen

Even her face is patriotic!

Cheers!

The empty beer cans were the kids' favorite toys!

Double fisting

Cheering for the fireworks

Dada sitting in Clara's chair

And she's out

Saturday morning Tio Robert and Tia Erika arrived a little before 8:00 to take maternity pictures. In hindsight this was terrible planning as Clara had a super late night the night before. She was still asleep when they got there and we had to wake her up to take pictures. Needless to say she was not excited about it and would not cooperate. Oh well. She took a 2.5 hour nap and we headed to the next party...

...at the Ketelsen's! Clara was very excited to see the "real Lyla" as she deemed baby Lyla. The night before both she and Reedcito had declared that Lyla Siegel was not Lyla and Clarita went so far as to call her Anna which she argued was her name (not strong willed at all). We had a fun filled afternoon of swimming, hanging out, and eating which Clara loved. She requested a hot dog for dinner, ate the entire thing, and declared that she wanted more hot dog! This was the first time she ever had one and she ate the bun separately. Before I stopped eating meat, hot dogs were my favorite food so it only reasons that Clara would love them too! Clara and Lyla took a bath together to finish the night and Clara found a great dress up skirt. She even let Connor kiss her which never happens! She was exhausted by the time we got home, but still talking about seeing more "booms."

Hot dog!

Reedcito and Clarita

Bath time!

She actually let Connor kiss her!

Dress up fun!

Sunday we headed to the circus to finish out the weekend! This year we had a full group with us with Tia, Tio, Bay Leaf, Aba, Grandma Donna, and Tio's brother, Ryan, and his wife, Jenny. It was Bailey's first circus and she loved the lights and clapped away! It was also Jenny's first circus and she also enjoyed it! Clarita was mesmerized. She was a little overwhelmed at first and then she saw the clowns and immediately started exclaiming about the payasos. They turned out to be her favorite thing (and my least favorite) and she kept requesting to see more payasos. Clarita spent the entire circus either staring intently, clapping, or cheering. She has enjoyed all four of the circuses she has attended, but she definitely liked this one the most. I had fun just watching the girls and their reactions! It's nice to see how exciting things can be when experienced for the first time! Clarita fell asleep the minute we drove off and ended up taking another three hour nap! It was an exhausting but very fun weekend!