Birthday fun and a Rodeo Day

We started March off with a bang at Casa Dean.  First up was my birthday which my sweet girl has been anticipating for months!  About a week before, she got super excited and I guess she told everyone in her class because each day she came home with a backpack full of birthday cards from all the kids in her class.  Embarrassing?  Yes.  Adorable.  Beyond!

When the big day finally came, she could not wait to give me my presents!  A scarf that she claims she picked and a Fitbit like daddy.  (Note, it won't surprise anyone to learn that the idea of a bracelet just for exercising is completely enchanting to Olivia.  She constantly asks for her own Fitbit so she can see how many steps she takes during a day and how much exercise she gets at school.  All about the accessories with this one.)

As soon as she wished me a "happy birthday" she quickly shooed me back to bed so that she and Matt could bring me breakfast in bed.  I was curious as to what would happen since I had seen the bare contents of our fridge the night before.  So, I wasn't totally surprised when they reappeared a few minutes later with a piece of toast and a glass of water.  Matt said "Happy birthday...prison style." 

I didn't get a picture, but we went out for pizza that night and Olivia mentioned to the waitress that it was my birthday and then I got embarrassed.  Which Olivia LOVED!  So, as we sat outside eating our pizza, she would pat my shoulder loudly say as anyone walked by  "Birthday girl.  Birthday girl right here!  I'm with my birthday girl!"  and then flash me her rotten smile!

And we continued the celebration with the Mehtas with the traditional birthday party.  I got lots of great gifts

And my sweet mother cooked one of my favorite meals (moscow mules, Ninfa's green sauce, swiss sherry chicken and chocolate fondue!).  

Olivia is the only baby at these events, so she is usually the center of attention.  But this night, she was in RARE form!  She was dancing and yelling and screaming.  There were tons of selfies, some made-up game where Grandpa, Naz, Yasmin and I had to keep standing up and down.  And lots of direction on how we should be acting.  Poor Yasmin who is usually ever patient with her drew the line when she told the 3 sisters to dance like the Rockettes - Yasmin quickly yelled "Mimi!! Isn't it time for dinner?!" in a panicked voice.

So, it was no surprise when this happened before we even got on the highway that night.

And, we also made our way to the Houston Rodeo this year for the first time.  I convinced my friend Holly to keep Emma home from school one Friday and we stole sweet Cate as well for a day of fun.  It was a gorgeous day with small crowds - the perfect way for 4 year olds to see the Rodeo.

First up were pony rides.  Now, Olivia is not a huge animal person.  Yasmin's dog Crosby is about as close as she will get - and only when he's sleeping.  We saw a small cocker spaniel at the park a few weeks ago and she shrieked so loud that you may have thought a wolf was trying to get her!  (I have no idea where she gets this from - certainly not me ;)

Anyways, with that as the background, I was slightly nervous about these pony rides.  As I went to get in line with her, Emma's mom said "Oh, we can just stand at the side.  They are big enough to go alone."  So...I quietly walked to the side hoping Olivia wouldn't notice.  She let the men working the booth put her on the pony and buckle her in.  And then, the pony took one step and she burst into tears and wailed "Maaammmaaa!"  But, at that point I was outside the gate and she was strapped in.  So the pony kept going.  And she was fine.  After 2x around, she had a huge smile on her face.

Then we went to the petting zoo.  Again, I would have thought Olivia would have hated it, and at first she seemed a little intimidated.

But then she saw the brushes.  She is really into brushing her baby doll's hair now and, once she saw you could brush the animal's hair, she was hooked.  She didn't like the animals that were awake and could run away from her or were big.

So she found this poor little sleeping goat, and gave him a nice makeover.

We all thought this little llama was pretty cute!

Next we walked through Agventure Land and saw all the animals.  At this point the girls were starving, so they weren't that into it.  The big hits were the baby chicks that had just hatched.  They were so cute and sleepy.

One of the "games" at this place was to collect the 10 cards with the different animals represented at the rodeo.  Matt has been teaching Olivia to play poker, so she immediately put them like this and said "Look mommy, I fanned them like daddy taught me."  (In other news, poker is literally her favorite thing in the world.  Those Dean addictive genes run STRONG.  Like we use poker as a way to punish/motivate her ("If you don't listen, we won't play poker when we get home..").  The other night, we were all playing after dinner and she looked at her hand and mumbled something under her breath.  It sounded like 'dammit' but surely that couldn't be right for my precious 4 year old.  So we asked her what she said and she looked us square in the eye and clear as a bell said "Dammit!"  Not my proudest parenting moment but has given me a good chuckle every time I think about it.)

The girls also liked this little cow.

We went to the food tent next to try some rodeo food.  

At this point, one of the girls started singing a song they learned in their weekly chapel lesson (Praise God).  Then all 3 of them joined in and serenaded us (and anyone around us).  I'm not sure if the Rodeo is the most appropriate place for this, but whatever works. 

I think the day was a hit!