Labor Day Adventure: A Day in the Life

I took a lot of pictures yesterday for Labor Day, not only because we got to go on a hike as a family (FINALLY!), but because I wanted to document our lives right now. I chose yesterday to do it!

We started our day after Harrison's "nap" (AKA he had a crazy sleep schedule woke up too early and then went back to bed from 6:30-8:30am). We packed up and headed up Mt. Peak with dog in tow. It was the first time we went on a hike with Max. We were a little worried about him wanting to chase chipmunks and squirrels (he did do a little of that) and we were concerned with how he would react to other dogs. He did GREAT! Much better than we expected and I'm pretty sure he LOVED every second of it!

We got up to the top in 33 minutes. Not our best time, but we weren't really going for speed with a toddler in tow. We actually spent 40 minutes or more at the top just letting Harrison hang out and play around so that he would be okay with getting back in the pack as a tired sweetie pie with no Schnuli. Whoops! Forget to bring that! We met a lot of people and Max got the chance to see/interact with a lot of dogs and watch chipmunks that we wouldn't let him chase. Harrison LOVED every single dog he saw. He wanted to pet them and play with them. He seriously just loves dog! True to Harrison fashion, he also wanted to climb on every rock available. The kid cracks me up!

After Harrison's nap, he and I spent some time in the yard (his happy place). He played while I watered. He loved when I poured the water and there was a little bit of mud. He actually leaned down and was licking up the muddy water. So gross! It's almost as if I don't feed my child or give him water. Yikes! As I watered another section of our garden, he was out of my sight for a second. Knowing where he mostly would be, I went to the construction zone where we are building out our roof for a covered area for our wood. Lo and behold, the kid was trying to climb up the ladder! I watched and spotted him from bottom rung to the rafters of our new roof. Man, the kid can climb... and fast! This boy cracks me up! Needless to say, I put the ladder down so he could no longer climb it. This guy definitely is keeping me on me toes recently!

In the afternoon, Harrison and I went over to my sister's house while Evan got more roofing supplies. Harrison LOVES being over there! He loves his cousins and loves my sister and brother-in-law! In fact, it was so cute because he kept reaching for my sister when I was holding him so she could hold him instead He loves her so much! Maybe it's because he knows how much she loves him. :)

Before we went home, Harrison had his first ride in a wagon. He mostly liked it, but wasn't so sure about it towards the end when he wanted to get out and I was still pulling him around.

In the evening, we played a little more in the yard while Evan finished up part of the construction project. Afterwards, we had family home evening with delicious zucchini bread Evan made earlier in the day. All in all a success!

I moved him from the mud... I'm so mean!

Wanted a shot from behind of his curly hair before I cut it someday soon...

Had to add in this one... Harrison crawled away from me, climbed onto our bed via a little step stool and to his favorite place in our room, daddy's night stand! He don't let him play on it, which is probably what makes it even more desirable, right? :) He also has been LOVING playing with that little measuring spoon recently.

Playing with his cousin

Oh, I forgot... we also went and picked acorns with my sister and her kids before we came home to Evan!

Mt. Peak Hiking Trip with Friends

Harrison and I got to go on a fun trip up Mt. Peak with friends today! Lindsay and Evan MacDonald and her two (soon to be THREE!) girls went up with us. We ate lunch at our special spot and just enjoyed a fun little hike. Here are so pictures from our day!

Project Baby: 30 Weeks & a Family Hike

I know I always say this, but I feel like every week Harrison is doing SO MANY new things. In fact, daily there are so many new things he is able to do that he couldn't do or wasn't proficient at from the day before. Truly, having a child is like seeing the world with new eyes. For, indeed, to that child, the world is NEW. It's funny who objects that are incredibly simplistic and mundane to adults are fascinating to children. It makes me want to find more joy in the simple pleasures in life again.

Thoughts this week:

• Harrison started/ended the week SICK! Poor guy. He has a cough and cold that isn't getting better. I took the day off on Tuesday to take him in to the doctor for an eye infection. His eye infection got better (mostly) after using the drops prescribed by the doctor. We found out at his appointment that he had gained nearly 1 pound in the past 2.5 weeks! As of Tuesday, he weighed 19 lbs. 2 oz.
• This week, we broke down and borrowed (then bought our own) a humidifier for Harrison. It has helped him to sleep longer in the night back to 6 hours. HALLELUJAH! Doesn't sound like much, but it is so nice when this cough/cold has been keeping him from sleeping in the night and the day. I can't wait for him to get better! It feels like it has been forever since he could breath normally!
• Harrison started open-handed patting things this week. It's SO cute! I love when babies do that. He just wants to pat everything and grab EVERYTHING. 
• The past while, Harrison will try to dive out of our arms to get something he wants or to go see someone (like me or Evan). It's been really cute to have Harrison purposefully lean to come see me when someone else is holding him.
• Towards the end of this week, Harrison started sticking his tongue out more. I don't know if it has to do with teething, but it's so funny to see his little tongue just sticking out sometimes.
• Along those same lines, he has been blowing bubbles for a month or so now and loves doing it. He also loves when we do it back!
• Harrison figured out this week how to bang the keys on the piano. Before, he had lightly tapped the keys and wasn't interested, but I sat down with him on my lap and he LOVED banging the keys.
• His happiest time of the day is still in the morning. He and I always play a little in the mornings before I have to get ready to go to school. I love how happy he is when he first wakes up! He loves when I pat his mouth, but HATES when I touch his nose, even when playing.
• Harrison's favorite book is this favorite a fabric lift-the-flap animal book about love. We lay down and read it together over and over. He loves playing with the flaps and is usually patient when we read through the book. Usually when we read board books, he isn't so patient to keep reading and reading, but he will be with this fabric book.
• This Saturday, we went on a hike together as a family. We hadn't done that since he was 2 months old and now he's 7 months old! YIKES. I need to get back in shape. Harrison and I also went on 3 long walks this week, two of which we were with Evan too.
• Harrison is getting food EVERYWHERE when he eats. He is a really good eater, but he is such a fast mover and loves grabbing so much that it results in food getting everywhere. With one child, it's totally manageable and cute, but it may not be so cute when we have a second child!
• One last thing for this week is that he has been panting when he gets super excited about something. It cracks us up! This combined with sticking out his tongue makes us think he wants to be a little puppy dog! :)

 

Love how fast his hands are moving in this one!

Had to laugh at this picture from our hike... I guess that's why you always ask the person to take two pictures, right?!

Snow Day #1

A terrible picture of both of us (the flash on Evan's phone is HORRIBLE). However, it is proof that we did make it to the top of Mt. Peak on my 1st snow day of the week. This is saying something, considering A) I haven't been very active since becoming pregnant. B) There was a lot of snow and ice. And C) It was dark. Only 33 minutes up. Not too shabby!

Denny Creek & Franklin Falls

Yesterday, after allowing me to sleep in, Evan was chomping at the bit to get out into nature! In spite of Western Washington's snow storms and literally driving into a blizzard (see yesterday's post... the picture wasn't the blizzard: it got worse), we kept going. At one point, we passed 14 vehicles along the side of the road up I-90 putting chains on. People probably thought we were crazy to keep going sans chains, but WE DRIVE AN ALL-WHEEL DRIVE SUBARU, baby!

(driving down the road... the snow had finally stopped)

After a few missed exits, we found our destination: Exit 47, Denny Creek. Because of the amount of snow, they a road block of snow was set up to prevent cars from continuing on the "road" up to the normal hiking area. We parked on the side of the road, strapped on our mountaineering boots, grabbed our new trekking poles, and headed up to the hiking area. The snow was beautiful. The creek alongside us the entire hike was breathtaking.

The hike ended in a beautiful waterfall called Franklin Falls. We broke trail down to the base of the falls where it was too cold to stay very long. All in all, it was a beautiful hike!

On the way back, I heard some creepy noise in the snow. (I have freakishly good hearing.) I called Evan back. At first he couldn't hear it, but the closer he got, he heard a little noise. I thought it might be a walkie-talkie with a dying battery. We searched and searched in the snow drifts and eventually found someone's i-Phone. And it was working! We connected with the owner and got his phone back to him. He was grateful!

All in all, we had a great day that we ended with dinner at the Olive Garden using gift certificates we've had since Christmas 2010. Have you been to Olive Garden lately? Prices have gone up and food quality has gone WAY DOWN. (Not to mention that almost everything on the menu is over 40+ grams of fat!) We decided we would never go there again.

(See all those ice crystals forming under the long and all the of the snow-created mushroom rocks? 

So beautiful in the creek as we hiked.)

Crazy or Sane?

Most people would probably think we're crazy to head out to go hiking when the weather looks like this! I'm starting to think they might be right. :)

Hiking up Peak

Went up Mt. Peak today with the kids! Made it up in thirty.

Scouting a Climb

As mentioned in this post, Evan hiked/skied in to scout out a climb near Mt. Rainier on his day off. Apparently, he also brought our fancy camera with him because he took some STUNNING pictures of a fox on his adventure. I love our camera and the amazing quality of pictures it takes. Evan sold his mountain bike to get our camera and a nice lens in April of last year. Funny thing about that was... he told me it was he bought the camera for MY birthday. Hm... HIS birthday is in April and he bought the camera in April. Guess who has used the camera WAY more than I have?! :) I don't mind, though. Evan is a better photographer as demonstrated by the photos below.

Photo of the ice climbing area

The fox! Look at those red eyes... My maiden name "Russell" means clever fox. I am a clever fox! :)

I love this one of the fox yawning!

The real reason the fox was hanging around...