High Five

Our Daddy is the best - he defines FUN! (Aiden, L and Chris, R)



Aiden loving the hose and the power he has when he controls the hose!



Christopher exploring Grammie Hopkin's gardens.



One small piece of the HUGE, perfect double rainbow we saw Saturday. It looked as if the pot of gold was going to be smack dab in the middle of our house but no such luck - at least not that we have found... yet!



Mike, Chris and the Swanson's enjoying a show at the Suffield Fireman's Carnival.



Audrey and Micah Fisher both hard at work.



This is my nose and this is my finger UP my nose! Chris (L), Aiden (R)



Twins - Chris and Daddy in their navy polo's.



Aiden hard at work reading.... And yes, Uncle Dan he is looking at two pictures both of which you are in... Mr. Popular!




Pictures, pictures everywhere! Aiden and Chris both thoroughly enjoy looking back at pictures of themselves on the camera. If often turns into a battle of strength and will of Momma vs. the boys as to who is going to get to "keep" control over the camera but it's fun until we get to that point!

Despite the rain, we had a great week! On Thursday Grammie Pt. came over in the late afternoon to spend some time with us before Mike and I headed to Worcester for a super duper quick visit Auntie Laura's before we hit up Bocado's (a tapas bar) to celebrate Grandpa Dave's 31st Birthday! Dziadz Pt met Grammie Pt at our house and watched Aiden and Chris and put them to bed while we all enjoyed a wonderful birthday celebration and a great new dining experience. We all had a lot of fun and it was SO nice to see the entire Hopkins family together. Andrew put the icing on the cake as he came in from NY to surprise Dave! Laura lives about 1/2 mile from the restaurant and also came to join the fun and in the meantime we knew Chris and Aiden were also being spoiled and enjoying some special attention from the Pt's!

On Friday we met Patty, our new occupational therapist. We have our second visit with her tomorrow and I will be anxious to see how the match feels after we get to know her a bit more. She is very nice but certainly no Karli. Karli's enthusiasm and energy are hard to compete with for sure!

Friday night we had one of Mike's co-workers over for dinner. They brought their 3 1/2 year old son who was very entertaining. We enjoyed their company and it is truly amazing to see the difference that 2 years can make in skills, interests and attention!

On Saturday Chris and Aiden enjoyed an awesome 1st Birthday Party for their friend Calvin at Flemig Farm in West Simsbury. We had a ton of fun despite the heat and enjoyed great company, delicious food and a super fun tractor ride! A & C weren't too sure of the tractor ride at first and cried a bit but we attribute this to the fact that they were 2 hours past their usual nap :) Oh the wonders of toddler schedules!

Saturday afternoon we had our friends, the Fishers and the Swansons over for a bite to eat before we headed to check out the Suffield Fireman's parade and carnival. We had 5 adults and 7 kids in tow but everyone seemed to enjoy some aspect of the festivities... well that is until the skies opened up and dumped BUCKETS of rain! We had so much fun visiting and although it is always hard to have adult conversation with so many little ones around, it was great to have such amazing company and so nice to get out and do something different. We ended our night together huddled under a tree, hoping the rain would pass only to eventually give in, get soaked and enjoy a FULL, double rainbow on our walk to the car! I can't tell you the last time I saw a full rainbow that was a perfect half circle was clear as can be.

We got up early today and started our day with a family walk. We hoped the boys would nap but that was wishful thinking. We headed home and packed up to head out to church. Aiden and Chris's nap boycotting continued and we had very short afternoon naps before heading for some swim time at Grammie & Grandpa Hopkin's house. We were bummed that we missed seeing Grammie & Grandpa as they were in Boston for the day but we were thrilled to have a place to cool down and Aiden and Chris were in their glory running around all afternoon.

This week Aiden and Chris took a liking to playing pretend. They love to feed and take care of their animals, both plastic and stuffed. They also love to take care of one another. It is SUPER cute! They are great about taking two of an item and sharing one with their brother but as I've mentioned in the past, they are always quick to assess which is the better of the two before passing the remaining off to their unsuspecting brother. Aiden and Chris can both now identify their head, belly, nose, ears and sometimes feet/toes. They aren't able to pronounce the body parts yet but are quick to point when asked. I'll leave you on this note.... I had to laugh because up until this week, the boys never knew that their noses existed. As part of the discovery, Chris also noticed that the nose has two amazing holes that are perfect for fitting your fingers! What a discovery!