First Picture of the Hooper Kiddos

Kids' pictures July 2012

Kudos to the photographer from JC Pennys! This is the first picture of all three Hooper Kiddos sitting still and  (pretty much) all looking at the camera. We realized that we had not take Daniel in for 2 year pictures and that Ana was growing up too fast. An Impromptu trip to the picture place fixed that. Luckily the Park Meadows mall has a new Disney store. We essentially bribed Charlie with a trip through that store if he sat for his pictures with the babies.We managed to get a great picture of the kids and made it out of the Disney store without buying a thing. Successful Sunday!

Back Yard Camp Out

This summer we haven't had the chance to take off for a family camping trip, so this weekend I decided that the boys and I were going to "rough it" in the backyard.  We haven't been camping since the summer before Daniel was born.  Apparently pregnant women don't like to sleep on their back on the ground in the middle nowhere . . .who knew? 

We might still try to squeeze in a camping trip this summer, so it was time to test Daniel's camping mettle and take stock of the equipment.  On our last trips, we had camped through some pretty vigorous storms and my memory was that the tent was in pretty rough shape.  As I unpacked all of the equipment, several fond memories flashed back into my head.  We were missing a sleeping pad due to it's unfortunate run-in with some caustic chemical that melted the plastic . . . not sure what it was.  The duck tape on the poles reminded me of the gale force wind storm we "slept" through at Estes Park.  A couple of them had snapped and our tent caved in on us.  The green tent patch served as a very pointed reminder about why broken poles should probably be replaced rather than duct taped.  Our wind battered tent had collapsed just enough on a subsequent trip that it came into contact with our latern and burned a hole.  Luckily no Hooper was harmed in that incident.  All that said, the tent was still in good enough condition to handle a simple backyard affair.  The question was if Dad was. 

The boys and I packed a few toys and books, filled our water bottles and made the long trek out to our campsite.  We were super excited.  After climbing in, we got our jammies on and began to settle in for the evening.  We had a good time playing airplanes and superheroes and reading books.  After it got dark the boys had fun looking at "that star" (this was city camping afterall) and the occasional airplane flying overhead.  Charlie hung tough for a good while, but finally went to sleep at a reasonable 9 o'clock.  Daniel . . . not so much.  I think he was a little excited to be sleeping next to Dad.  He talked for another hour and half while I read my book.  The kid was an Energizer Bunny.  They did both stay asleep the whole night, which makes me believe they are ready for the real thing even if the tent isn't.  We just have to talk Mom and Ana into it.

Family Hike

Angela and I were feeling a little cooped up lately and were looking to get out this weekend. We decided it was time to make use of the kiddie backpack and take the kids for hike. We opted for something closer to home just in case disaster was looming and went to Red Rocks Park. It was a hike Charlie, Daniel and I had done before with Tyler and JP last summer. On that hike, I carried a small backpack and Daniel in the Baby Bjorn. In addition, for about the last quarter of that trip I carried Charlie on my shoulders. I must have looked like a Sherpa. I was hoping for better results this time around.

The hike started great. As you can see in the pictures, Ana was perfectly content in the baby backpack and the boys ran around. About half way through, Daniel pooped out and we made the switch to put him in the backpack while Angela carried Ana in the Baby Bjorn. Charlie was a trooper and made it almost to the end. He and Ang found a good stopping point near the end of the trail while Daniel and I finished and came back to pick them up in the car.

In the end, the trip had the desired results. We spent a great day outside as a family and the kids burned off lots of energy. You can’t beat that.

The other pics from the day are here:

Red Rocks Hike

Daniel is Two!

Daniel's 2nd Birthday Party

We broke down this year for Daniel’s birthday and bought him a sand table. You can see from the pictures that he absolutely loves it and I have to admit it hasn’t been as bad as I was expecting. Since Daniel very rarely has shoes on anyways, there’s not a whole of the sandy-shoes-dumped-on-the-kitchen-floor issue. The worst we have to deal with are extremely dirty socks. The first part of Daniel’s birthday was pretty low key just us and Nana, but this weekend we celebrated with family and friends. Laure, Walker and the kids came up from Colorado Springs and Kevin and Marie came over with Nick. The kids had a great time being pushed on the tire swing and climbing on the play set.

Daniel had a great time playing with his friends and cousins, so a big thank you to you guys for coming over.

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

A Springs Hike

Last weekend we spent Sunday in the Springs.  The women-folk had a baby shower to go to and the men taught the kids all about roughing it in the wild.  Well, maybe not, but we did take a fun hike up to a reservoir to throw rocks in a lake.  You can't beat that!

The kids climbed every single rock within a two mile radius, which made for some pretty slow going at times.  They don't call it The Rockies for nothing.  They also picked up more than their fair share of sticks and met lots of friendly pups out for an afternoon stroll.  The hike finished up just in time for us to get home before a pretty fierce storm blew over the mountains.