What a fantastic day!

It was a long and exhausting day but we had a blast. We got up a little earlier than usual and tried to make the day a little more special by doing their hair. What am I talking about? I had nothing to do with the hair...Lisa tried to do their hair. I have to admit though it was pretty cute.




We headed up to the start area a little later than we hoped but on time nonetheless. We were quickly informed that as an "Ambassador Family", we were asked to say a quick word with the other 4 or 5 families right before Governor Palin spoke. Lisa was second to speak in front of the growing crowd....I'd guess 300 or so. She talked about how far we've come in the two years and what a blessing our girls are. She got a little choked up but she did great. A few moments later, Governor Palin thanked everyone for coming out and said a few things about March for Babies. She had her 1 year old boy that has Down Syndrome with her. Sam and Cindy joined us and probably have some better photos. Here's a quick one that I was able to take while holding a struggling baby.

Our biggest disappointment of the day was that we were unable to speak with the Gov. She came over to the Ambassador Families to thank us for blah blah blah...and the organizers evidently thought it was imparative to start the walk right at that moment. So just as we were about to talk to her, she was whisped away to start the walk. SO disappointed! Not to fear...last year she hung out and talked to everyone that wanted to talk to her. Not this year. We never caught up to her so we JUST missed our opportunity.

Anyway...on with the walk.


We knew that they would have a poster of our girls. I wasn't aware of this until today, but Lisa had sent pictures and our story. These posters that were made up of the Ambassador Families have been traveling to all of the March for Babies walks across Alaska. I couldn't believe what a great job Lisa did selecting the photos and writing up our story. And I must say, we had one of the best spots...right next to the lagoon toward the beginning of the trail.


On with the walk.





One of the highlights of the day was stopping at a park along the trail on the way back and letting the girls stretch their legs a bit.

I can't tell who is having more fun.






This slide was a little too wild for our girls as evidenced by this photo.



SHENANIGANS!



Once we got back, we got in line for some hot dogs while the girls pushed the stroller around.


After some delicious hot dogs and good company with Sam and Cindy...it was finally time to say goodbye one more time to the ducks and head home.




...and of course the great shot of the Brown family in front of the March for Babies banner.

Thanks again everyone for making this year a HUGE success. Like Lisa's Dad pointed out, we nearly tripled our original goal...TRIPLED! That's crazy to think about. It is a testament to what a great group of friends and wonderful family we have that we were able to raise that much money.

Next year, we're going even bigger. We're going to make our own incentives, contests, tournaments! We are going to raise $3000 next year!!

I'll post some more pictures as soon as Sam sends them over. Which reminds me...I need to thank Sam and Cindy again for walking with us. I know so many of you wanted to be there with us but couldn't. Sam and Cindy were the only ones that could and I can't imagine walking that without them. They are fantastic friends! Thank you guys!