İFeliz cumpleaños, chicas!

Wow!  Time goes by SO fast!  This July 26th, Mia and Allison turned 5 years old!  

 To celebrate, I rearranged the upstairs and put together the girls' big girl bunk beds.  Then, we had a special birthday lunch at Mexican Village.  There was another birthday boy, turning 30 something, at a neighboring table and the girls went up to him to wish him a happy birthday and ask if he got bunk beds for his birthday too.

 Later that night, we had a family dinner with Grandpa Day and Monica.  I tried to recreate a Tangled cupcake idea I'd seen on Pinterest for their birthday dessert.  The girls got bean bag chairs, new shoes, and games.

 They also got new bats from Grandpa Day and Monica!

At this point it is hard to think of Mia and Allison and believe that they are the same girls that we visited in the NICU for three months after they were born.  They have come so far and become such incredible little people that it seems impossible that they could have come from such a scary beginning.  The girls are starting to understand a bit about their NICU experience.  Mostly Alli has been talking about her scar from her surgery and the bear and card that Mia (with some help from Dr. Chip) had sent to her.  She really treasures them! More birthday updates to follow!

She's got the moves like Jaggar?

Molly has been perfecting her signature dance move.

t-ball ta-da!!

 The girls wrapped up their t-ball season shortly after we got back from our trip.  It took a little encouraging to get back into it, as noted in the mopey faces in the team photo, but by the last day they were eager to participate.

 T-ball may or may not be their future sport of choice, but this experience created one of my favorite moments. Mia was charging after a ball while fielding and got tackled into the sand. Alli was right there to help her sister.  She picked up Mia's glove, brushed it off, and handed it back to her.  Then Alli pet her hair, kissed her on the head and put her arm around her.  The coach just kind of stepped back and let Alli handle the situation.  She clearly knew just what to do to comfort her sister.  Mia had a pretty significant scrape on her knee so I went to clean it up.  The kids were all on the bench waiting to bat and I overheard Alli assert to her teammates, "Whoever pushed my sister can't come to my birthday party!".  Everyone had an intimidated, 'it wasn't me!' kind of look on their faces.  It was so awesome to see that these girlies, who can be pretty rough with each other, have each other's backs when it really is needed!

"1-2-3 T-ball!!!"

Final assortment from Glacier 2012

Tree huggers!  It was on this hike to Running Eagle Falls that we ran into a snake and I 'stopped short' with my mom!  The girls were loving this crooked tree, but all the while we were snapping pictures, we feared our snake friend would make another appearance!

This must be what I look like to Mia...

So good to have Daddy in vacation mode!  Molly was loving her walking lessons!

The poor thing had bug bites all around her eye and looked a bit like a prize fighter...

Saying good bye to new friends.  The girls were thrilled to have new animals to play with on the way home!

The trip home took what felt like forever. It took three days and included a night in the camper at a truck stop, a blown tire on the camper, and the best part, a birthday dinner and night in a hotel with Grandma and Grandpa Affeldt.  We were all glad to be home, or at least out of the car!!!

The annual photo op!

2012

2008

2012

I'll always regret not having taken a picture of Molly on the bench her first trip to Glacier.  She really has changed a lot in a year!  

2011

A visit from Grandma and Grandpa Affeldt!

It was so fun to have Mom and Dad with us for a night!  We had lunch in the camper, played by the water, reenacted our rehearsal dinner at Serrano's, saw Running Eagle Falls (and a snake), went to the ranger presentation, and hung out by the fire.  It reminded us that Glacier is most fun when shared!  Thanks for adding this stop to your cross country adventure, Mom and Dad!!!

(Photo by Allison.   For the record, Grandma didn't have any of these beers... )

The newest Junior Rangers!

 Mia and Allison had some serious studying to do for their Ranger exam!  They had to color a butterfly, match mommy animals to baby animals, draw their favorite things found in Glacier, look for shapes, and count flowers.  They rose to the challenge, took the oath, and received a badge and the honor of becoming Junior Rangers of Glacier National Park!

Campground hosts and new friends Neal and Pam joined us to help celebrate this special achievement!

Snow!

 As impressed as we were with their first major hiking performance, we were SO proud of the girls this year at Logan's Pass.  They climbed 1.9 miles up in SNOW to get to the scenic overlook.  We hiked on the snow last year, but didn't make it to the top.  There were definitely some harrowing moments due to slippery slopes, tired legs, and wet, cold feet, but once again, Mia and Allison seemed pretty proud of themselves!  Shawn and I were definitely proud of them too!  Another 4 mile day!

 Goats and squirrels!

Destination: Aster Park Overlook

 A camper is no place for excessive 4 year-old energy, so we busted out and once again hit the trails.  We had a range of destinations in mind and thought we'd weigh the girls' energy/whining level along the way before settling on one!

 We made it to the nearest falls and the girls were anxious to continue on, so we chose to head up to the overlook.  It was an additional .7 miles of climbing, but the 5 of us managed to make it up. Molly was ecstatic to be out of the back pack and stretch her legs.

Mia and Alli were definitely weary, but when they got to the top, they had a great sense of accomplishment, and some Cheetos, which always help! 

Our reward towards the end of the hike back was getting to see Alli's most favorite animal, a moose!  

When all was said and done, the girls had hiked around 4.5-5 miles.  We did have to give piggy back rides towards the end, but Shawn and I were so impressed with their sense of adventure!  It is so fun getting to hike as a family!!!