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.

Summer time! and turning 30.

A couple week ago we visited Trevor and Lindsay (Hank's brother and sister-in-law) and their two boys Calvin and Levi in Mountain View. We had so much fun. We went to a little children's museum to start with. Isn't that a fun picture? Nothing puts your game face on like a butterfly right?

They had an outdoor area with animals and such. I love seeing Sam get along with his cousins, especially since he they are the only boy cousins he has around to see. Calvin and Sam seem to have the same high energy intensity which means they can relate to each other and which also mean Lindsay and I can relate to each other :)

I think the highlight might have been the rocket launcher. Lindsay had some foresight when she brought this. It kept the boys entertained for quite a while. Gosh it kept me entertained for that long too!

We are in summer mode! We found a beautiful swimming spot up in the mountains in Auburn, only 20 minutes away. We hiked there during on Memorial Day and had so much fun we went back that Saturday.

There are rocks for diving off of. Sam was pretty content to just sit and watch dad jump. Hank and I took turns swimming Sam back and forth so we could do some cliff diving. Sam almost made me drown from laughing while I swam with him on my back. He kept saying the funniest things; "oh no, its so cold. I can't I can't . Oh Oh Oh! Mommy can do it. I need to go. Come on, need to go. I did't like it. Oh Oh!"

Guess who's 30!! Hank has lived through 3 decades now and what does he have to show for himself? Well quite a lot. He's the best husband and father anyone could ask for and brings joy to everyone he meets. What else could you want from life?

We had a family party the night after his b-day since he was working on his b-day. Sam was his waiter and took the job very seriously. I made some Indian food which is Hank's favorite and pumpkin pie for dessert. It was a pain to find the pumpkin but it was so worth it.

We played a birthday game where you have to find hidden coupons. Sam did all the finding while Hank received all the coupons. Afterwards we took a bunch of pictures. I don't really know why. I thought this one came out so cute.

It took a while to get there, all though it is probably a more realistic capture of our daily life.

The next day we got some friends to watch the boys while we went kayaking, Hank's favorite! It was the perfect day for it. We had a blast! I am now concerned about my upper body strength. I need to pull out those weights again. Geeezzz.

The major highlight of the day was this little raw food cafe we found. Everything on the menu is completely raw. I honestly think this was the best food I have ever tasted. Maybe someday when I am rich and have hours and hours to spend preparing food I will eat like this on a regular basis, but for now we at least have this cafe. Afterwards we went out and saw the Avengers. Hank said everything was perfect for his birthday which is exactly what he deserves.

Now on to cute kids. Sam's newest game he completely made up on his own and I have no idea where it came from is "climb up the baby". It goes like this; Sam sings "climb up the baby" while actually climbs up the baby. Milo seems to enjoy it. It makes mom cringe.

I think Milo is trying to hide from Sam.

Milo is 6 months old now! I can hardly believe it. He is so smiley and giggly. His last physical therapy appointment was 2 days ago and his therapist was very impressed with his development. She forgot his exact age and was surprised that he was only 6 months old not 8 months. If we were to go off his gestational age he would be closer to 4 months old. Does that look like a four month old? I am blown away by his growth and progress. He is so engaged in the world and is learning how to move on his own. He is extremely social and vocal as well. He is such a delight to have around. I really can't blame Sam for wanting to squeeze Milo as hard as he can, Milo really is that cute!