Pickleball Champ

Another fun activity we played as a group during the reunion is pickleball. My Dad is quite addicted (and very good) and plays all the time. The courts he plays on at his community center don't allow kids under 18 so Cooper never gets to participate. He knows that Grandpa plays pickleball so it was fun showing him what it's all about. We found a city park that has pickleball courts so we were able to play (well sort of). Coop still needs to work on his technique a tad bit but he sure looked cute giving it a whirl.

Water Fun

When you plan a JULY reunion in the DESERT it is HOT! Therefore, you find lots of activities to cool off.

Family Hike

We went on a kid-friendly morning hike as a group in Snow Canyon State Park. The temperature was still cool and the kids had a blast.

Coop checking out the Moqui marbles
Baby Charlie

Mommies and Babies

Family Photos

It's rare that the whole gang gets together all at once so we made it a point to force ourselves to pose for some family photos. Even though it isn't a very fun process, we'll all be so glad we did this someday.

Everyone say "CHEEEEEEzzzzzzzzzzE"...........

Group Shot

The 'lil cousins

Cousins (minus my bro and a few other cousins that couldn't make it)

My Dad and his bro, Mike

Our Family (minus our Baby Daddy's)

Family Reunion

We've been busy playing and yapping it up with cousins and extended family this past week. And boy did we have fun! My Dad's side of the family came down and we had a great time visiting, reconnecting, and for some of us, meeting family members for the first time. We were surrounded by aunts, uncles, 1st cousins, 2nd cousins, and who-really-cares-what-number-removed-we-are cousins! It was so nice to be surrounded by family and KIDS! I also loved having a week off from the going to bed battle that has been taking place lately. Coop was pooped every night and fell right to sleep without any type of stand off. If only we had cute cousins to wear us out every day! We sure do miss "all the kids" (as Cooper says). Coop must really like his cousins because he introduced his new monster truck to his brother last night by saying " Hi Cruz, I'm Cooper's cousin, Monster Truck".

That pretty much sums it up......Coop thinks cousins are as cool as Monster Trucks. Trust me, that's BIG.

I'll try to post pictures of some of our adventures as soon as I can......

4th

What 4th of July wouldn't be complete without a parade and fun at the park? I don't think these activities are must do's necessarily but they were definitely a great option for us this year. We really enjoyed the small town feel of all the festivities and the great sense of community. There's something about parades, watermelon and having a low key day in the park that makes everyone happy and smiley.

We started the day off with a parade and then ventured to the park. It was your typical park celebration with all the RED WHITE & BLUE bells and whistles and plenty of carnival-type kiddie rides. What made the rides not so typical for us is that big C actually enjoyed them and wasn't afraid to check them out. Our big boy rode them all by himself! A pretty big deal for a boy that is hit or miss when it comes to even sliding at the playground.

We skipped the fireworks show this year. Luckily, the boys don't know what they're missing and quite frankly, sleep and bedtime are waayyyyyyy too precious to me right now. Mama needs her down time if you know what I mean. I finished the night off listening to the fireworks while nestling in the comforts of my pillow.

Two Thumbs Up

Big C, Gma Linda and I had a movie date this week. Gpa Pat and Little C stayed home. We went to see Cars 2. As some of you may already know, Coop is a BIG fan of CARS. We'd been talking the movie up big time and I was quite enjoying the leverage I had dangling the Cars 2 carrot in front of Coop. "If you don't go to sleep we won't get to go see Cars 2".....yada, yada, yada....I milked it quite a bit.

The verdict; Coop loved it. He was a little overwhelmed initially (as you can see in the first pic) but then all was A-ok. There were a few shoot 'em up scenes (unlike the first one) which I didn't care for. Coop still doesn't know what guns are and I'd like to keep it that way for as long as I can. I tried to tell him they were throwing hubcaps and nuts & bolts and I think he actually bought it.

So much for using Cars 2 as leverage any longer. I guess I'll have to use Cars 3 (whenever that may be). Come on Disney/Pixar, you better get on it! Times a tickin'.