Celebrating 40 Years!

We celebrated my parent's 40th anniversary this Saturday.   Keith and Amber opened up their house and threw a nice party for the folks.   A lot of well wishers, and a lot I haven't seen for a while.   I am thankful for my parent's marriage and the example they've been for me and my brothers.   They demonstrate love for each other and I always saw that growing up.   Being the oldest, I guess I witnessed almost all of the marriage, what with me turning 40 this December...oh wait, no, I'm only turning 39...scandal averted.  Thanks for making it look easy and here's to 40 more!

 

Jeff Hopkins

Campfire Confessions

Camping Rule #1: Don't wear a sundress in the woods. I'm still itching in the oddest places.
Camping Rule #2: Make friends with people whose idea of camping involves a souped-up RV with a flat screen TV.
Camping Rule #3: If you're a woman, classic camping foods for dinner is the way to go. It may be the only time your man will jump to make dinner. The combination of raw meat and an open flame is too hard for any man to resist. :)
On Friday, Jeff and I met up with our small group friends at a campground in Kewanee to celebrate our fearless leader's 30th birthday. Let me tell you something about my friend, Michael. We were meant to be friends. We ended up in the same church and same small group in Boston circa 2004. We never kept in touch, but two years later, we found one another in the same church and same small group in Peoria, IL. It was kismet!
I just realized last night that Jeff & I have had the same core group of friends for five years! It blows my mind how time flies...and how sharing life together in a tight community of friends is such a blessing. When we first met, we were all single. Now we've all pretty much married off, with the exception of a few fabulous single ladies. (If you're a single guy reading this, shoot me an email.) :)
I love our annual camping trips. We laugh. We play games. We get dirty. And we have campfire confession time. I still owe our group my most embarrassing moment...:) Next year, guys...

Sunday in the Park with S'mores

We loaded up the Caravan Sunday night and motored on over to Morton where we met the Gudeman family for a get together.  I've known Toby and Trish and there family for around 8 years, so Max and Laney have grown up with their kids and are always asking to get together.   They moved to Bloomington a few years ago and so we don't see them as much as we'd like to, but Sunday night the kids didn't skip a beat and ran all over Oakwood Park.  Before we knew it Cyrus had a fire going and we enjoyed roasting some s'mores--thanks Trish!   Much to Catherine's chagrin, the campfire wasn't the only thing smoking that night.   The Gudeman's have been great friends over the years and the kids are already asking when's the next trip to Bloomington...not soon enough!

--jeff

First Day of School

Another year and another first day of school.  Below you can see the standard first day of school shot as it's progressed over the years.  The kids have grown while the lazy photography has stayed the same...the standard pose outside the front of the house.   Laney starts Junior High this year and Max goes into fourth grade.   That night we had, Eddie, a family friend, over for dinner and of course that leads into games afterwords.   Wits and Wagers started us off and then we finished off with a game of Bohnanza.  Catherine let the kids choose what dessert they wanted for the first day of school and the redundant choice was Chocolate Brownie Ice Cream on top of....wait for it....a CHOCOLATE BROWNIE. 

My Sweet Son at Sweet CeCe's

My toddler has a sweet tooth that rivals mine. So for that reason, my husband and I took him on our date night to Sweet CeCe's, a trendy fro-yo place that opened up in Junction City. (You can stop right now and slap me for believing kids belong on date nights)! Reams of candy funnels line the walls. A buffet of caramel sauce and hot fudge top off fat-free yogurt flavors. Sweet CeCe's = UTOPIA for Hayes.


BUT Sweet CeCe's = So-So for Mamma. I spent half the night chasing a little boy on a sugar-high. He wanted up. He wanted down. He wanted his own seat. He wanted to share with Mamma. I was so exhausted from the arm raising up and down action that my yogurt had the consistency of soup by the time I got to it.

Sweet Ce-Ce's is a pared down version of MY idea of utopia--Yogurtland. It's fro-yo minus the flair of exotic flavors and toppings. I found the blaring country music out of place amongst the chic pink and green that lit the walls. But alas, it was nice to enjoy a night on the town with my two boys in a youthful atmosphere. And it was especially nice once Hayes crashed from his sugar high!

Bean Trading with some Baptists

Kris and Greg invited us over for homemade pizza on Saturday and my wife ignored my misgivings of— "but they're BAPTIST"— so, we went anyway.   Luckily they enjoy playing games, which almost makes up for it.  Their neighbors, who we know from Richwoods, joined us and we played Bohnanza.  We enjoyed our time trading beans, although Kris' win was tainted by allegations of cheating.  Greg makes some great deep dish pizza and promised next time to use some dill in his dough for a Russian twist on an American classic.  The kids always enjoy the trampoline.   Our two Russians enjoyed Benjamins' impressive train set.  Hayes is jealous, but Kris' has a husband who makes dinner, so Hayes' mom is jealous too.   Sorry, dearheart, at least I'm handy...uhhh....or cute...

 

Kiddie Pool

Well it was hot enough last night for even the older kids want to don their swimsuits for a dip in the kiddie pool.   The pool is perfect for Hayes, but usually doesn't hold much of an attraction for Max and Delaney.  They did enjoy spraying Hayes with the hose as soon as he got in the pool, which sent him scrambling out.   The pool also drew the attention of some neighborhood kids who we've seen around but hadn't really met yet.  Well that changed last night.  We invited them to swim but they just hung out and enjoyed getting their picture taken.  Jada challenged Max to a bike race and managed to beat him, much to Max's chagrin.  Jada, Marianna and Rajinay, it was nice to meet you, and hope you stop by again. Enjoy the pictures and oh...I almost forgot, we found out Hayes likes fudgesicles.