SUMMER VACATIONS!

So it’s a little after 4am and we are now on our way to the White Mountains for our camping trip. We left the house at 2am so that Grayson would hopefully sleep for maybe ½ the trip, but so far he’s been awake on and off. It’s going to be a LONG drive! We just got back late Saturday from our vacation to Laguna and Washington. We both worked Monday & Tuesday and are off again now until Sunday to spend some time up in he mountains. While I look forward to the scenery and cooler weather, I’m a little hesitant about the whole “camping” thing, especially with a two year old. Ok, granted, we are staying in a camper trailer that has a toilet and water, but it’s still camping to me!!

We had an awesome time in Washington visiting my Aunt Lizzie and her family. I will post some pictures from the trip below. The weather was awesome and the country was beautiful. We got to take a day trip up to Mt. St. Helen, which was an incredible site. We also made a trip out to the Oregon coast and enjoyed a great lunch and shopping at a farmer’s market in a cute little town called Astoria. Grayson got to ride one of their family horses and had a blast playing with Page & John. Blaine also took a trail ride with Lizzie & Paige and did a little fishing with Mike. We had a wonderful time and thank the Hause family for all their hospitality!

Paige showing Grayson around!

Mount St. Helen in the background.

Travel buddies!

Little cowboy!

Grayson meeting his Aunt Lizzie!

John turns 8!! Happy Birthday!

Laguna was relaxing and fun as always, although we missed having the McBurgorris’! We spent some time at the beach, took the ferry over to Newport for an evening and also took Grayson to Knott’s Berry Farm for the 1st time! We wavered on taking him, being that he isn’t even 2 yet, but we were so glad we did. He was actually tall enough to ride most of the rides (“all by self!”) in the Camp Snoopy area. I thought for sure he’d be too timid or scared to go on his own, but he was all over it! His expressions on some of the rides were just priceless. He sort of had this drunken (“I think I might throw up!”) smiley grin on his face on a few of them; although, thankfully he never got sick. I think he may be a little like his mama after all, in terms of loving roller coasters and any thrill ride! He loved Snoopy and really enjoyed watching the cowboys in the gun show. Of course, he had a few small meltdowns, but all in all, I was really impressed with how well he did, especially being that we were there from the time it opened until about 7:30.

Too much fun on the Merry Go Round in Newport!

On the ferry ride to Newport.

Giving Snoopy loves!

Driving his very own "BIG TRUCK!"

This is that "drunkn' smurk face!"



Below are just a few random pictures taken earlier in July.

Grayson can hate me for this one later, but I thought it was too cute!

Sportn' a mohawk!

First time bowling! They actually had shoes in his size! Too cute!

Future baseball player/ fashionista!!!

So now we’re off to enjoy the last of our vacation time and then back to reality next week! And then in only a few weeks, our little monkey will be turning two!! Hope everyone is doing well!

Summer is flying by!

Just a few updates here. For starters, Ramsey Morris has officially caved in and joined the Facebook world, or as Kim put it.... "the Dark Side!" So now, I not only have this blog to keep up with, but I have to keep up with what all "my friends" are doing in the facebook world as well!! Balancing that with work, keeping up with all the cooking and cleaning & then taking care of a crazy 2 year old, I don't know how I'm going to manage! I mean, how do you guys do it?! All kidding aside, I am glad I joined and it will be yet another fun way to stay in touch friends, family and even some people that I haven't talked to in years.

So below are some pictures from the past few weekends. We had a wonderful 4th of July in Laguna. My mom & Sandi hosted the 1st Annual "Handerson/Hollenmorrisbach Family Reunion!" A little longer and harder to say than the McBurgorris, right?! Great food, fun and beach time was had by all.

Sharing a moment with his Aunt Kimmie!

Breaking poor Papa's back!


Playing football with Uncle Ryan

Last weekend, Blaine's dad "Buddy," and Blaine took him on his first camp-out to Lake Cuymaca up by Julian. After reading Michaela and Dustin's blog with Landon's first camping experience, I have to admit, I was sort of happy this was a "boys trip only!" Grayson has never slept anywhere other than a crib or a pack n'play, so I was curious to see how this whole tent thing would work out. Much to my surprise, Blaine said he had an awesome time, only waking a couple times in the night to say "mommy hold you!" Other than that, I don't think he missed me much! Between getting to drive Daddy's truck, fishing, roasting marshmellows and all to explore in the outdoors, he was a "happy camper!" Although they were only gone for one night, I think I missed him a little more than he missed me! However, I was really happy "the boys" (yes, even Chasers!) had a great camp out, and I in return, got to enjoy a well-needed day of R&R, did a little shopping & even got a pedicure!

Roasting a marshmellow in his jammies before bed!

Fishing with Buddy.

Wanting to carry his own world-famous Julian pie! "My do it" he would say!

Below are a couple pictures of Molly & Grayson from a month ago or so that I finally uploaded from my old camera. Their first official movie date (although Molly was SO over it after 15 minutes!!!). And the other is a picture taken at the Aquatic Center a while back.

"Let's hold hands!"

"White boy, you need some sunscreen!"

For whatever reason, these rain boots seem to be Grayson's favorite pair of shoes lately and are often the cause for a temper tantrum (that is if I insist he where something else!). This particular day, we weren't going anywhere so I was just fine with what he picked out!

In less than two weeks, we are headed to Laguna for some more beach time and then off to Kalama, Washington so see my Aunt Lizzie and her family. We are really looking forward to getting out of this dreadful heat and spending some time with family we don't get to see too often. After that, we may be taking another small trip to the white mountains and then before we know it, we will be celebrating Grayson's 2nd Birthday! Time is racing by way too quickly! Although that is fine by me for now because these are the Dog Days of Yuma and that means cooler weather ahead!

Hope everyone's doing well. And thanks Becca for your tips with posting pictures with the whole cut/paste in html. Made this one A LOT quicker & easier!

BIG BROTHER!

Now if that doesn't look like a proud face, I don't know what does!

So I think it's safe to let the cat out of the bag and officially let everyone know that Grayson is going to become a big brother this December! We've known for quite some time now, but wanted to wait a little while before sharing the news with everyone......although I am sure most of the people reading this blog already know anyhow! I am almost 4 months along and feeling pretty good now. I think the worst of the nausia and fatigue is behind me now. We have decided to keep the sex of the baby a surprise like we did with Grayson and are not going to find out. We are so excited to give Grayson a baby brother or sister and can't wait for December to get here! With so much planned this summer; however, I know it is going to go by so fast.

We have been super busy here in the Morris household. We have taken a couple trips over to southern California ....one for Memorial Day weekend to take Grayson to the beach and also his first trip to the Zoo (which he so enjoyed!), and the weekend after that to watch Papa complete his first Marathon at 61! He did awesome! Finished in a little over 5 hours with an almost-broken nose (that's another story!!), and looked amazing at the finish, walking 2 miles back to the hotel with us afterwards! I am so proud of you Dad!

A few pics from Memorial Day weekend in Laguna....

They have polar bears at the San Diego Zoo now & this was by far our favorite part! Grayson really enjoyed watching the "BIG bear" dance in the water!

A few pics from the marathon weekend in San Diego....

Last two weekends we stayed in and have been doing several projects around the house. With another baby on the way, we have been working on making the den into a "big boy" room for Grayson, the guest room into a den/guest room and have decided to leave the nursery as is, since everything is in good shape and can work for a little boy or a little girl. My parents have been a huge help with the process....my mom with her sewing and decorating ideas and my Dad is the ultimate MacGyver/handy man! We bought Grayson a toddler bed and are doing a sports theme. It has turned out so cute! His new room has a walk-in closet, (which I still need to clean out) but we thought it would be fun to make that a little play house/closet since it is quite roomy. He already gets a kick out of taking you in his "payhouse," then closing the door and giggling. The other day he took my Dad in the play house and Papa came out wearing the magic mullet and some silly hat! Who knows what else I have stashed in that closet!

Here's a picture of Grayson's new room so far, which used to be our den. We still have a few things to hang on the wall. I just painted big block letters today to spell out his name. You get the idea though.


Grayson has quite the social schedule this summer! Just started swimming lessons this week. Unfortunately it's at 10am, so I can only take him on my days off, but thanks to Grammy, he gets to go the other days as well. He is absolutely loving it so far and is a total fish in the water! I've also signed him up for the Harkins kids summer movie program, which shows older movies every Thursday am. I took him to his first movie last Thursday with Becca & Molly. We saw Ice Age. To my surprise, he did awesome and was so into it. He lasted for over an hour, which was way longer than I had expected! We also got into this reading program for kids under 2 called Baby Time at the library, which is also on Thursdays, so we may have to alternate movies and reading every other Thursday. For not even being two, I can only imagine how hectic life is going to get once he's old enough to start playing sports, join summer camps and other fun activities. Throw another little Morris maniac in the picture and my head starts to spin just thinking about it!

Well, that's all for now.....and I am sure I still forgot several things. Most importantly, Grayson is going to be the BEST big brother ever and we couldn't be more excited!

......And he will always be our Numero Uno!!

Mine!

Wanted to share a cute little video of Molly and Grayson from a couple weeks ago. Forgot to mention another one of Grayson favorite words....."Mine!" Yes, everything is "mine!"

SHOOT!

I'm glad I don't a have to label this post "Shit!" because I very well could be, but luckily, to our surprise, we've all been trying a little harder to watch our language around Grayson, and needless to say, "shoot" has become one of his new favorite words! Every time he drops something now, it's "shoot!" He will even throw something purposely on the floor so he can say his new favorite word. And he doesn't simply say "shoot," but he says it with some authority and frustration, just like his adult peers would be after they stubbed their toe! I shouldn't be laughing, but I think it's adorable!

Another funny little thing he's been saying now is "mommy hold you" anytime he wants up. And if he's in a good mood, he'll add a "peas" onto that! It makes perfect sense because anytime he gets an owie or is just tired, I'll say "Do you want mommy to hold you?" I just think it's so cute and neat how they learn language. He does this with a few other things actually. A few months ago, it would just be "Daddy or Mommy help" when he needed help with something. Now it's "Daddy help you peeeeeeeas!" And he will say thank you, which sounds like "tank you," again only if you catch him in a good mood. He's also more likely to say it when you don't ask him. A little like his mommy may have been at his age we might say.....everything is "by self!"

Grayson is definitely talking up a storm these days and surprising us with a new word or phrase every day. And he has enjoyed being "papa's helper" and "daddy's helper" lately with several new projects we've had going on around the house. The boy LOVES tools! For Easter my parents got him his very own sandbox. And as if that wasn't enough, Papa built one in his backyard as well! The sandbox has definitely been a hit these days, as Grayson loves anything to do with the outdoors, trucks and dirt! We also have a park close by, where he likes to go and feed the ducks and the turtles. We had a nice morning with Becca and Molly today at the park.....although temperatures a creeping up fast and we had to head back to her house before long to go cool off. Not looking forward to the summer!

Anyhow, tried to post a few pictures from the past several weeks. I have really been slacking lately in the picture taking department, and have no excuse, because I even bought a new fancy camera like Becca's a few weeks ago! I guess I was just hoping it even took the pictures for you too!

Lastly, Happy Anniversary Grammy & Papa! 38 years today! Soak up the beach for us all :)