Happy Birthday Miriam!

Miriam turned 1 last week.

I think it was definitely a shock to my reality when I got my weekly email from babycenter.com and it said "your toddler, week 1."
My little girl is not a baby any more? She's a toddler?
Well, she is toddling all over the place now.
We held a little party for Miriam's 1st birthday. We invited over a few family members and a few friends.
We have a nice little hill in our back yard that is pretty much only good for a slip'n'slide. So we did that first.

Afterwards she opened a few presents from her family and friends.


We saved the best for last of course.
The cake (made by moi).

She was pretty excited about it.

Until I put it in front of her and then she wasn't so sure.

But after she got a little taste, then she started slowly digging in.

She had a great time an enjoyed a nice bath afterward with her new bath toys.

Stan and I are so grateful for this precious girl that has entered our lives. Oh yes, parenthood has it's challenges and sacrifices for sure. But she brings so much joy and happiness to our lives, we wouldn't trade being her parents for anything.
We're looking forward to another wonderful fun-filled year together!

Walking

I'm not sure I need too many words for this clip.



I'm excited for her and scared for me.

Play Date

Being a mom puts you in a new "friend" category.
All of the sudden you don't mind gathering with other moms and talking about your children all afternoon.

Miriam and I have been to two play dates now.
Miriam absolutely LOVES being around other kids, she is definitely a social girl.

Today we went to the pool. All four babies are within 3 months of age of each other.

Thank goodness for friends, both for Mom and child!

Daddy's Girl

Miriam LOVES her Daddy.

He can usually brighten her up like no one else.
For example, tonight she woke from a late nap, VERY unhappy.
I tried rocking, cuddling, reading a book, distracting her with multiple things but she was not to be consoled.

And then the garage door sounded.
The door inside the house opened.
She perked up.
Dad walks in.
And she laughs and smiles at him through her cries.
It really was so cute.

So Stan took her outside to try to calm her down while I finished making dinner.
As I peeked out the kitchen window, I saw this.


I think she has stolen her Daddy's heart.

McKenzie Lake

This is the final post from our vacation to Canada this summer.

Melissa took us to McKenzie Lake in Calgary. The beach was nice and sandy (unlike the rocks here in Arkansas). But, the water was COLD!!! If a cloud came by and covered up the sun then things quickly became very chilly, at least to us warm-blooded Arkansans. It didn't seem to bother my nieces or nephew one bit.
It also didn't stop Miriam from having a good time though. She just shivered and kept going.

Thanks for another fun day Melissa!

Adventurous Tourists

Stan and I wanted to do something "touristy" while in Calgary. I have been to Calgary many times, so I really wanted to do something I hadn't done before.

We checked out Canada Olympic Park (from the '88 Olympics) and found they have a zipline:

Get big air as you soar from the top of Canada Olympic Park’s ski jump tower on North America’s fastest zipline! Riders fly down the unique cable system in a comfortable harness, reaching speeds between 120 and 140 km/h. As Calgary’s highest vantage point, the ski jump tower provides a zipline that is 500 metres long with a vertical drop of more than 100 metres.

Sounds pretty exciting, eh? We thought so.

Here's our zipline adventure. Thanks Melissa for taking pictures and video!


We did a total of 3 ziplines, the first being "practice."The second zipline was the tallest/longest. It starts at the top of the highest ski jump tower. Watch the videos to see pre-flight and flight. It was lots of fun.

The third line was a little longer than the practice one, it started at the end of the second line.

Overall it was lots of fun. We decided we need to come back in the winter to try out the bobsleigh rides!

Our second "touristy" thing we did was go downtown and go up in the Calgary Tower.
It used to be the highest building in Calgary back in it's day, but it is slowly getting dwarfed by the new skyscrapers.

The tower has a small section that has a clear floor to see through to the bottom. Just a little unnerving.
We also took a walk down Stephen Ave. and visited the local park/fountain and some shops.

Check out that stud!

And here is the totally random wall of pink groundhogs.
So funny!

It feels good to be a tourist once in awhile!

Ribbon Creek Hike

Ribbon Creek was actually the first hike we took on this trip. We wanted to do something that all the kids could manage. This was a great warm-up for Burtstall Pass the next day.All of Uncle Matt's grandkids came as well as three of Melissa's kids and her husband, Shane.

You can see energy is going strong at the beginning.

And by now we're all ready for a nap in the shade.

This flower used to be called "Indian Paintbrush." I remember it from several previous hikes we have been on. Uncle Matt tells me that it has since been changed to "Red Paintbrush" to be politically correct. Go figure.

This is Thomas and he is 4 years old.

He did great, probably better than many of the older ones!

Another fun day in the mountains!