Yeah for July! This has to be one of the most exciting months for us during the year for several reasons. The 4
th of July is the obvious highlight, but this month we also have enjoyed a train ride at a local park, Cooper's milestones (1 year doctor appointment and WALKING), boating, fishing, and family and friends. If you ask everyone in our family what was their favorite, it would go like this...
Caden's favorite was the train ride, Cooper's favorite is walking everywhere (that kid is on a serious mission), Daddy's favorite was the 10 day vacation from work, and Mommy's favorite was seeing everyone at
Grammy's over the 4
th!
Lucky for me, but unlucky for Mom (hint, no shower in the above photo) we went to the local park for our first of several train rides this summer. The unlucky part for Mom was that the local TV station was there to film an upcoming special and the
videographer was filming us! We are not sure when it will air on TV, but Mommy is seriously hoping they crop her out of there! The museum has several trains they run during the summer along a mini railroad track around a local park. I just LOVE hearing the train whistles and our whopping 5 minute ride around the loop.
Cooper is an official walker. He was an unofficial walker around his birthday since he was only taking 4-5 steps at a time. About a week after his birthday, he started to really walk around and now he is able to get into standing position from anywhere around the house and cruise around with pretty fast feet. He has many, many, many bruises to prove he is a walker. We are excited for this milestone, but a bit worried as he is a "go-getter" and will probably be running at the end of the week.
Daddy was busy at work but found time for a quick lunch date with us. We try to visit him at the hospital at least once or twice a month for lunch. Daddy thinks I get excited to see him, when in truth, I really enjoy riding the elevator up and down. I also like the ladies that work in his department because they spoil me with treats. Because Daddy has a fully staffed department, this is the first summer in a long time where he took off a good stretch of vacation days. The 10 days he took off were awesome since that meant we had plenty of time to play and it also meant that Mommy had help around the house with me and Cooper... yeah for everyone!
Cooper had his 1 year physical with our pediatrician and he was a very happy camper until they gave him 3 shots. It's a good thing he won't remember the trauma. Cooper's stats at age 1 are:
Height- 30 3/4 inches (80%), Weight- 23 lb. 6 oz (55%) and Head Size 18 inches (30%). He is becoming more lean but keeping the height.... funny since we are all fairly short around here :)
Cooper is meeting and/or exceeding milestones for his age. My parents are thankful he is such a happy and healthy boy. He is very social with others (plays peek-a-boo and other games), is very cuddly and gives/blows kisses. Cooper says several words such as
Da-
Da, he is starting to say Mom, Dal (Ball), Moo,
Grrrr (Bear and Lion), and meows like a cat. Cooper is a huge show off at dinner where he loves to eat peas, green beans, meats and mostly anything edible. This is quite unlike his big brother... pass the hot dogs, mac and cheese, and snacks please.
Another first in our house is I went fishing. Papa and Grandma Sharon gave me a
Spiderman light-up fishing rod for Christmas two years ago and I am finally old enough to use it. I practiced casting and reeling the line for about a week before we went fishing. Since we spent most of the 4
th at
Grammy's house and she lives on the lake, Daddy packed my rod and showed me how to cast into the lake.
Daddy quickly caught a perch on his line and I wasn't afraid to touch it. It surprised me to see that real fish lived in the lake. Maybe that is why I am semi-afraid of lakes!?!?! After Daddy caught his perch and threw it back, I decided it couldn't be that hard, so I caught a fish on my line within a few minutes.
My official first fish caught was a crappie. It was a decent size for a crappie (picture doesn't quite do justice) and we saved it for about a half-hour in a bucket to see if we would turn it into a sandwich. It must have been beginners luck because we didn't catch any fish for about 10 more minutes which is my attention span max. We put the big guy back in the lake and I hope the next time that I catch him he will be even bigger.
The 4
th of July finally arrived and one of our traditions is to go to the 4
th of July parade. This parade is in a town of 2, 500 or so yet it draws about 10,000 to the area around the holiday. It is always SO hot at the parade and we usually have to squeeze in by the overachievers who set out their chairs the night before. The parade is also the LONGEST parade EVER and we usually only last about an hour. This year, we had a new record, I only lasted 10 minutes. The minute we got out of the car, I decided I didn't like the parade (the unknown scares me) and I proceeded to fall apart. My parents learned a lesson that day...when this happens, they need to turn around and go home. This time, they carried me towards the parade while I cried off and on. I enjoyed the fly over that started the parade (military jets flew in various patterns) and then the emergency vehicles all came down the road. I liked the first few and then began to wail b/c they were too noisy. At this point, my parents packed up and we headed back to
Grammy's house where I took a much needed 2 1/2 hour nap.
Uncle Ben bought fireworks on his way to
Grammy's house and Cooper was eagerly checking them out. This was the closest Cooper got to seeing a firework since he was fast asleep before the firework display shot over the lake.
We did lots of boating over the 4
th of July weekend. Uncle Matt and Auntie Jill drove up for a few days before they headed home for
waterski commitments (Uncle Matt is a show director and die-hard
waterskiier for a ski team).
For my birthday, you might have recalled that I received a
waterski trainer from my parents. I have talked and talked and talked about
waterskiing since I got this gift. Well, when we finally rigged it up, I decided I didn't want to go, but Bennett, my 4 year old cousin was ready this year! I am such a nice cousin that I told him he could use the trainer and my wetsuit this year. He had a great time "
waterskiing" and my parents still have hope that I will get on the trainer before summer ends.
Bennett was trying to convince me that
waterskiing was so much fun, but the peer pressure didn't work (a great testament to my
stubbornness!)
Back to boating... I became less afraid of boating with the many days we enjoyed on the water. The weather was perfect and we had a great time driving around on the lakes and docking at several fine establishments for snacks and beverages.
Uncle Ben, Auntie Erin, Kyra and Bennett flew in from Atlanta for a few weeks. We were so excited to see them. For those of you who know the situation... they haven't sold their house in GA yet, but they have had many great showings and hope to sell it soon. Once that happens, they will look for a home in the Twin Cities area. Here are some more boating pictures with the family...
It must have been all of the juice boxes that I drank that day on the boat because I suddenly became very brave. I took off my swimsuit and swimshirt and decided to "ski" on land. I couldn't quite understand why everyone on shore were hysterically laughing at me. I was taking this ski thing very seriously. I now will tell people that I waterski (even though I didn't take off from land).
A full moon?!?!?
In a final attempt at a granchildren photo on the 4th, we tried several spots and several tactics, but this was the best we could get. Maybe next year!!!
Cooper headed to bed and the "big" kids got to throw whippersnaps on the ground and play with sparklers. My Mom was a little hesitant on the sparkler idea but gave it a try. Fortunately, I never got a spark or burn and I must have gone through at least a full pack of sparklers. Thanks Uncle Ben!
Grammy has the perfect spot on the lake where we just sit on the lawn/docks and watch the firework display over the lake. Besides the millions of mosquitos, it was the perfect evening to sit outside and watch the beautiful colors dance across the sky.
All of the kids covered their ears since some of the fireworks were very loud. I surprised my parents though and didn't cry or get scared, just covered my ears. That's called a good coping strategy.
We wish we could photoshop Cooper into our family 4th of July photo. Cooper... I have been there the past 2 years, so you have one more year of crib time on the 4th before you get to join in on the real fun... not to rub it in or anything.
My parents snuck in one cheesy photo of themselves on the 4th of July just to show how nerdy and sunburned they were. We hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend too!
We are excited for Uncle Jim's and soon to be Aunt Karri's wedding in 3 days. Check in next week for some beautiful wedding photos! Wish us luck as Cooper and I get thrown down the aisle in tuxedo's on Saturday (we are ring bearers... ahhhhh....) PS If you didn't check in earlier this week, our professional photos are in and we posted them below in slideshows. Check it out!
The wedding party was HUGE. Mommy was one of eight bridesmaids and Daddy was one of four ushers. Cooper and I were ring bearers, which means we all represented at the wedding. It was a huge honor!
With all the excitement in the air, there were also lots of nerves. My parents were nervous wrecks wondering how Cooper and I would do with our big responsibility and roles in the wedding. We did great! Daddy walked us down the aisle but soon picked Cooper up b/c he continued to wave, smile and "talk" to the flashing cameras along the aisle. It's a good thing Daddy picked him up because we still might be at the church today! Because of the busy day and my parents roles in the wedding, we will have to post the professional photos of Cooper and I with the wedding party once Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Karri receive their photo discs. 
Auntie Stefanie and cousin Melissa were also bridesmaids that day. Everyone had a great time and posed for a quick photo on the limo bus (no kids were allowed, boo!) Thanks to Grammy who came to help with us boys during the wedding and that evening. Thanks to Aunt Karri and Uncle Jimmy for making us feel so special and important. We love you and hope you will provide more cousins for us to play with soon.
In other news.... Cooper and I went to the Children's Museum with Bridget, Sophie and Sam. We loved the water exhibit which helped us "cool off" from the ridiculous heat outside.
Cooper is quite amazed by everything these days. He points and "talks" about everything in sight. His new word is "OOOOOOH!" aka, WOW!
This summer, daycare Mama Jenny takes us once a week so that Mommy can go to appointments, run errands and sometimes just clean the house or scrapbook :) We went to Jenny's on the very hottest day of the summer last week but she knew exactly what to do with us... pool time! I demonstrated on the kickboard how to waterski on the lake.
Mason and I took a 0.3 second lounge break.
And then we continued to play in the pool until we were well cooked and ready for some A/C.
We couldn't resist this silly photo of Cooper. While at Grandma and Grandpa's house the weekend of the wedding, Cooper found Grandma's dish of shells from Captiva and put it in his mouth to be silly. Doesn't it look like he has a huge white moustache? We are glad he didn't swallow the shell and that Maggie snapped a photo in time. Thanks Maggie!
Mommy and Daddy went to Country Jam this weekend. Thursday night was date night where they saw Blake Shelton headline a great show. Friday night was girls night at JAM where Mommy went with several friends and enjoyed Little Big Town and Martina McBride (oops, forgot the photo from that night). On Saturday night, they went with a group of friends to see the Zac Brown Band. They had a great weekend of outdoor country music and are happy they were able to enjoy it with friends.
Mommy's friend Becky, has a family friend who owns a mechanical bull. He brings it to JAM for people to ride for a fee. Mommy has never ridden on a bull, so my parents rode together. Many others were riding together and this is how you have to ride together so that no one gets injured. What a bunch of dorks!
The other day for lunch, Mommy served (embarassed to admit it)... beefaroni. Cooper LOVED the stuff and then proceeded to smear it all over his face and hair. He looked like a cross between a silly Irish man and an Oompa Loompa from Willy Wonka's factory. Needless to say, it was a long clean-up and he probably won't be eating beefaroni for a while.
