Harper's mountain

Harper has been asking for months to go to the mountain she was named after. Not easily done as we live in NY and her mountain is on the North Carolina and Tennessee border. When she found out we were headed to NC for Thanksgiving her request to go intensified. So we ventured onto the Roan Mountain trail with a few other hardy souls looking to hike off some turkey dinner. While we all would have preferred long distance views and a tad warmer weather it was great to opt outside the day after Thanksgiving and stretch our legs before our drive home to New York.
 

Spring is feeling good!

It felt oh so good to spend the weekend mostly outside. It was sunny and blue skies all weekend. Lynnie Lou's opened up this weekend, do we rode down for some homemade ice cream. The first for the summer but I'm sure it won't be the last!

Harper likes to be in control

Here she is having taking control of the spoon.  She is somewhat successful at keeping the food in her mouth.

Yummy!

Oh, this is something new. Leaves. I should try it. Mmmm, crunchy!

Dinner time

Harper "feeding" herself at dinner tonight and warching Gabriella. 

Scooting towards crawling

Harper is so close to crawling, it is practically crawling!  :-)

Harper Roan 6 months old

Harper's 6 month mark was this Sunday! She is:

Happy and alert
Scooting to get places
Eating some rice cereal
Been on an airplane to Utah and back
Hung out at a ski resort
Loved meeting her cousin, Sam E. and friend, Winter

Harper assisting Brie with her homework!

Vacations rock!

 Harper and I watching Brie's first ski lesson at Brighton.

 Brie is skiing!

 Ice skating in Midway with Grammy.

 Winter and Harper

 Brie, Harper, Winter and Aksel

 Breakfast with Nat and Bob

 Snowboarding at Sundance.

 Grammy watching Harper so the rest of the gang can be in ski lessons at Brighton. 

Mat and Brie headed off to ski.  

As Brie said as we were driving back into Naples, "Our vacation was so much fun!"  It really was.  

We had several days up on the mountain, some wonderful time spent with my family and some of our friends.  Mat had to leave for a few days for a work conference, but it was still a very enjoyable trip.  Gabriella really loved her ski lessons and gained skills!  After 2 half days and a whole day of ski lessons she was very comfortable on her skis.  Mat and I took a half day of ski lessons and went for a few runs with her after all our lessons.  She's way more comfortable than I am.  She was taking Mat through some trees and going right down the runs.  I am still working on my turns and making sure I don't get too much speed, so it was kind of nerve wracking to watch her just go.  But her ski instructors really taught her how to ski because she was in control and would stop or avoid other folks and trees as needed.  Skiing was fun though and both Mat and I were glad that we'd taken the lesson.  Now we want to keep going.  Why do vacations have to end???

Happy Early Valentine's Day

I couldn't resist sharing Harper in her heart overalls! Too. Much. Cuteness.

Adorable Harper at 5 months old!

• Harper is alert and happy as a lovely little 5 month old.  
• Is enjoying tummy time in longer and longer spurts.
• Is starting to attempt the motion of crawling.
• Loves to interact with others.
• Receives lots of love from her big sister, Gabriella, whom she adores. 

Tummy Time!

Harper is getting strong!  She loves tummy time.  For about 10 minutes.  Then she's over it. 

henderson harbor trip

We traveled to Henderson Harbor for a holiday party with some of the folks we used to live by and also stopped in to walk at one of the preserves Mat manages.  It was a cold, cold day but we walked out to beautiful Lake Ontario with Brie and Harper. (I, of course, forgot the Ergo to carry Harper in.)

This is a section of boardwalk that Mat designed and implemented at this preserve because it is perpetually wet or soggy here and it enables the water to still flow underneath while you walk above it.  It was a several year project they worked on in the summer with some volunteer crews.   

Asheville trip, part 2

 Quality time on Ronron's knee.

 Gabriella is growing right up! I sure love her and her fun personality!

 Hiking around the neighborhood down to the Ivy River at Mat's folks home.

We took Harper Roan Levine up to Roan Mountain.  

It was a beautiful December day in the 50s, almost t-shirt weather.  Windy as always though.  

Harper and Brie having fun with Auntie Sara.
(Somehow that was the only picture I got of the three of them.)

As always, trips go way too fast.  We weren't able to see everyone and do everything we wanted, so we'll be back.