Two Thursdays ago, the girls and I went to the Phoenix Zoo with some friends of ours. Even though Phoenix can't compare to the SD Zoo that I'm used to, we had a blast. The girls enjoyed seeing all the animals and playing with their friend "Gracen" (that's not really her name, but that's how the girls say it whenever they ask to play with her). Another total score is that since I bought the year pass before the girls turned 3, they will get in free for the full year under my pass - how awesome is that?! Needless to say, now that we have the pass we will definintely be taking more trips to the Phoenix Zoo. Pics from the zoo are in the slideshow below.
The Saturday after the zoo, the girls and I took a little trip out to California. Although I had a very enticing invite to go up to Utah the same week, there was no way we could swing a trip up to the cold land. So, instead we drove over to good ol' Southern California and saw friends, family, and the beach. Again, the girls had an aboslute blast and I have to admit I just enjoyed getting away from Arizona. Not that Arizona is a bad place, it really isn't, it just doesn't give me the same calming, "at-home" feeling I get when I'm back in CA. Anyway, the pictures from our trip to California are in the slideshow below. In case you are wondering what the girls are doing in the first few, they decided to help Grandpa Hoopes make some fresh-squeezed OJ one morning. AK was on orange selection duty, and Roo was on trash duty...it was pretty fun to watch them.
Finally, the Saturday after the girls and I got back, Doug competed in his first Jiu Jitsu tournament. Our nephew, Tristan, also competed in the tournament. It was a lot of fun, although I think the girls enjoyed playing around in the bleachers more than they enjoyed watching the matches. I haven't had a chance to see any of Doug's training sessions, so this was the first time I really got to see him in action. I was very impressed...and I'm not just saying that because he's my husband. He has really committed himself to this whole jiu jitsu thing, and he's given me the motivation I need to start running again and get back into shape. I have put the pics from the tournament in a slide below, but you'll have to excuse the blurry pictures - it's pretty hard to get a still shot when the guys are rolling around the mat so quickly. BTY-Doug is in the black.
The same night as the Jiu Jitsu tournament, our ward had its annual Trunk-or-Treat Halloween Party in the church parking lot. The girls decided they wanted to be princessess this year, but the only costumes I could find that I wasn't totally disappointed by only came in one color/style combination (I got them at Home Goods for 25% off). I really wanted to get the girls different dresses, but this is what we ended up with. Even though the dresses are generic and totally matching, I think the girls still turned out to be pretty cute princesses. I am planning to look for some crowns or fun jewelry for this Friday, and I'll probably put their hair up and use some glitter hairspray...but...considering the fact we didn't have much time between the tournament and the party, I did as best as I could. I also added a few pics of the girls after they ate some Halloween cookies with purple frosting...AK thought it was hillarious that she had so much frosting on her hands - she was quite proud, and Roo was just being a silly, silly girl that night. Enjoy the last slideshow!
