Cowboy in Training

Lance is very serious about his cowboy skills these days.  He can regularly be found trying to lasso Moses and begs to watch bucking bulls on youtube when Daddy's around.  A couple of weeks ago, the mall introduced a new ride- a brown horse.  You know the kind- put two quarters in and it rides for a minute or so.  Well, Lance is thrilled.  After that day, he immediately started talking about the plan for "next time."  He was going to bring his lasso and cowboy hat and lasso the horse before his ride because "that horsey is a REAL BUCKER!"
I indulged him (of course) and naturally had to catch it all of video for Stef.  Hopefully you can all appreciate the fact that we were in the middle of the mall on a Sunday when this went down.  Pretty amazing!  When he got off, Lance exclaimed "Mommy!  I stayed on for eight seconds!!!!!"

Lassoing the "Bucker" from Melissa Harmeling on Vimeo.

A Riding Cowboy from Melissa Harmeling on Vimeo.

Camping with the Gomez Gang

We headed back up to Volcano a few weeks ago for another night of camping, this time with the Gomez fam.  It was an action packed overnight with bikes, scooters, tree climbing, hot dogs, smores, glow sticks and fun.  Best of all Wanee, Ivan, Stef and I got to hang around the campfire after the kids went to bed and talk and laugh like the old days we spent visiting them on Oahu.  Wanee's mom enjoyed her very first camping trip ever and we loved having her.  Hopefully we can sneak in another trip up there before the chilly Volcano winter sets in.  

"Walk, Walk, Walk, Walk, Walk..."

Kiran is walking!  He's been taking a couple of steps here and there for the last few weeks, but last week on his 14 month birthday he started walking from here to there several times a day!  He still prefers the speed of crawling but here are a couple of videos of his first steps.  Go KK!!

walk, crawl, walk, crawl from Melissa Harmeling on Vimeo.

"walk, walk, walk, walk" from Melissa Harmeling on Vimeo.

VaChina

A real conversation Lance and I had a week or two ago that I feel must be documented for posterity.

The setting: In the car while driving home from Target, talking about how many of the toys we buy are made in China.

L: "Mommy, your peeps is made in China."
M: "Really?  Why is my peeps made in China?"
L: "Because it's a girl peeps."
M: "Okay...? Why is a girl's peeps made in China?"
L:  "Because it's a VaChina!"

Letter Response from Elmo

About seven or eight (nine?) months ago Stef helped Lance write a letter to Elmo.  Stef even went so far as to look up Elmo's actual address and mail it.
Many months later, a large envelope arrived in our mailbox from the Sesame Street Workshop addressed to Lance.  Yep!  It was a response from Elmo, complete with an autographed photo!!

Thanks to Stef for helping Lance learn the excitement and beauty of the mail!  It was truly exciting for the whole family.  Even Kiran quickly added a new word to his vocabulary... "MelllmOooooo!"

Family Vacation 2012 (a long post with lots of photos)

Ten action packed, sun filled, amazingly fun days and eves with the McLaughlin clan left us all a little tanner and a LOT more full of the feeling of love that only family can give you.

We kicked the trip off with three of the kids locking themselves in the upstairs bedroom with a door that had a broken lock and the hinges on the inside... when the dads and then maintenance woman couldn't get it open with bobby pins, actual tools, etc., one of the panicked moms on the scene (yours truly) insisted that we call the fire department.  Needless to say, Lance was the only child bawling his eyes out while Millie was making good use of the en suite bathroom, and William was doing his best to follow instructions with doors and windows.  Minutes after we finally made a dramatic rescue with Uncle Jeff climbing up a very tall ladder (panicked mom on his heels) and unscrewing the doorknob to get us out... the Hawaii fire department arrived!!! just seconds too late!  :)  Les managed to get a couple of pics, but somehow neglected to get any of the heroes in uniform... shucks.

The next morning five of us competed in the Hapuna Beach mile swim.

From there, it was lots more swimming, family dinners, cousin time, baseball, ukuleles, sand, pool, hot tubs, snacks, lacrosse, toys, boards, watching fish, drinks, rodeos, turtles, pool, scooters, naps, chats, sisters, brothers, books, chalk, goggles, bikes, and fun.  

I do realize that many families would never even consider ten straight days together.  For me, it is something that I spend all year looking forward to.  It was extra special this year because Lance was finally part of the "crew" and could keep up with all his big cousins without skipping a beat.  Kiran was his usual happy, go with the flow self and loved all the attention he got from his aunties, uncles and cousins (as long as "MAMA" was within arms reach)...

I took lots, but not enough pics.  Bear with the mini photo album- it seems the blog is the only one I have going these days...

after dinner sports time...

 

Cousins...

Jam sessions...

smoothies, breakfasts and dinners together...

Time with Pops and Elisi...

The Waimea 4th of July Rodeo

and lots and lots and lots of beach and pool...

 

Thanks to Pops and Elisi for hosting the family get together!  The Harmelings went back to Hilo grateful for the family time and looking forward to the next reunion!