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Wednesday, July 18, 2012

This month in Harper and Silas country~H-2yrs, 6mos.; S-basically 4 months

This summer has been a blast so far.  We loved our trip to Mammoth, have had some great visits with our friends the Fitzgeralds, and are enjoying our day to day adventures.  Harper's language is exploding.  She is always listening and comes up with the funniest things to say.  The other day she announced she was packing her bag to get on the plane to Wisconsin (daddy travels there on business sometimes and she also overheard us discussing our visit there in August).  It was hysterical.  She is singing the alphabet and recognizing the letter at the beginning of her name, D for daddy, G for Grace, A for Ansley, M for mommy, L for Leah and S for Silas.  She counts to 11 (then comes 14).  She loves pretending...we pretend take a bath, play nap, pretend go on the airplane, play doctor, and she throws a party daily, cooking an elaborate meal in her kitchen and setting the table with all the dressings.  We've also been attending a Beach Fit Mom's boot camp where she can play with the other kids while the moms (me included) work their tails off.  Most of the time Harper is trying to do the exercises with us.  It is so unbelievably cute.  And even better, she loves to play exercise.  She is Annika (our instructor) and she orders me around then goes to her imaginary ipod to play the music while I exercise.  She's as tough as Annika and always shows me up in class, doing more "push-ups" than me every time.  :)  She's also "reading more and more.  She loves for us to read books to her and often times finishes sentences as we're reading familiar books.  We are still working on using our words, using a nice tone, and being gentle with our brother, but dare I say we are heading out of the terrible two's and possibly into the slightly more tolerable three's!?
Silas is changing and growing everyday, too.  He is almost rolling over, but those pesky arms get in the way every time.  He's teething, just like his sister did about this time.  He starting to sleep through the night but were working on our daytime schedule.  Poor second child is always being dragged around to Harper's and my activities.  But he is such a happy baby.  Patrick and I seriously lucked out.  We have two very easy-going children and both were very happy baby's.  Not sure what we did to deserve it, but we'll take 'em.    
Here's some of the latest happenings around the Vecchio/Wille house:
The day after we returned from Mammoth, we went to our friend Angela's surprise birthday party.  It was wonderful to be part of the surprise and see all the kids play in the pool.  Harper also sported her first set of pigtails...way cute.  If only she'd let me do it more often.  


Harper soaking up the rays
Leah & Harper~2 peas in a pool
Silas finally feelin' the bumbo chair 
These sweet moments are happening more and more often
Pigtails again, doing sticker drawings, wearing sunglasses...love her!
Playing a game of "where's Harper" (hiding under her blanket) ended badly when she bumped into the tv stand...
slight fat lip~Whoops!
Harper and Leah reading at the library
A peaceful play moment 

almost 4 months, almost rolling over
We're counting down the days until our trip to Wisconsin
I love how he looks perched on daddy's shoulders
 Early July brought Aunt Monica and Uncle John to the area, so we got to catch up with them and Paul, Alyssa and their girls Emma & Zoe.  Here is Zoe (their dog Sydney) and Harper just being cool.  It was great to see the cousins playing.  Zoe and Emma would be perfect mother's helpers.  They entertained Harper all evening and brought out all the (cool toy) stops...if only they lived closer and L.A. traffic weren't so brutal.
Zoe, Emma & Harper
We're working on the potty training
Silas' 4 month check-up
Harper learning how to use the iphone camera while waiting for the doctor at Silas' appointment
Our happy boy...pretty much his face unless he's hungry or tired.  We are so lucky!
Dance party!

Silas is 4 months old!



Tuesday, July 10, 2012

June Lake Loop in June

Our new, and dear friends the Gregory's (Angela, Jason, Grace & Leah) invited us to join them on their annual trip to Silver Lake (part of the June Lake loop just north of Mammoth, CA).  We fished, hiked, ate, drank, and had a rockin' good time.  The girls acted more like sisters at times, but had so much fun. They all loved holding Silas and we, the adults, loved watching every second.  
We're dying to know what Harper was saying to Grace.  


Harper in her "western wear" at the Father's Day bbq
Jason went to college with Jake (not pictured) and Jake's family has been coming to Silver Lake for 30+ years.  The Gregory's have been coming with them for the past 8.  They go Father's Day weekend every year and have a group dinner on Father's day.  Here are all the father's and their children.  Jake's entire family and other friends were so warm and welcoming, we felt like we'd been going for years, too.  :)

Harper and Leah eating breakfast

Harper, Leah, Silas, & Grace
One of many dance parties

We had a creek just outside our cabin...all the kids loved to use it for throwing rocks; here is Patrick, Leah, Heather & Quinn
Fishing


Jason's dad's (Rick's) birthday dinner; lettuce burgers with lemon paleo cheesecake for dessert.  Yum!!!
"I wish I had teeth so I could eat that.  Hrumph!" ~Silas
Grace, Harper & Reid (Heather & Noah's son) "sharing" Reid's balance bike
My first catch while trolling for rainbow trout
Thanks for your help, Rick (a.k.a Pappi)
A little coffee talk for Leah and Silas
Quinn, Leah & Harper ready for dinner



Our hike to Parker Lake-That's Silas hiding in the Ergo
Harper had a nice ride, too

Resting at the Lake
All the boys; Jason, Silas, & Patrick


Harper, Leah & Grace


All the kids in front of Silver Lake the night after our hike
My two dads?
Getting ready to go see the horses while the dad's play golf (the mom's went to the spa a few days earlier)

The deer that frequented the woods outside our cabin, literally 2 feet from the cabin door
Breakfast time
The water at the lake was so low, that a sandbar was revealed, so we set up camp so the kids could play and we took turns going out on the boat to fish.  Win, win for all!  Heather, Grace, Reid & Harper playing in the sand.


Leah and Harper being entertained with Patrick's cool dominoes tricks
Harper and Leah sharing a moment





Harper & Leah doin' the bicycle
Milk moustache
Leah's rockin' hair
Dad and son chillin' on the porch...it was such a relaxing and fun week 
Patrick took a hike on his own one afternoon...here's the view

Silas turned 3 months old on our trip...big boy in the adirondack chair
Dad and daughter doin' planks
 
The cabin 9 crew...Thanks for a fantastic week, Gregory's