Daddy and Ike on a FiELd TrIP

Ben and Ike had the opportunity to go to the World Wildlife Zoo in the fall on Ike's first Field Trip in Kindergarten! I am not sure daddy was prepared for all the fun and excitement of the day, but he did pretty well:) I don't know what was more exciting... the zoo or the trip on the bus! This zoo is pretty special (and huge) and has fun things like a spot to feed the giraffes, and a chance to get really close to some awesome animals AND plenty of space to RUN around:) Ike's group consisted of two other little boys... Dominic and Sam. They were a busy crew, barely stopping for a picture, but boy did they experience the zoo and come home tired! I think all three little boys came close to sleeping on the trip home:) AND they all had a great time going with Ben and eating DELICIOUS delicacies, like seaweed:)

Bowling with the Homies

I have to document all these fun times... Ben is so lucky to be working in a suite with two very talented, amazing doctors. Dr. Dougherty and Dr. Jensen. For Dr. Jensen's birthday the whole suite and their families went bowling. It was such a fun night of wrestling little kiddos and throwing heavy balls:) We had a great time. Truly, we feel like we have been in the perfect place for our little family and for Ben to learn as much as possible. We will miss it:) Well, parts of it:)

Crazy Mamas and San Diego

Isaiah, Jared, Isaac, Kinlee, Zach, Reese, Me, Rach, and Brookie-

welcome to the SD Zoo!

Isaiah, Ike and Kinlee outside the zoo

Reesie girl in the hotel room- pretty excited to be in San Diego!

Isaiah and the Bears!

Zach pointing out the bears to Molly

Isaiah and Jared with the bear (popular spot for us!)

Cute Kinlee and the leopard

A common occurrence on our trip:) best buds!

I think he should've been a LITTLE more impressed by the pandas:)

directions? I told you Rach was the savior of the trip:)

Cool tar pit talking about California- boys were in HEAVEN:)

3 Cousins in a little stroller:)

Lots of fun structures to climb on: Jared and Ike

Hahaha! McKenna really did fall asleep like this! We had some TIRED kiddos!!

Kinlee's favorite spot:)

Fun kiddos at the beach

Ohhhh the beach!!

McKenna's a little unimpressed...

wave running...

Crazy mammas...

Almost all the kiddos... crazy mammas:)

Brookie a little unimpressed...

At least Jared loved the beach!

And Zaya too!

Run Zachy, run!!

Beauty.

Best friends:)

Best. Pic. Ever.

I'm backtracking a little, but I found some un-journaled photos:) What do you do when your husbands are in school, your kids are on fall break, you have free passes to the Zoo, a full tank of gas and San Diego is only a few hours away... You pack up the seven kids, two strollers, a gillion bags, lots of sunscreen, trail mix, and some my little pony and hit the road:) Well, at least that is what my equally-as-crazy dear friend and I did:) Our super supportive, slightly insane husbands booked hotel rooms for us in San Diego and off we went:) We stayed a couple nights and jam packed our days beyond what you would imagine is humanly possible with two mammas and seven children (plus my dear, sweet SIL, Rachel and her two kiddos= 3 mammas and 9 KIDDOS!) Wow.
     We had a blast. We spent a day at the zoo, we LOVE that amazing zoo. We went to the beach (note to self: I CAN ALWAYS JUST GO TO THE BEACH!) I really don't need to "waste time" at any other amusement, the beach is always the favorite spot! The beach has everything! Sun, water, sand, ambient background noise, food, plenty of people watching, parks, digging, shops, crazy fishermen, surfers, everything. I could sit and watch waves or run and chase waves forever with the kiddos:)
      We also chilled at the hotel. The kids LOVED playing together, watching TV (a huge rarity)- chopped is our FAVE, and swimming in the hotel pool. Not to mention all our delicious hotel food:)
I also must mention our sweet gem... We really enjoyed Rachel and her kiddos, as I mentioned earlier. We really need to make our trips to San Diego much closer together. Rach is such an amazing mommy and has two of the sweetest, funnest kiddos. Oh how we LOVE little Isaiah and Brooklynn. Rach was a real trooper guiding us to our San Diego adventure:) She carted us all over the place and helped us with absolutely everything two psychotic mamas could ask for:) I love that woman and her sweet family:) Someday I hope we can live closer because I know our families would be best of friends:)
And finally to my sweet partner in crime... this girl is willing to take any adventure I accept:) She is my Louise:) I just love her and her sweet family to pieces. Our kids act more like cousins than friends and I love that. I'm so grateful to have this family nearby, what a treasure to us:)

Soccer Fall 2012

Cute little soccer team: Ike, Brock, Tatum, Aiden, C, and Brinlee

Ike and Coach Ladd

 Both boys played soccer this fall. Ike was on his first REAL team with goals and coaches and trophies and winners and losers... everything. I really was a true blue soccer mom for the first, and surely  not the last, time:) Ike struggled a little. He is a really sporty boy. Athleticism comes easy to him and soccer was no different. He is pretty coordinated (in spite of who his mother is...) and a good sportsman too. He loved his teammates (many we knew from previous preschool years and from church) and we met a few new kiddos too. He LOVED practice. We discovered though, that Ike gets really nervous about LOSING. He does not like the thought that his team could lose (they only lost twice all season, but still...) He is not into failure at all. It actually even caused a little anxiety thinking about potentially losing. Poor guy lost some sleep over the ordeal. BUT, in the end, he scored his first goal, he was an excellent defensive player all year, and has a few new buddies and new skills to add to his young resume. This may be wrong, but I think it has been good for him to struggle a little. I am trying to not be super competitive, but I do appreciate what sports have been able to teach him thus far. He is learning to be a team player. He's learning that we win and lose, but we always try our best; that sometimes in spite of giving our best effort, someone else wins. He has learned that he has a contribution to make and that his team depends on him, as he does them. He is learning to listen to a coach who has expectations for him and knows him. Yeah, we're sold. Looks like Ike will be playing again in the spring:)

    Zach did soccer tots again this fall. He goes for 1 hour every Saturday morning to learn soccer skills with mom/dad. It has been a stretch for him too. He has learned some new skills and is getting to be a pretty good little ball handler. He loves doing everything his big brother does, so for him, it's a win win. I somehow misplaced the shots I had of his soccer time, but again, he'll be playing in the spring. I LOVE Arizona sept-may. LOVE being outside and LOVE introducing my kids to the wonderful world of sports:)

Our Little Sunbeam

Can you believe this little boy is a sunbeam?! What a big deal to this little guy. Zachary has been counting down the weeks until he could go to sunday school with his brother. At the beginning of the new year, all 3 year olds get to start real sunday school classes and so this has been a long wait for Z! He has been super reverent (so I've heard) and has even participated (which is leaps and bounds beyond where his brother was at this point:)
Zachary is a spunky little 3 year old. He is so smart and hilarious and high maintenance. Yep, I think that sums it up. I would say we may have jinxed him a little by making his middle name James:) He acts just a little like his grandpa (as I've mentioned before). Zachary knows the right answer and just how everything should be:) He has shown his 3 year old spunk recently along with lots of requests (demands). Oh what a fun stage. Lots of drama, but these cute smiles and amazing charm (along with kisses and sweet words) make it all worth while. He loves to give mama compliments (Oh mama I love your toes and your cute pants and sweater and other shirt you are wearing under it and your hair and your earrings, etc... )Sure love this Sunbeam:)

The best redneck date night

My dear friend, Kallee, is better known as my partner in crime. The problem with Kallee and I is that between the two of us, we can talk ourselves into about anything. Case in point... I found a groupon not long ago for  a great deal to the car races. Ben and I have never been, neither had the Cooks, so what better way to spend a friday night than a little Smashburger and trip to the races (it was even a surprise for the hubs). Oh, little did we know:) So, we put on our best redneck garb and headed west... well, northwest:) We had a BLAST! We were way out in the desert at a mud racetrack, we were the only people not emotionally invested in the outcomes, we were probably the only ones without a tatoo, and most definitely the only ones not smoking or boozing. We stuck out like sore thumbs (and we loved it)! The cars were so loud it made your insides pound. The ground shook. We got mud on our faces:) It was the best! We chose our cars and cheered and cheered and laughed! Anyway, it was memorable for sure, and nothing like what we expected.