Happy Birthday To Us!

Thomas celebrated a milestone birthday this year -- 35 -- so we decided to throw a little party for the grown-ups to celebrate.  Since my 34th was just a few days later, we made it a joint party.  But Thomas got the call the shots.

The birthday boy with friends Don & Laura and one of the owners of the most awesome business ever!

As luck would have it, a totally awesome 1980s style arcade had just opened on Park Street in Alameda, so Thomas decided we ought to rent it out and throw a party there.  We invited all our friends for a kid-free night of Tetris, Mortal Kombat, Mike Tyson's Punch Out, and Ms. Pac-Man, complete with a bar and yummy Thai food.  I think I can safely say that a good time was had by all.

Happy birthday, Thomas!  Let's start planning an even bigger 40th!

Enjoying the arcade with Nathan and Marianna.

Peter and Susan get serious about a car race.

We were very impressed by Lien & Jim's attire for the evening!

Hanging out with good friends Matt and Dan.

The Griffingers -- Ellie was a trooper and came to the party after a full day of delivering babies.

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Summer 2013 continued to be a blast, as Baby Harvey 2.0 grew bigger and bigger but we kept right on going.  June was filled with family time and home improvements.  In July, we had a Mack family visitor, Eric, who was in California for work for a few weeks.  We were happy to have him at our traditional Alameda July 4th parade and block party.  Here are a few highlights of our summer.

Celebrating Peter's birthday.

Matching dad/daughter hammers.

Showing off her Black & Decker tools to make Uncle Dave proud.

Eric and Virginia wish you Happy 4th!

Fearless four year old on the diving board at the July 4th block party.

Crashing after the 4th ended.

Virginia Turns 4!

The Candy Man Can.

This year, Miss V turned 4!  How time has flown!  We hosted a Candyland-themed birthday party at our house in Alameda for a lot of her friends, complete with a bouncy house and a candy-themed soundtrack.  Virginia helped me prepare for the party by making lollipop bushes using hundreds of Dum Dums.  It was a surprisingly fun project.  We were thrilled that Mimi and Papa were able to make the trip this year to celebrate too.

Showing off an almost Pinterest worth table.

Princesses like candy, right?

Isabel, Johnstone & the birthday girl.

Virginia chose a Safeway cake again this year, with her favorite colors - orange, pink, & purple.

Friends ready for cake.

Blowing out the candles with friends.

Waiting for cake!

Having a blast in the bouncy house.

New bike from GayGay?  Amazing!

Post-party fun with Mimi.

Going to Carolina...

February is a big birthday month for the Neeland family, so we decided that it was the perfect time for a getaway to meet the family and celebrate the February birthdays in North Carolina again this year.  We had also recently gotten some big news that Cousin Beth was expecting her first baby, so we had even more of a reason to celebrate this year.

Since Daddy had to work, Virginia and I made it a girls' trip.  Now that she's almost four, traveling with her is pretty much a breeze!

We found a cheap fare to Charlotte and off we went for a long weekend.  While there, we celebrated Nanny's 91st birthday as well as birthdays for Auntie Lynn and Aunt Liz.  We hit the children's museum near Liz and Dave's house and ate out at some great restaurants too.  Virginia also had a blast seeing the Mack cousins who live in the Charlotte area as well -- Beau & Jessica and Shannon & Brett.  It was quite a family reunion on both sides of our family. 

Milking a cow at the children's museum.

Practicing radiology with Papa.

Fixing a car with Papa at the museum.

With Shannon & Brett at dinner.

Cousin Beau & Jessica!

Loving on Aunt Liz and Uncle Dave

Cousin Adam -- more relatives to love! (We didn't get a photo of poor cousin Beth, who was suffering greatly with morning sickness the whole visit -- she was quite the trooper!!!!)

Auntie Lynn is so much fun!

The 91st birthday girl and her first great grandchild.

Virginia and her Mimi and Papa. 

Back home, carrying her own bag.  What a big girl!

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

Summer has been filled with all sorts of adventures for Virginia in between our many travels.  Here are a few photos of the highlights!

Virginia attended a number of birthdays, including one for her buds the Kassabian twins:

She posed for patriotic pictures in our front yard:

She showed off her wacky bathtub skills:

She swam, and swam, and swam (and had a blast with PopPop):

She wore animal print to visit the USS Hornet Museum - stylish!:

She and Thomas camped out in the back yard in a tent for an overnight adventure:

She visited the Pacific Pinball Museum to play classic pinball games:

She hugged on many babies (Sam, aka The Bug, Click):

She set out on adventures at Gilroy Gardens with best bud Tasha:

GayGay's Tiki Birthday

If you read this blog often, you will know that the Harveys love all things Hawaiian (I even have a tag for blog posts called Tiki Awesomeness, so that is saying something).  So, when it came time to celebrate Susan's birthday, we did what we always do and headed over to Trader Vic's for an evening of mai tais and coconut shrimp.  Uncle Doug flew in from LA for the event, and we were also joined by Biggie and his girlfriend Leigh.

Here are a few photos of our wild and crazy time...

Biggie gave Susan a sleeve of tattoos as a gift.  Classy!

Virginia insisted on pineapple juice in a coconut cup:

Having a blast with Daddy and Uncle Doug: 

Virginia spent most of her time in Leigh's lap, drinking mocktails:

Virginia gave GayGay matching aprons for baking together: