Camping

We finally went camping this year. Every year since we've had the kids it's something that we've wanted to do but it never seems to work out. So, we finally went up Mt. Herman and the kids had a great time. Sleeping didn't really happen, but it went well enough that we'll try again next year when the weather warms up again.

The kids helping Adam start a fire

Paul found a tree trunk with an ant hill in it and spent a good chunk of time hitting it over and over and over

Smores

Black Eye

Paul ran into the corner of a cabinet and ended up with a black eye the other day. Why is it that he ALWAYS has some kind of bruise on his face/head?

First Day of School

Samantha started preschool again this year. She is at a different school, but with the same teacher and a lot of the same kids from last year. She is super excited and has been having a ton of fun. She has so much fun in fact that she cries when I come to pick her up and often tells me, "I don't want to go home with you." Makes me feel like a good mom. Hey, at least she's happy there.

Kelle's Visit

Luckily the day after Kim left Kelle and her kids came out for two weeks. All 16 people on my side of the family stayed at the house the whole time. It worked out a lot better than I would have anticipated. The kids got along great and we had A LOT of activities. I was surprised how little any of the kids fought. Sammi and Grant would play for hours without us seeing or hearing from them. Here are some of the activities...

All the cousins at Water World

Fox Run Park

Paul in his bee boots

Just another day at the park

Watching the train go by

Lauren doing her victory dance after scoring a run in baseball

Santa's Workshop

A lemonade stand...the older cousins were calling the little kids "cute boosts" and were using them to increase sales. The little guys' payoff? A quarter.

The pond at Fox Run. It was gross that they were swimming in the pond, but the last time we went they got in with their clothes on, so this time we let them get in in their bathing suits. We bathed them the second we got home.

Garden of the Gods, where we had breakfast with my uncles, grandfather, and all the cousins

Kelle and cute, cute Alyssa. I was tempted to hide her so Kelle would have to leave her here forever :)

Adam stuck Paul in the basketball hoop at Monkey Bizness. He thought it was pretty funny.

Hailey, Grant, and Sammi in their new pj's

I figured that was enough pictures, but we also played capture the flag a few of the nights, went shopping with the little kids (the older kids went to a Rocky's game), went to Fargo's, and played around the house. It was a great time and we can't wait to see everyone again.

Hopkins' Cousins

Josh and Angella came out for a week and then shortly after Kim and her kids came out. Samantha was LOVING having all these cousins out to play with. We went to Monkey Bizness and did a lot of swimming with Angella and her kids. We went ot the YMCA and did the Slip 'n Slide. The kids had a GREAT time.

When Kim was here we went swimming and also took her boys fishing. Sammi was in seventh heaven with so many fun things going on.

My Boys

Me & The Kids

A few weeks ago we took a picture of me and the kids that I thought turned out fairly cute...

Sisters Trip

Over the fourth of July weekend my sisters and I went on a trip together to Florida. It was SO fun. It was the first time since being married that I had gone on a vacation without Adam or the kids. It was a totally different experience and was WAY fun. We got there on Saturday the 3rd and decided to go to downtown Disney and see the new Twilight movie. It was a little rainy which made it not quite so hot. Sunday, the 4th, we decided to go to sacrament meeting at a nearby chapel. It was interesting driving through some of the neighborhoods. Almost every home had a screened in porch and quite a few had pools. It was just different than tourist ville. After church we went back to the hotel and relaxed for awhile before heading out and going to downtown Orlando to watch the fireworks. We decided to stop at Denny's before getting downtown to grab a quick bite to eat. Our waitresses name was ToPrecious. Seriously? ToPrcious? Kelle thought the funniest part was that it was To not TooPrecious. It was fun to go downtown since I hadn't been there on our previous trip. Monday we decided to head down to the coast and go to the beach. It was practically deserted when we got there. We got to spend the better part of the day hanging out at the beach. There were some cool crabs that would come out if we didn't move for awhile and...we saw dolphins! It was pretty cool to watch, plus we saved $60 by not going to Sea World. Tuesday and Wednesday we went to Universal Studios. Our favorite part, by far, was the Harry Potter area.

For one of the rides you waited in line inside the castle and it was almost as cool as the ride. They had the moving pictures and holograms with the characters talking to you. It was nice to go on all the thrill rides with people who actually appreciated them and without worrying about kids. We also went to Cirque de Soleil which was really cool and a dinner/comedy show that was okay. The best part of the trip was just being able to hang out with my sisters and talk without kids interrupting every 5 minutes. I hope we'll be able to do it again soon!