Happy Easter!

Clara and I had a wonderful Easter weekend.  Poor Jared was sick on the couch the whole weekend, not so great for him.  On Saturday, we decorated Easter eggs.  Clara's hands turned different shades of green and blue to match the eggs.  She came up with some interesting colored eggs after dipping each egg in each color dye.  

Before bed, Clara hid her Easter basket for the Easter Bunny.  She chose a very tricky hiding spot.

In the morning, Clara discovered that the Easter Bunny hid her Easter basket in a different spot.

She looked and looked for her Easter basket.

Found it!

Oh, there's more

After a few trips around the kitchen in her new bike, Clara put her Easter dress on and we went to visit our good friends, Amy, Jay, and their daughter, Anna.  Despite the look on Clara's face in the next picture, she was really excited to visit her friend, Anna.  She was just disappointed Mommy was taking so long.   

Clara and Anna enjoyed an Easter egg hunt in Amy and Jay's backyard.  Clara definitely has an eye for Easter eggs.  She spotted them from across the yard!  She filled up her own basket then moved on to Anna's.  

Finally, all the eggs were found.  Clara and Anna took turns driving the Cozy Coupe and strolling in the wagon.

Phew, what a weekend!  Clara fell asleep on the way home, slept for an hour and a half, then went to bed an hour later.  She was worn out, but had so much fun!

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October 26

Most of you already know, but for those of you that haven't heard, the next Ward baby is scheduled to arrive around October 26.  Yes, I know, just in time for hunting season.  I swear Jared was in on the deal from the start!

Clara adores the babies at her daycare, so I'm sure she will be a great big sister.  She can't decide whether she wants a brother or a sister.  The other day she told me she wants two sisters.  That's clearly not going to happen this time around (phew!).

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A Weekend with the Grandparents

Grandma and Grandpa Ward came to visit for the week, and they started spoiling Clara immediately.  So far, Clara is the only girl on the Ward side, so I guess I should have seen this coming:

  

She started twirling around like a ballerina as soon as she put it on!  After we took off the tutu, Grandpa read Clara a bedtime story on Friday night.

Then Saturday morning, right after some chocolate chip pancakes (note the chocolate drool), Grandma gave Clara her first taste of cotton candy.  Surprisingly, she didn't eat the whole container.

Clara is home with Grandma and Grandpa this week.  We might have a few bad habits to break next week!

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A Night Out

We went to our favorite local Mexican restaurant last week in Concord.  As always, we enjoyed some chips and salsa before our meal arrived.  Clara likes to use the chips only as a means of getting the salsa to her mouth where she sucks it off the chip and throws the chip away.  She practiced this method for a while, but apparently, it wasn't very efficient.  Soon enough she just picked up the salsa cup and drank it.  Three cups later, our dinner arrived.  I know what you're thinking, you feel sorry for whoever has to change her diaper.  Surprisingly, the three cups of salsa didn't seem to affect her digestive system at all!  Phew!  Clara helped me finish my meal and we all left full and happy!  

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A Hike through the Forest

Or should I title this post, "What was I Thinking?"  Since Jared was out of town last weekend, the girls decided to take a hike through Fox Forest in Hillsborough.  Fox Forest is a popular hiking and snowshoeing spot that is pretty accessible with relatively easy trails.  This is how we started the hike:

It was a relatively warm morning with a bit of drizzle, but not enough to keep us home.  The trail appeared to be pretty well packed so I laced up my boots, donned my ice creepers, heaved Clara onto my back and we headed into the woods.  We heard the birds singing, the brook babbling, and then we heard this:

I wasn't really sure what caused the outburst, but in the middle of the trail, not even a mile in, the peaceful still air was shattered.  "No, Mama!"  We stopped, had a drink of water and a snack.  Then a certain two legged being wanted me to carry her back to the car - without the backpack.  Normally, Clara is so excited to jump in the backpack, she can hardly stand it.  Despite the cries of protest, she stuffed her legs into the backpack and we turned around.  I'm not sure what happened in those few minutes that we stopped, but all of a sudden the trail was mush.  After I post-holed to my thigh a few times while singing "Pat-a-Cake," the peace returned:

This time, peace came in the form of snoring.  Looking back, I think the combination of the mittens (blocking the coveted sucking thumb) and the hat (blocking the coveted twirling hair spot) really caused a problem.  Even though it was 10:00 in the morning, not really Clara's prime napping time, there was no stopping her.  We made it safely back to the car where we had more snacks, loaded up, and headed home.  Clara took a three-hour nap later that afternoon.  Thank goodness, because Elsi and I were wiped out!     

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