A Day With Friends

Wednesday morning, we left the condo early and drove out to the Cowell's house. Ashlee took us to Balboa Island where we let the kids play on the little beach. It was nice to have water without waves so we didn't have to be right next to kids the whole time. They played and ate lunch.

They tried to get Claire to eat a blueberry. For some reason she hates them. Even in baked goods.Every time we visit them, I am disappointed that I don't take more pictures.
Eszter was in La Jolla with her Grammy and cousins so it was just Claire and the twins all morning. They all took a bath together when we got back to their house. We had Claire watch as Ashlee washed the twins' hair by dumping water over their heads. They were totally okay with it and didn't care that soap and water were running down their faces. Then it was Claire's turn... despite the peer pressure she screamed bloody murder until we were done. I was cracking up the whole time because the twins froze and stared at her with pained looks on their faces and could not understand what her problem was.

Claire napped for 2 hours and then everyone was up and playing. They had a great time, although Claire was a little overwhelmed at times.

For dinner, Ashlee made a fantastic meal of pasta, and chicken parmesean. Then of course we had homemade ice cream, along with homemade caramel and hot fudge. Claire was in heaven!

It was a fun and busy day! Now I am inspired to make homemade caramel!

What a Difference a Day Makes

We had a great day today!

Our day was filled with smiles,

laughter,
and silliness.
Which, as you can imagine, gave Claire a HUGE appetite.

We came home and she napped for nearly 3 hours!

Then we went to Cold Stone Creamery and Gippetos Toy Shop where Grandma and Grandpa bought Claire a set of Calico Critters. She adored them in the store and back at the house played with them for a very long time until it was time for bed. So cute!

Tomorrow we are driving out to visit the Cowells! We are so excited!

Monday Moodiness

Monday, we went to the beach and Grandma, Grandpa and Shelbe came too.

Claire spent a lot of time with Grandpa that day...wading in the ocean... and building a fortress in the sand.

Later, Josh and Shelbe buried Claire in the sand. She didn't know what to think or do. She seemed slightly pleased though.
Claire seemed a little unimpressed with the beach this day. She actually seemed unimpressed with life for a majority of the day and was quite moody. We went back to the condo, had a crying fight about washing her hair - which ended in a spank and clean hair, and then she went for her nap. Hurray!

Josh made his famous Italian chicken pasta for dinner with salad and bruschetta bread. It was delicious!

Beach Day and Eating Sea Bugs

We had a great first day at the beach. Grandma and Grandpa got Claire a new swimsuit to wear so she put it on for her first beach day.
Aunt Shelbe did Claire's hair in a pony tail. Aunt Shelbe is Claire's best friend. They played
together for hours in the morning. We are pretty sure that Claire thinks Shelbe is her age.

Once we got down to the beach, Claire was a little stand-off-ish.
For whatever reason, she was afraid of the water and the boogie board became her safety item.
She eventually let Josh take her down to the water and after checking out the rhythm of how the waves worked, she decided it was okay.
Claire worked up a big appetite running up and down the beach.
When her suit got wet the panty half of it kept falling off. It was a 24 month size so I had a feeling that might happen. I "ran" back up to the condo and got her a different suit.

Here is my view of my lap. Claire is not that into me lately and I decided it is because I don't pick her up very often and I don't let her sit on my lap anymore.Claire spent the remainder of the early afternoon playing in the sand,
and running through the freezing water. The air temperature has been quite pleasant even the the weather channel says it is only 65. I was not cold at all and that is really saying something.

We left around 1:30 so Claire could take a normal nap. We were planning to meet up with Grandma's brother, Bill, (who Josh had never met and Tracy hadn't seen in 20 some-odd years) so we wanted her to be in a good mood.

We met up at King's Fish House in Carlsbad. My philosophy of fish is as follows.

Just because a creature lives in water, does NOT mean it was meant to be eaten. Shrimp are the equivalent of cockroaches but because they swim and eat other fish poop it is acceptable to eat them? Same goes for crabs, lobsters, oysters and any other sea creature. I can choke down some forms of fish every once in a while - if I am in the mood to re-enact Survivor, but for the most part I stay away from eating bugs of the sea.

I got a grilled chicken sandwich which was VERY delicious. We had a good time and were at the restaurant for a little over 3 hours. Claire was a champ.

We got home, put her to bed and called it a day.

We Made it to Cali - and My Best Invention Yet

Well, we made it safely to California. We left at 10am and made it to Yuma by 1pm. We were proud that Claire didn't need to stop for a potty break. We took the new van, mostly because we had too much stuff to try to cram into the Sentra but it is also better for Claire to be able to see out the windows and the seats are higher, giving my back a more comfortable ride. Our goal was to keep Claire awake until after we ate lunch and then she could sleep after Yuma. She did so well! We listened to her Wee Sing Bible Songs Cd and she sang along, (her favorite is HO HO HO Hosanna) Every once in a while, she would get frustrated and start to whine. I broke out this magnetic board deal - another great thrift store find. She hadn't played with it before so it kept her busy for quite a while.
In Yuma, oh yes, the beautiful town of Yuma, we went to BK and got a few things off the value menu. Then we went to get gas for only $2.65! It took us 45 minutes from when we left BK to the time we got back on the freeway due to TERRIBLE construction - it was ridiculous. We also were among about 50 cars waiting to turn left at a light that never did turn green. What a mess. I'm glad Josh did the driving.

Claire fell asleep shortly after we got on the freeway and I was anxious to try out my new invention. As you may remember I often complain about her horrible carseat and how it pushes her head forward so she can't sleep soundly while her head is falling all over the place. SO in preparation for this trip I made her a Head Holder. It is just a piece of elastic with a fabric casing that stretches across her head to hold it up. I must say, I am so proud that it worked so well. She slept soundly for about 45 minutes (which is longer than she ever has slept in the car).

The rest of the way she just talked to herself and pointed out trucks and trains that she saw. She was so good. We could hardly believe it.

The beach condo is beautiful as always. Here is our room.And here is the closet we make Claire sleep in. It is like a small room so we put extra pillows around her bed so if she were to wake up in middle of the night she would be less likely to freak out. (We do leave the door open about a foot to let air and light in)

She slept soundly all night and came out by herself at 7am. We are definitely trying to enjoy this last vacation of "freedom" before we are held captive by a new baby.

Tomorrow, the beach!

Strange Behavior

I should be packing for our annual, week long trip to the beach (which I am sooooo excited for!) But my back is hurting so I feel lazy.

So, I thought I'd post a picture of what Claire does in her spare time.

Why does she do this? I don't know. She does it whenever we ignore her for awhile. The line always goes different directions and she uses whatever toys she finds. When she decides the line in complete she will say "Yay Hurray!" over and over, until you go look at her line creation and tell her it is beautiful or "good job!"


I really like when she lines her toys up because she is very into it and it keeps her busy and quiet for a long time but at the same time it worries me a little. OCD?

Monsoon

A little over a week ago, we finally got some monsoon rain! I was in Gilbert at the time but I don't think Laveen has had enough rain to talk about so we'll take what we can get.It was Claire's first time playing in the rain.

She didn't like the umbrella... she much preferred running around in the big, cold drops.

Too bad the rain only lasted a few minutes. At least she now knows what an umbrella does and will be able to relate better to our books that have rain and umbrellas in them.