Zoo Lights

The zoo had a Zoo Lights preview night for the zoo members and it was wayyy cheaper than in December, so even though we hadn't even had Thanksgiving we thought we'd better jump on that! We picked Millie up from school a few minutes early and went straight to the zoo. We got to see some animals before it closed to get ready for the lights.

The komodo dragon was high on Max's list, as usual. He kept growling at all the animals which was pretty cute.

The zoo closed for an hour so we hung out at the little lake right outside the gates.

Then we were back in! We met up with one of Tyler's friends from work and his family and had a fun time with them. It was really crowded but the lights were beautiful and the weather was perfect!

The train village is always a hit.

A zoo employee gave the big kids tickets to the carousel! It was so nice of her. They loved it. 

We closed out the evening dancing under these lights that were changing with the music. 

It was a fun night! We love this time of year!

Harvey turns 1!

This is just crazy to me. I can't believe my baby is a year old!

Harvey had a great birthday. Not that 1-year olds care or even know! But I caught some of his happy moments through the day. He loves to smile at me in the mirror in his room after a nap. It's one of my favorite things.

I also get the best smiles from him getting out of the car. Getting in, not so much! But he's always happy to get out.

Harvey got some new balls from Monka and Umpa and a bike and coat from Gigi and Poppy. We gave him an IOU for a bedroom redo. Poor boy still sleeps in a pink room.

And he wrestled with Max in a pile of laundry. Harvey loves a warm pile of laundry.

We had our families over for dinner and birthday treats the following Sunday. He was not so sure about the cupcake thing, but of course then got into the spirit of things!

The day we had everyone over happened to be Umpa's birthday. He was so nice to share the birthday limelight with Harvey. Love these two birthday dudes!

Some things about Harvey at 1 year old:

- He is a major climber. Not something we've ever dealt with before and it's really scary! When he is awake my only goal is his survival. 

- Harvey loves food and is still very vocal about it. He also loves to drink. Water, juice, milk, anything! He gets super excited about a drink. And then he likes to spike his sippy cups to show his enthusiasm. Or something. It's super cute.

- He doesn't like to perform. You can pretty much guarantee that if you ask him to say something, he won't. When we hold our arms out and tell him to come to us, he'll come close and then veer off at the last second. Such a tease!

- Harvey is a generally happy boy but usually wakes up pretty upset in the morning. Hoping he grows out of this. Sometimes he'll wake up happily from a nap and just babble for a minute but mostly he cries right away.

- He loves to laugh and we love to make him laugh! Max can get him to laugh most easily, which I think is pretty darn cute.

- His first kind of word was, "uh-oh." He only says "mama" when I'm feeding him or he wants something to eat, so he might mean more? I don't know. 

- Harvey is pretty adored by everyone he meets! Understandably!

Harvey from 1-12 months. Seeing all these pictures together makes me cry. I love this sweet boy and can't believe he's so big!

Outside time

We've been enjoying some seriously beautiful weather here recently! 

I took the older kids to the park and was hoping to run while they rode their bikes there, but Max insisted on riding his trike which is significantly slower. Someday I'll run without any resistance and I'll probably miss this!

 Another day, another park. This time Millie was the missing kid. 

Millie loves pointing out the sunsets and she always asks me to take a picture. This one was worth keeping!

Another view on the same evening. So beautiful.

Millie and Max like to stay in the backyard as long/late as possible. Luckily we have some lights back there and occasionally they get to play in the dark. Sometimes toys get involved too!