camping!

Oh my gosh - have you ever seen such a funny gang of scroungy little boys?! Our camping trip was so much fun... we pulled in Friday night and set up camp for the weekend:
... and the boys got right to business - riding bikes!
Of course, there was fun around the campfire...

... and playtime in the tent...

... and exploring around the bike trails...

... but most of the time, everyone just rode and rode...

... and rode, until they were so happily, blissfully dirty!

(not to mention, absolutely worn out!!!)

The bigger boys (two 8-year-olds, two 6-year-olds) did some really awesome riding on the trails. Here they are at the trail head on the last day (Monday)- ready for some sweet singletrack!

Meanwhile, Sam had a fine time hanging out in the truck with Otis...

... while his buddy Finley watched along the trail with his mom!

I was so impressed with how well Hamp rode... here are a few good shots of him on the trail!

Thanks to Meredith & Obi for letting us tag along on their camping trip... there's just nothing more beautiful than a desert sunset!

camping - a sneak peak!

Our adventures this weekend took us to Fruita, CO - a mountian biking mecca! - for camping and biking with friends. It was awesome! The boys played and rode and got really, really dirty! The weather was perfect - warm, sunny and not too cold at night. We ate well, rode hard and had fun watching the kids... oh, and I took lots and lots of pictures!

stay tuned...

a big day for Hamp!

Hamp had his kindergarten program and graduation ceremony on Tuesday......and his Dad was very proud!

(click here to see Hamp receive his diploma!) The program was cute - a "Barnyard Moosical" - with lots of songs and cute dance moves and even a few spoken lines!
There were lots of cute animals - Hamp was a goat - and everyone had on their best western wear!
A big thank you to Yaya for Hamp's perfect shirt!!

Of course, for Hamp it's all about the social scene! He was thrilled to get through the program so he could hang out with all of his buddies.
(don't ask what they're doing - I'm not real sure?! let's assume it's the peace sign, and not some new six-year-old gang sign!)
The rest of the day was full of fun - play time at the park with lots of friends, a soda and a treat at the soda fountain, more playtime on the downtown lawn, then still more playtime at the baseball park - which included exploring with sticks and rocks in the stream and sandpile... quintessential kid adventures!

But the biggest part of the day wasn't even the program or the diploma... it was the wiggly, wobbly tooth that preoccupied Hamp the whole time he was on stage!

Well, it finally fell out right after the program! The perfect addition to a very big day!

dance moves

Hamp and Sam had a little dance party the other day... and I couldn't help but get a video.

Man, these guys really know how to move!

~

Hamp and Sam dance party video

click the link to see the YouTube video

~

trying a new/easier way to share videos (thanks to Alec & Jei for the inspiration!) - YouTube! This is a first, so let me know how it works...

playschool graduate

The high school's Family & Consumer Education program has a "Playschool" lesson that invites 3-4 year olds to attend school a couple times a week... it's fun for the little guys, and interesting for the high school kids, I'm sure!

However, upon completion of the six-week class Sam was still pretty unsure of exactly how fun the whole experience was!

At least his best buddy was there with him...

Eventhough most of the six-weeks was spent with trepidation of leaving mom for an hour of supervised, structured play time with other kids (I know, so scary huh?!) Sam finally warmed up to the idea that Playschool was over now that he had his diploma in hand!

Really, how bad can it be when you get a balloon?!

Wait until next year when he's one of the older kids - it's probably going to be a whole different story!

the babysitter photo session

Oh my gosh... we have the best babysitters!

While we were out dancing the night away at the annual hospital fundraiser event last Saturday, Hamp and Sam got to spend the evening with two of their favorite friends and two of their favorite babysitters. Someone found the camera and to my surprise I discovered so many funny pictures today!

So if there was ever any question as to what the kids do while we are away - apparently they have a lot of fun!!!

friends

Here is my driveway today at 4pm:

All I can say is that I am so glad the boys like

to play outside and be with their friends!