A couple pumpkin pictures

Pumpkin patch time. Sam followed "this guy" around basically during our visit. When the boy left Sam exclaimed "where's the guy, where's the guy!"

Well, whose the cutest pumpkin now?

Here we are at Bishop's Pumpkin Patch, the best pumpkin patch ever!

We were there for 5 hours! and as you can tell we were as happy as could be.

Out at the patch, pickin our pumpkins. Milo was just trying to find one he could live in.

I love awkward...

 

 

faces!

So much fun around here!

I feel pretty smart. I used to have a rice bin we would bring out periodically and play with in the dining area but the mess became uncontrollable. I swear Sam was blowing it out of his nose, it was everywhere all the time! So we took all the remaining rice and poured it into the kiddy pool outside. I added more rice and some beans as well. We also placed the water table, basketball hoop and a bunch of toys in it. Hank called it 'Rice City" and the name has stuck. Rice city is my new best friend. Sam AND Milo could stay in there hours.

My other genius idea came from a failed attempt to get Sam to make bread with me. It's always a nice idea in my head. I always imagine the two of us laughing gayly while Sam pours the dry ingredients happily with minimal spilling and is sits quietly with a smile on his face while he watches me knead the bread asking questions about the process. In reality most of the ingredients are all over the floor, he has a mouthful of dough and is trying to squeeze Milo to death. So while two of Sam's friends were over I decided to just give them all of my baking stuff and just let them have a party. It was a major hit. They were literally at that table for hours, in and out a bit here and there but always returning. I baked what they mixed together and it was pretty good! I am always cleaning messes so what's another one if it means happy children?

Labor Day at the Lake. We spent Labor day at the Confluence in Auburn with some good friends. They have three energetic boys so we all get along well. We had a blast swimming, exploring, jumping off rocks and talking...well signing. I am actually have the time of my life right now with this family because both parents are Deaf. I have been spending a lot of time with the mom and I translate for her on Sundays. I forgot how much I miss Sign Language until I started doing this. I got to spend the whole day signing with one of my favorite people in a beautiful place with happy dirty kids. It was one of the best Labor days to date!

Big week in the Florence home this week. Sam has started preschool at the Roseville Community Preschool. I love this school. The whole theory is learn through play. They don't focus on academics. They just provide a rich environment where children are free to explore and learn on their own terms. It's also a parent volunteer programs so I get to work in the classroom once a week. Hank and I also have to attend parent meetings where we learn about child development. I feel like I have been waiting forever to attend the school and now that it's here Sam and I are just thrilled! When Hank asked Sam what he thought of school he said very casually "oh it's just my favorite". I feel so emotional watching him while he explores the campus and interacts with other kids. He's getting older and he is so capable and I am so proud.

A huge highlight of our week was traveling to San Francisco to see War Horse. Not only was the show phenomenal, truly spectacular but the lead guy was a good friend of ours from BYU. On top of it all we went without the boys, so it was all a novelty for us! Visiting with old friends makes me so nostalgic. I love that guy. Sometimes I wish I could just live near all the people I love all the time, but I guess time apart makes the time together that much sweeter.

So we are so lucky to live near a Filipino family. We are even luckier because they own jet skis! We went out for a while with Sam and his obsession with "fast" was confirmed. After being out for probably a half an hour I asked if he wanted to go back "keep going!". Unfortunately the next time we went out something went haywire with the jet ski and we all flipped over. Sam was pretty traumatized and kept crying/yelling "I can't like jets skis!". Fortunately a good Samaritan saw us in distress and brought us back to shore. After that I am not sure we'll get Sam on a jet ski anytime soon.

When we weren't skiing we had fun eating Filipino food and chatting. Ahhh, love days like this!

My sweet Milo. It's been a big week for him as well. He cut his first two teeth and it hasn't been pleasant, but now that they are through we get to see his true sweetness more often.

Sometimes pictures describe my boys better than I can...

don't you agree?

Lots of vacationing and "stay"cationing.

 

 

The last two weeks have been jam packed with vacationing and boy am I not complaining! We've had a blast. We started the festivities off by spending a day at Folsom Lake. Beautiful day, cool water and plenty of fools gold to collect, what could have made it better? real gold maybe?

Then we attended one of the bigger events of the year which was my brother's sealing and reception in Oakland. Sam and Milo fell in love with their cousins and we had many motel room parties during the stay.

Milo's trying to show off for the bride to be during the rehearsal dinner.

It was pretty chilly but that didn't stop the pool goers. There is something so special about cousins.

Just married! Such a good looking couple!

The reception was amazing. Sam yelled out during the musical number at the ring ceremony "hello everybody!" as loud as he could. It was one of my more proud moments :) The house was gorgeous, the food was mouthwatering and everything just looked beautiful. I was pretty emotional the whole day because I was so happy my brother was having such a memorable wedding and of course that he found someone so good and perfect for him. Change is exciting, hard and often times difficult to embrace but I am so glad it's all happened.

Milo with his cousin Georgianna. Uncle Mike is pretty cozy so Milo thought he'd get in on the action.

Sam was so unbelievably wired by the end of the evening. During the dancing he just ran around, pushing through people and yelling as loud as he could. He did this until he literally collapse on me and that's when I knew it was time to go home. It was such a blast.

The next day my sister found a cute amusement park called Fairytown. All the attractions were geared toward younger kids so it was the perfect activity.

Sliding down the grass hill was one of the highlights. I love seeing everyone in action.

After our exciting weekend in Oakland we decided to stay close to home for a couple of days before heading down for a 2nd reception in So Cal. Our first family excursion was kayaking on the Natomas river. Milo was not so sure about this life jacket at first but as you can tell he warmed up to the idea of looking like a blow fish.

Sam is so cute. I can always tell when he is having fun because these are his catch phrases "is this fun?" "I am having a good day" "this is a good idea for me" "I am so exciting" "what are we doing?" and "I love you mom".

Roseville aquatic center. We are actually having a lot of fun despite the look on their faces.

We spent a day in Tahoe which was such a good idea! The lake was perfect temperature and so beautiful.

  Another lake goer lent us his boogie board which ended up being a huge hit with Sam. He'

s taking it very seriously.

The next leg of our vacation was to pack up the car again and head down to Southern California for the 2nd reception. We stayed with Hank's parents which was just delightful as always. Little Sam and Grandma Marty have a new game they play where they say to each other in silly voices "I'm Chhannnging!" while making strange faces. This came about from Sam's reaction to Grandma Marty's comment "Sam you've changed so much". I know I've got a weird kid.

Milo missed most of the reception due to his bedtime but he did get a little Papa Harv time. The reception was very cool (all due to my sister Anna's creative talent). If we had had a better camera we probably could have gotten better pictures. Oh well.

Another night of frantic dancing and running around? yes please!

Sam pretty much thought the band was the coolest and scariest thing he had ever experienced. It was nice of them to let the kids play with their guitars.

A day at the beach; the best way to relax after a wedding reception. Mama Nell was on Milo patrol which Milo thoroughly enjoyed and Sam pretty took care of himself. At one point I saw Sam playing with a little girl and asked him "what are ya doing Sam", "Oh I found this guy" he responded as he pointed to her. It was pretty cute, I thought. I don't remember the last time I went to the beach and actually body surfed. It was so much fun! and a little terrifying.

Now we are back and ready for some normalcy...

oh wait...well I'll just say we're back.

Trips and Visits

I decided to take a last minute trip down to So Cal to see my brother before he gets married and moves far away. It was a delightful trip but a little sad to have to accept change in the family. Milo and his cousin Georgianna became fast friends. They have a lot in common. They both like to sit in their Bumbos and put toys in their mouths.

I would say the highlight of the trip for Sam was visiting the "model train train museum" which is essentially a model train town run by some enthusiasts next to a museum. Sam could name all the different types of trains and impressed everyone. The highlight for the trip for me was all the time I got to spend with my brother. I really hope my kids end up being as close to their siblings as I am to mine.

I just told him he could stay up late and watching "The Killing" with us. As you can tell he got really excited.

California State Fair! The petting zoo was a big highlight, though it took a while to warm up to the idea of large animals sticking their enormous tongues in your face.

Sam was a pro after a few courageous tries.

The wizard room! it was like a mini children's museum. Sam didn't make many friends as he kept knocking down everyone's blocks and then wrestling with the blocks on the floor.

Bethany ans Sean! My sister and her fiance took a road trip down to my parent's house and we were one of the stops along the way. Yeah for us! Sam was beside himself with joy. I think he has a crush on Bethany. I told Sam that Bethany and Sean were getting married and his response was "Bethany and Sean are getting married? Bethany and Sam are getting married!"

We had a blast with them. Here we are hiking, swimming and talking on the American river. I think Sam is now either used to the idea of Sean marrying Bethany or thinks he has to be like Sean to get Bethany. Sam continued to say "I'm like Sean! I'm kind of like him". Maybe Sam just really admires Sean which I am thrilled about.I am even more thrilled Bethany is marrying such a sweet guy. Yeah for Sean!

The 4th and more!

Here we are at the Sacramento Children Museum's Summer bash party. There is no doubt in my mind that Sam inherited some musical talent because he is always drawn to it. He spent basically the whole time dancing on the floor piano.

Milo also took some serious interest in the music. Maybe my boys will play music together some day!

Sam thought it was HILARIOUS to take the black keys off the floor piano. It tickles me to see what makes Sam smile.

I couldn't capture a more perfect representation of Sam's personality.

We have been so blessed to have an amazing physical therapist for Milo. She has been seeing him since the NICU and we just love our visits with her. She was teaching me how to use a ball to do some exercises and Milo was just loving it. It was so sweet that I took a picture. I didn't get a good one so I'll have to try again later. I love her in our life because I can tell she genuinely cares about Milo. That's important for a mother.

We have really been working with Milo and I think little by little he's catching up. He sits up pretty wobbly and needs some coaching and help to roll over but we're getting there. Even if he was way above his markers I don't know if I could be any more proud of him than I already am. He's been through so much.

We had a great outing recently with Trevor, Lindsay and their boys at the Jelly Belly factory. I didn't get any good pictures except for this one. Milo is all set and ready to hear about the making of a delightful candy confection. It was really interesting and fun. We mostly enjoyed the company we were with :)

To change things up from trains Sam and I joined our MOM's group for a field trip to the Aerospace museum. Sam brought the only plane book we had and called every pane a Harrier Jump Jet, which he learned from his book.

I think he's day dreaming about trains and wishes he could be near one. I try to change things up every once in while but when it comes down to it Sam just knows what's what.

I love these kids.

I found a simple sidewalk paint recipe and we had a blast with it. I find that pretty consistently Sam like art projects only if he can apply them to his body.

We had a really fun 4th. I find myself getting so excited for holidays now a days. Sam is old enough now to really enjoy them and so it's fun to plan. We had patriotic pancakes for breakfast. Afterwards we had a patriotic dance party and then got out a map of America and talked all about it. It was simple but lovely.

The Roseville fourth of July parade. Why are small community parades so fun? Sam waved his flag the whole time repeating casually to the parade participates "Hi! Happy Fourth of July". Milo enjoyed the parade because he was being held the whole time. That's basically his main criteria for enjoyment.

After a full day of swimming at a friend's we headed back home where we ate dinner outside. We were planning on BBQing at the park but we were all so exhausted that we just made all our BBQ food not on a BBQ. It turned out delicious anyway.

We only did our own fireworks because Sam was way too tired to stay up for the big fireworks show. At first Sam kept saying "fireworks are coool!" Milo was interested but not overly impressed. I think he likes be tickled more.

After a few big loud ones Sam folded his arm in prayer saying "Jesus can protect you, Jesus can protect you

"

We went to the train museum as a family recently just to re-vist the firebox in one of their steam locomotives. Sam can tell you what a firebox does and how it makes an train go. We had to go back 3 times to see the firebox. I love how nerdy my son is. He kind of reminds me of my husband.