Happy Birthday Cooper!!

I cannot believe my baby boy is 5!!

How did that happen?! It just seems like a few months ago he looked like this...

 All cute and squishy and little. And he just wanted to be held and cuddled...

Oh little boy...

I love this kid, he is such a character, such a clown. And he knows he's funny too. From the time he could walk, he was showing off and if you laughed, the more he would do it.

I feel for the kid's future teachers...

Remember when he would say:

"Leave alone me!"

"Thaths my Thue!"

"That for freak me out!"

Now he's in speech and he doesn't lisp as much, which in the long run is a GOOD thing, but he doesn't sound as much like my little Cooper.

He is the little Diablo Blanco, or White Devil. He is crazy and such a smart alec! You never know whats going to come out of his mouth! I was sooo worried about school. 

How could I impose this crazy kid onto another adult...

But he surprised us. He is so behaved at school. Yes, he is still loud and a little crazy, but they say he is so helpful and so willing to share and take turns...

Where did that kid come from!

Though, he is getting better at home. He shares more with his brother and sister,

 and he is getting better at being patient and waiting.

I'm so proud of him!

He loves Brody to pieces and wants to do everything he does! He also drives Brody crazy and loves to wrestle with him. Brody is so nice he tries not to get mad and hurt him, but sometimes Cooper won't stop and it ends in a few tears from both. But they play soo well together most of the time, 

they are best friends. And he loves his sister too. And she loves to be 'in charge' of him when they go to the park or when she's 'babysitting' while I run to the store quick. She always comes up with fun games to play like School, or House or Treasure Hunts...

I love my kids...

He loves to wrestle with his dad, and when I tell him that dad is being 'mean' to Mommy, he climbs up on him and tells him he better say sorry or he's going to hurt him.

My own little hero!

(He also says he's going to fart on his head, which I don't particularly like, but Cooper thinks its hilarious so I don't see that stopping anytime soon!)

Oh little Cooper Man! I am so happy you are in our family. You keep us laughing and keep our family having fun! You also remind Mommy to slow down a little and appreciate the little things that you do, that all the kids do. You are my baby, and as you say...

"I love you to the Blue Goose and back!"

Cooper's Hockey Season...

So, when it comes to this little dude, I AM kind of glad hockey is over. He liked it ok, but it wasn't his favorite. The last few times, he was a little more enthusiastic, but most of the time he wanted to know if it was "Real Hockey", so he could get a treat from the concession.

He did come a LONG ways this year. At the beginning, he could hardly stand on his skates, and he learned really fast how to get up when he fell! And he would whine alot at the beginning, too. 

It was hard, it was cold, I'm tired....

I wasn't sure we would last out the season! 

But as time went on, he got better and better, and started to have more fun!

We called him "Scooter" for a while because when he first started trying to skate fast, he would lean on his stick, keep one foot plated and push off with the other one. Just like when you ride a scooter! It was quite funny to watch. 

But as the weeks went on, he got better and better and pretty soon, "Scooter" just about disapeared! he used 2 legs to skate and he didn't even lean on his stick! That's when he really started to like skating and going to Public skate with all of us and playing tag with the kids.

He's even started to like to play road hockey, (or floor hockey, much to my dismay!) with his big brother. And Brody's pretty good with teaching him the ropes. He helps him hold his stick properly and doesn't shoot on him too hard and lets him score once in a while as well. He's such a good big brother! No wonder Cooper wants to do, "Whatever Brody is!"

The little guys played just a couple of games,

 but they even got to play in the Enmax center on the BIG ICE! Just like the Hurricanes. 

Cooper wasn't overly impressed at the time, but big brother thought it was neat that he got to do that!

The last game was against the Mom's. He was very excited and it was alot of fun. I have started playing Women's Rec hockey this year, so at least I can skate, and I was excited to play against my little boy. He liked it too, and reminds me STILL, "We beat you 9-4, Mom!"

I am so proud of him for trying hard, even when he didn't want to. I am so amazed at how well he has done this year, and can't wait to see what next year brings!

I think by this time next year I may have 2 Hockey Nuts running around the house!!

Hockey Season's Over...

So. I don't know how I feel about this. On one hand, I have 3-4 evenings free that I didn't have before. (At least for a couple of weeks!) On the other, I really enjoyed watching my boys play hockey this year. They both grew TREMENDOUSLY in their skills and talent.

Especially Brody.

He liked hockey last year. Was a very cautious skater. Didn't go after the puck with alot of vigor or enthusiasm. But he liked to play...

This year, he loved it! I think because he had learned so much more, was a little more confident AND his dad helped coach. He really liked that too.

He played Defense for most of the year. He wasn't the strongest skater out there, but he really knew his position, and it was really neat to watch him look around, think about it and make some really great passes up to the forwards. I think the last 2 months he really shone!!

He did play forward a few times in the first half of the season and even made 6 goals this year! 

But he really liked playing defense the most.

His team did really well, too. They were undefeated in regular season play. They lonly lost 7 games. 2 in the seeding rounds, once in their own tournament, once in the Foremost tournament, and the last 3 against Cardston for the banner. They really worked well together, and had alot of fun!

I loved how different he has become this year. He is still my Brody, but I find that he is more confident and a little more outgoing than he was at this time last year. I honestly give most of the credit to hockey. I think he realized how good he actually was, and it really started to shine through in the last few games.

He really liked the kids on his team. They all got along quite well and had alot fun 

both on and off the ice.

I loved watching them celebrate the goals. I didn't catch many of them because I was too busy cheering myself, but I did get this one. There's my little #5!!

Like I said, fun on and off the ice!

He really made some good friends through hockey, and he's really enjoyed the fun of having some of them live close so he can go play road hockey with them.

He wanted to grow his hair out for Hockey Season. I let him, even though it got terribly shaggy and hippy looking! I was finally kind of liking it, and then 3 days before it was all over he cut it off!! I was kind of sad. I asked him why and he said "Because it makes my head itch!"

I hope he tries again next year!

They did so well and came in first in the division! They fought a long best of 5 game battle with Cardston and lost in the final game. We had some pretty heart broken kids, though I think some of Brody's sadness was due to the fact that Hockey was over for the year!

We were so proud of them, and I am sooo proud of my Brody and the amazing little athlete he's turning into! I don't know if he'll ever get tired of hockey.

He asked me the day after the final game:

"Mom, when does hockey season start?"

California Trip! Part 4

So the last part of the trip was busy and fun and beautiful!

Might I say again, I love California. I love the ocean. I love the beauty of nature.

I'm still not a huge camper/nature walker/tree hugger type, but I love to just look at the wonder of nature. And I like old stuff...hence why I love places like Monterey Bay and San Francisco!

When we were planning the trip, the coast wasn't even on the agenda at first. Then as we got thinking, why not? We may not get the chance to drive here again, and we tend to like to do different things for trips, never the same trip twice, so we decided that instead of just taking the normal I-15 home, why not make a slight side trip and enjoy the Californian coast along the way!

I loved Monterey Bay when we went a couple of years ago. Its so quaint and cute and bursting with history. It also has the cutest pier with great shops and restaurants, where we enjoyed the best clam chowder in the world!! Even Gracie agreed. She didn't want to order from the kids menu, she wanted the Chowder!

It also gave us a chance to really enjoy the power of the ocean. 

I honestly could just sit and watch and listen for hours...

We planned on going to San Francisco the next morning, but decided to enjoy a little more or the coast and beach. We walked along the beach cliffs and out to this rocky point where we did just sit and watched the waves come rolling in. 

It was fun to try and guess which ones would be the biggest ones crashing off the rocks.

Here's me in my happy place...

Dustin even tried recording the waves for me so I could take the sound with me...

Sigh...it didn't quite work out...

 

We drove down to a couple of beaches, explored the tide pools and found lots of shells...

Even a couple of starfish!! 

Then we headed of to San Fran. Just a quick stop to Pier 39, to see the Sea Lions and enjoy the Tulip Celebration. Tulips and Daffodils every where. Made me hungry for Spingtime!!

On the way to the hotel and one last shot of the bridge. it was dark, and I had to leave the shutter open for quite a while, hence the airplane lights across the picture, but still so pretty and amazing!!

We had to try something different, so we headed for Muir Woods just north of the bay. Giant Redwood Forest. So beautiful and peaceful, though I have to say I really enjoyed the Sequoias more. I think some of the Redwood forests farther north are a little more Majestic and larger. it was still pretty and more of a 'Rain Forest' feel with ferns and moss on the trees. Very, Very Green...

Still beautiful and some were still HUGE!!

We went on a hike and my little troupers did really well.

The hike was a nice change from sitting in the car for hours and hours!!

It was such a fun trip, and so sad to see it end! 

I missed my bed, but I realized how much I missed California: my friends, the activities, the ocean.

 I never realized how much a part of me it had become!

I am very much Canadian, but I think there will always be a part of me that is a California Girl!!