Harris Family HQ

Tag: Beach

  • August 2026

    Some months are a little boring. This wasn’t one of them. There was a little bit of everything (which means lots of photos below), and most of it good, so we’ll count our blessings.

    The Good:

    • Harvey started potty training!
    • Michael’s Achilles injury is improving every week. He started the month still using a crutch to walk and ended it able to walk in shoes (inside the house, anyway).
    • Enjoying our CSA and cooking new meals
    • A dinner with new friends
    • A random weekday beach trip
    • Sarah started going back to her personal trainer
    • It was Grammy’s birthday, and she and Grandad went into the city with Matthews and Xandria and also made it to Elaine’s birthday party
    • Michael’s cousin Ryan visited the Jersey Shore with his daughters Audrey and Miranda (we missed Debbie!) and we enjoyed a great dinner and hanging out on the boardwalk
    • Sarah’s dad Jeff and his wife Nancy were in town for their granddaughter (and our niece) Elaine’s 4th birthday. They accompanied Sarah and the kids to the beach, and we all got some good hangout time. We’ll be going out to Minnesota in November to see them next.

    The Bad:

    • Harvey started potty training!
    • Everyone in the house, besides Florence, spent the second week of the month with a cold
    • Had to get our windshield replaced

    The Ugly:

    • Sadly, the biggest theme of this month was death. We lost three people we cared about and had great times with. These kinds of losses hit even harder now that we have kids. All the clichés are true — as Michael Mann wrote in Heat 2, “We’re all footprints on a beach. The tide comes through and you were never there.”

    Hopefully we all hold the ones we love a little tighter and never take the time we have for granted. Until next month…

  • July 2026

    Following the Achilles rupture at the end of June, July wasn’t quite the month we envisioned. Each week I either had a doctor’s appointment or a physical therapy session, sometimes both. Sarah was managing everything at home – especially in those early weeks. It wasn’t the easiest month, but it wasn’t all bad either.

    We kicked off the month on the 4th of July with some new friends in town. Their son is the same age as Harvey and they had fun hanging out. We tried for a photo at the end of the day and this was the best we got. We’ll try again next year!

    Florence is growing and changing every day. She had her two-month birthday and checkup and all is well! Here are some photos of our favorite little girl.

    Harvey is undoubtedly in his “terrible twos” era. He’s growing and learning so much and wants to get into everything. He’s cute (check out the haircut), but man, there are days that he tests our patience.

    The grandparents were super helpful this month. Grammy and Grandad came over weekly and helped with whatever was needed. Their biggest contribution was watching wild man Harvey overnight, giving Mommy and Daddy a much needed Saturday night/Sunday morning to themselves. They took him to the beach and a playground which led to a great night’s sleep. Gram (Lynn) was also a big help, coming over a couple days and giving Sarah much-needed shopping support and watching Florence while also supplying some cool clothes for Harvey.

    We managed to squeeze in an impromptu beach trip one evening.

    We rounded out the month celebrating Matthews’ birthday at our apartment because of my bum ankle, and had a great time catching up over ramen and drinks. Everyone left a little too full, but isn’t that kind of the goal?

    Until next month…