How do you spend Spring Break?

The Perkins take an over night trip just to entertain the kids............

in the SNOW!!!

 

That's right, snow in the middle of March just at the beginning of our Spring Break!

My parents and the Merrill's had already planned on going to the cabin for a the weekend, so we decided to make a quick trip and join in the fun.

We left Friday night right after getting off work and chanced the weather as it had been raining and snowing all day. Luckily we left between the storms and had clear skies the entire way. But the damage was already done!

We witnessed and passed many cars that had spun out of control and plowed into the snow banks on the side of the road. The scariest sight was watching the car behind us drive into on coming traffic with out realizing it, swerving once he saw his mistake and hitting the snow banks on both sides of the road due to ice.

Both Cole and I were thankful that we made it to our destination with no problems.

 

We woke the next morning to snow covered cars and a group of 7 kids under the age of 9 anxious to get out and play. So immediately following breakfast, they all suited up and ran out the door.

Our stubborn Addison refused to put on snow boots and quickly learned her lesson when she came inside with pants soaked up to her knees. Before going sledding we convinced her that snow boots were a much better choice to keep her from freezing.

 

We all loaded up in the cars and drove to sledding spot Cole and Sean had scouted out earlier that morning. The kids....and adults had a BLAST!

 

 

Little Lynden going down all by herself!

 

Addison....I think her face explains it all.

 

 

Sean and baby Troy, who if you've ever seen The Christmas Story was wrapped up just as much!

I do believe Christine had Troy dressed in 7 different layers to make sure he stayed warm. That kid could barely walk.

 

 



Tatum taking a turn on the tube.

 

 

We even got Grandma and Grandpa Hastings to take turns with the kids. Grandma with Lynden and Grandpa with Dusty.

Grandma made in down a couple times with the kids, but Grandpa and Dusty wiped out about half way down. Grandpa decided that was enough for the day :)

 

 

Cole decided to take the more dangerous route by dodging all the rocks on a steeper hill.

 

We even managed to get Toby to take a ride with Lincoln. He decided to bail only 2 seconds into the ride and finished it out just running beside the sled.

 

 



Garrett learned that if you lay flat on your back you can go much faster and farther.

 

In the end it was hard to tell who had more fun...the kids or the adults. It amazing how just a little snow and a sled can bring out the kid in us no matter how old you are.

 

We returned to the cabin to warm up and eat some lunch before sending the kids back outside to have more fun. The adults visited and began working on dinner. My brother Galen and 2 of his kids came to visit and join us for dinner. Games were played and good times were had in the company of friends and family. Our trip was quickly coming to a close due to Cole having to be at work the next morning. We packed up the car with our things and worn out kids. Said our good-byes and were on the road to drive home in the dark.

Sleeping kids and a dog in the back gave Cole and I plenty of time to enjoy each others company and have some nice conversations with out interruption.

 

How I miss getting to spend time with my wonderful husband! We don't see much of each other now that we work opposite shifts to off set the cost of daycare. I have learned to cherish every waking minute that I get to spend with the one I love.

 

I am so grateful that we chose to take this quick trip up north! Oh how we all needed the break away from home and the stress of everyday life.  



 

Halloween Pictures

I finally uploaded all the pictures on my camera, which included Halloween. So here are my monsters all dressed and ready to go!

For some strange reason I decided that I wanted to try and be super mom by making the kids costumes this year.......

What was I thinking!!!!

I haven't sewn anything for more than 12 years! But hey I'm a mom.....that means I can do anything right? They turned out perfect......or at least that's what the kids told me.

No harm/ No fowl.

 

 

A few long nights up sewing in piece and quiet and they were finished.

I don't mind too much since they are now being used almost daily for dress up.

I remember as a kid pulling out the costume box at home and finding great adventures inside.

We spent Halloween at a friends block party, where we saw more kids in one night that I think I have in my entire lifetime, including all my years that the Pediatric Dental office. The stream of kids was never ending!

Fun times were had and buckets were filled with candy!

What a Night!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who Gave Them Guns?!

Who was behind this picture??? I can't believe that a knowing adult would give that many children under 4 feet tall guns!

 

This event took place over 4th of July weekend and I was able to get these wonderful pictures off of Cole's phone. He, along with Sean and my dad, took all the kids out for some target practice.

As you can probably tell, the guns most of them used were bigger than they were!

The kids had a blast and loved every minute!

 

 

Lincoln proudly displays the cup he shot to bits!

 

 

Addison trying patiently to wait her turn.

 

 

Everyone pitching in to help clean up the mess they made. Grandpa did a great job teaching them gun safety and reminding them to always pickup what you brought in and any shells that may be found on the ground.

 

Thanks Dad for sharing this fun experience with my kids! They loved it and talk about going shooting with you again.

Some of my best memories as a kid were waking up early in the morning to go shooting with my dad. I hope that my children realize what a privilege it is to have a Grandpa willing and able to teach them a skill that he knowingly perfected in the Army National Guard.

 

Much Needed Catch Up

I went through the camera the other night to look at what pictures Cole took at Addison's birthday and realized I haven't posted anything on what we have been doing over the past few months! So here is my attempt at playing catch up! Sorry for the incredibly long post!


July

Lincoln turned 4 and just had to have a monster truck party! That is all this boy ever talks about. Any truck that is bigger than normal on the road gets classified as one and then he talks non-stop about it for the rest of the day. He truely is a BOY!

 

 

A few days after his birthday was the 4th of July so of course that was spent up north in the cool pines at my parents cabin with cousins. We love having the freedom to escape from the heat in the middle of the summer to enjoy the cool air and daily rain showers. We've missed out on this the last couple of years due to Cole's work schedule, but we found time this year and it was definitely worth it.

No 4th of July celebration is complete without a parade. The kids loved it and we are already making plans to sit in the Wet Zone next year so that we can get sprayed with water by the firetrucks and all the floats.

 

Look at those parade watchers! Aren't they so cute?! Thanks Christine and Sean for actually posing for the picture:)

No parade would be complete without some classic cars. These were Cole's favorites of course.

 

 

 Some how Lynden convinced Grandma to feed her a popsicle! This girl can get anyone to give in to her just by looking at them!

 

 Loud motorcycles cause for the need for ear plugs for everyone except cute baby Troy. This kid has to be the cutest. Just love him!!!

 

Addison nice and cooled off after getting sprayed with water guns.

 

Getting ready to enjoy the fireworks show with cousins wouldn't be complete without homemade ice cream and glow stick necklaces.



Haleigh, Tatum, Lincoln, Galen, Dusty and Addison

 

 

 

August

 

Only means 1 thing..... BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

 

Addison started 1st grade this year and we were looking forward to her being in school all day. She loves school and needs the structure and challenge that it brings. Her new favorite thing is actually getting to eat lunch at school this year. The only problem being that she's too much of a social butterfly that she often runs out of time to actually eat her lunch. Needless to say we are working on time management with her:)

 

Lincoln was able to get placed in the Preschool program offered through our District. He attends class 4 days a week and loves his teacher Miss Jenny. He always has exciting things to share the rest of the day to anyone who is willing to listen. We are hoping that with the Speech Therapist in his class twice a week that his speech will improve so that everyone can understand him a little better.







September

 Addison turned 7 and wanted to invite the whole world to her birthday party. Not ok....so we settled on a small party with family and a few friends this year. Her only request was white cupcakes with pink icing and a Nintendo DS. She got the cupcakes, but not the Nintendo. She has been working really hard to save all her money so that she can help buy her own. She is doing a great job, but she's not quite there yet. Cole and I have agreed to help her out since they are pretty pricey, maybe she'll have enough at Christmas time. That is the current goal. She got lots of other great presents and loves them all. She's really into Littlest Pet Shops and I am finding them all over our house, plus the dog loves to chew on them. She has learned to make sure they are picked up at the end of the day or find them covered in dog spit!

Can you even find the birthday girl in that mess of kids? WOW!!!

 

 

 

Well, I think that pretty much sums up the last few months at our house. Cole and I have been busy with work and just keeping up with life. That seems to fills our days before we even have time to make any plans. Weekends are spent playing catch up on quiet time and being a family. Can't wait for the Holidays and everything in between!

Beautiful San Diego

It's always nice to go on vacation when someone else pays for it!!! So that's exactly what Cole and I did....without kids....even better!

The wonderful Dentists that I work for planned a trip for the staff members of both offices to go to the Pediatric Dental Convention in San Diego. Each employee was given a stipend to use on their expenses for travel, lodging and food. I chose to use some of the money to bring Cole along with me. We decided to fly since Cole couldn't get any time off work and we would only be there for 2 1/2 days. After all was said and done we only had to pay for our food expense while we were there. It was AWESOME and a much needed break!

To make it qualify as a work expense we all had to attend at least one class at the convention. So we did it together the first morning of the trip. Here are only half of the crazy group of people that I work with. The other half didn't join us for the fun.

After our morning of listening to speakers and walking around 100's of vendors booths we were free to spend the weekend doing whatever we wanted!

So Cole and I went here:

And ate this :

Or at least attempted :)

(don't tell him, but I don't think it's all going to fit)

 

This place was featured on Triple D aka Diner's, Drive in's, and Dive's. Cole's favorite show on the Food Network. I'm pretty sure his life goal is to someday own a restaurant that makes it on this show.

Then we headed up the coast to soak in all the fresh sea air we could find. We ended up here for about 2 hours!

This is La Jolla Cove. The Sea Lions come right up onto the beach to sun bathe for hours. What a Life!!

It was really windy while we were there and cold for us Arizonians that are used to 100 degree weather, but one of us thought it would be fun to see how close we could get to the water...

and this was the results...

Thanks Amy for being lovely photographer!

We ended our day with a ride on the old Bellemont wooden roller coast, which was fun and jarring. I think we all needed to see the chiropractor after that ride.

The next day was spent driving around with no plans or destination in mind. We did find time to stop here:

What a perfect way to end our trip! We didn't have time to do a session like we had hoped, but enjoyed being on the grounds to take in the beautiful view.

Overall, it was a fast, relaxing trip that we both loved and needed. We missed the kids tons and saw lots of things they would have enjoyed, but it was nice to spend time together as just husband and wife....and not mom and dad:)