To The Birthday Girl (Yearly Update)

 Leah Bean,

You are FIVE years old!? Where has the time gone? This week a TV channel is playing every Simpsons episode ever made. As I was watching the episode where Montgomery Burns steals all of Santa's Little Helper's puppies came on. I remembered that Daddy and I watched that episode the night I went into labor. It was probably one of the last times I watched a Simpson's episode. I remember waking up in labor and just being so excited to finally meet my baby. Five years later, and I really don't have a baby any more. I have a silly, sassy, full of opinions, excitable, cuddly, loving girl (though I always tell you that you will always be my baby).

This has been a big summer for you. This summer you finished out your preschool program and are set to begin Young Five's Kindergarten. You tell me often that you are feeling a little nervous. You are worried about going to school every day. You've wondered several times why we all just can't stay home all the time. You met your teacher yesterday, though, and seemed incredibly excited.

You love to read. This summer you began to carefully read along with Daddy or I and correct any slight mistake that we might make. Right now you love The Bernstein Bear books, Splat that Cat, nonfiction books about puppies and kittens, and Frozen books.

You remain one of the pickiest eaters I have ever know. I switched up from the brand of apple juice that we usually buy this summer. One sip of it and you loudly proclaimed, "This tastes different! Where is the regular apple juice?!" You love almost all fruit, "Spanish bread" (an English muffin) with peanut butter, pretzels and hummus, pesto pizza and noddles, cheese (especially colby jack), chicken nuggets and fries, popcorn, and ice cream.

You love to dance and do gymnastics. You frequently get in trouble for jumping off the couch, over a chair, over your sister... You also love to climb. You elected to do another year of ballet when I told you that if you did jazz (what you originally wanted me to sign you up for) you had to wear jazz shorts and not a tutu. You love to go to the neighborhood pool, but remain terrified of learning to swim. We've taken some baby steps this summer though, and you are starting to warm up to doing some gliding and are becoming more comfortable with getting your face wet. You love to ride your bike in the evening and take food to the ducks. You throw the bread with a combination of jumping, flailing your arms, and twisting around.

You have a lot of opinions about your clothing. I now show you everything before I buy it, because I will sometimes get some flat out "no's" to what I try to dress you in. You would wear a dress everyday if you could. You don't like to wear "play clothes", and will lobby hard to only wear the "play clothes" for the specific thing you need to wear them for (i.e. school), and then ask to change into something "fancier". You still love "twirly" dresses the best. One of the last activities you did on your last day of preschool was to give every friend a compliment. The teacher wrote every one down, so each kid got a list of 15 compliments. Many of yours focused on your clothing and fashion choices (though you still got plenty of "nice's" and "She is my friend", too).

You are a born negotiator and often offer a counter proposal to whatever Daddy or I ask you to do. I love when you take a deep breath, shake your head, and say, "How about this...." You have been working hard this summer earning chores. Yesterday you got a Frozen tumbler and you were pretty thrilled with how the chores you do translate into things you want. You are next working for a Doc McStuffins book. You are a hard worker. I can always trust you to put everything back where it belongs.

You love TV. It is by far your biggest vice. We got really good this summer with really limiting your TV. You love Curious George, Paw Patrol, Dora and Friends into the City, and Doc McStuffins. You love movies, too. Your favorites are all of the Back to the Future movies (a local theater played a Throwback Thursday showing of Back to the Future III and you were so excited to go!), Home Alone movies, Harry Potter movies, and Pixar/Disney movies. One of your favorite things is Friday and Saturday nights when we have "movie nights" as a family. You love having us all together on the couch watching a family movie. I will be so sad when you grow and are more excited to go out with your friends on Fridays and Saturdays.

You love to travel and visit new places. We can always count on you to be a rock star. You read and entertain yourself on airplanes and long drives. You love to see new things and go new places.

You have a very special relationship with Juliet. You two are obviously best friends (though there are also plenty of times where you say, "I just need to play alone, now!"). You love to play Mommy and boss Juliet around. You love to pick her up (awkwardly) and carry her around. You two play this puppy game where you both bark annoyingly and the other one offers "treats" and "pets". You love to share Juliet's toys, but hate to share your own. Juliet knows just how to push your buttons (taking away a toy and saying she won't give it back, to scream loudly, or to sing over you when you are singing), and will often make you cry in frustration. You both love to dress up like princesses. You get into arguments over the best Frozen character.

We celebrated your fifth birthday with a trip to Olga's (standard) and to get a cupcake. You and I also went out for a manicure and to pick out a birthday balloon. For your present, you got a Puppy Surprise (which you love!) some new books, and a puzzle. You were thrilled.

We love you so, so much!

Good-Bye Bodega Bay

 On our last day we flew a kite. I think this was one of both girls favorite parts. They loved it! 

 This picture is going to be framed and put in Juliet's room. I think it looks amazing.  

 I love everything about this picture. It is just so "Bodega Bay" to me. 

We played on the beach in the morning, and left for San Francisco in the afternoon. The girls stayed over night with Mom and Grandpa. They played with clay, went out for ice cream, took a bath, and watch Beauty and the Beast. Leah cried when we left, but didn't cry again after that. Both girls got a "rock star" report card from Mom and Grandpa. They were well behaved and had fun! 

Leah was a little sad she didn't get to go to Paul McCartney with us. She was very interested in what songs he was going to sing, and why we couldn't take her. Chris recorded a little bit of a few songs on his phone for them. Leah liked it, particularly the fireworks. 

We had a lot of fun at the concert. It was so cool to hear Paul perform. He sounded amazing and sang many of my favorite songs. I really wanted to hear "Hey Jude" with him at the piano because I remember watching him perform it on Saturday Night Live when I was a kid and thinking it was so cool. He preformed the song, and it sounded just like I remembered on SNL. He also sang our wedding song, "And I Love Her", which neither one of us were expecting. It was amazing. Chris looked up the set list yesterday, and he sang 40 songs. It was weird to go to bed without the ritual of putting the girls to bed, but it was also really nice because I was exhausted. 

All and all, it was a busy, but really fun trip. It's always fun to spend time with family and do new things. :) 

Yosemite, Day 3 and the ride back to Bodega Bay

 Chris woke up early on the last day to climb Sentinal Dome with my Dad. Apparently, they were the only 2 on the hike. Chris took some lovely pictures. I stayed at the hotel with the girls and had breakfast with my mom. 

 We played in the river one more time before checking out. 

 And took a few more pictures. 

 On the way back, we made a stop at this view point. All this is burned. There was a huge fire here last year. The entire thing looked so surreal. 

 We stopped for lunch at what claimed to be the oldest saloon on the USA. It is run by what used to be the caterers for the Grateful Dead. The entire saloon is covered with dollars that are rounded up and donated to the local preschool each year. People write things on the dollars and put them up with a tack. Leah thought this was the coolest thing ever. She decorated a dollar and hung it by our table.  

 It looked pretty complicated to get a dollar on the ceiling, so we didn't try. 

 Leah danced on stage and needed to be reminded several times that we weren't at a playground. 

Yosemite, Day 2

 I love this picture of Juliet in her car seat looking up at the mountains. I see now that she slipped her arm out of her strap. 

 We went to breakfast at the Ahwahnee Hotel inside Yosemite for breakfast. The hotel is super old and is so beautiful. And apparently some of "The Shining" was filmed there. It was a little pricey, but not too bad for breakfast (which was the only meal I thought my kids would actually eat there, anyway). It was good and a fun experience.  

 The views around the hotel were truly breathtaking, so of course we took some pictures. I love the picture of Leah spinning in front of the mountains. 

 Next we went to Glacier Point. Chris was not too thrilled that I let Leah climb this rock. Or with the fact that I hadn't packed the kids "play clothes" to change into after breakfast. After a few days of intense travel, the girls were kind of off on this day. There was a lot of whining. Leah kept climbing SUPER dangerous rocks and getting in trouble. Juliet was tiring of the car seat and decided to play her favorite game, "Try to Make Leah Cry in Frustration". Glacier Point only had outhouses, which thoroughly disgusted Leah (and the Mama that had to hover over it holding 2 kids). We made the most of it, and had a pretty good morning.  

 All the whining couldn't take away from these views, though.

 The 2 waterfalls below are Vernal Falls and Angel Falls. I climbed both when I came with the Dzialo's and my parents right before we were engaged. This trip, Chris and I climbed Vernal Falls sans children. 

 Another view of the falls. 

 Leah was super sad to leave Chris and I at the park and go back to the hotel for nap time. I worried about her, but I knew she was just super over tired. She slept the entire time we were gone (about 3 hours). Chris and I climbed Vernal. It didn't have as much water as it did on my first hike, but that was kind of better because the rocks weren't as slippery. 

 We had to time the hike with a pick up time from my dad. We almost timed it right, but should have given ourselves an extra half hour or so. We made it almost to the top before we had to turn around. We did go off the path and scaled some rocks to get closer to the falls. It was breathtaking. 

 We are so not selfie people, but we attempted a few. We were laughing about how bad we are at them. 

 We came back to the hotel, had dinner, and played in the river some more. Juliet is so happy! 

 A beautiful sunset over the river. A great end to the day!

Yosemite, Day 1

 I will forever remember the drive to and from Yosemite as the drives of Juliet peeing on the side of the road. She did great, but needed to stop pretty often (at least compared to Leah who can hold it for hours upon hours)

 Juliet walking into Yosemite with Mom and Grandpa 

 Leah loved climbing rocks. She got in trouble more than once for climbing up on rocks and *jumping* on them without asking if she could. There were some rocks that would fall down into a 30+ drop. She had no ability to distinguish between good climbing rocks and 1 wrong step and you will die rocks. You seriously couldn't keep your eyes off of her, because she would scale a pile of rocks in 10 seconds flat. Leah was annoyed that Daddy was holding her hand in the picture below, but the drop from behind this rock was at least 30 feet. 

 We stayed at a hotel, which had a river behind it with lovely granite rocks. Of course, our little mountain goats wanted in. They loved playing in the river and throwing rocks. Last time we were here, the river was rushing. Due to the drought, it was only a few feet deep with a slower current. The girls loved playing here. 

Picture from our balcony.

 Leah just wanted to climb and jump on rocks all day long. She would even pose! 

 Family picture!

 Leah preparing to throw a rock. 

 Our room only had 1 king bed, so we had to sleep 4 in the bed. It was fun  to see the girls cuddled together at night.