Go Cats!

Saturday marked the beginning of the K-State Football season. We had a great day in Manhattan seeing old friends, watching the motorcycles, sharing popcorn with grandma and grandpa and cheering on the Cats to a win over UCLA.

Captain Rex Has Arrived

Last week, the large box containing Andy's 2010 Halloween costume arrived. Andy is Clone Trooper Captain Rex from "The Clone Wars" (Star Wars cartoon/movie). He now refers to himself as Andy Captain Rex Cooper. He wears the costume daily and has even slept in it...it was a mommy moment of weakness. We are really hoping the costume holds up until Halloween, but also really happy we are getting our money's worth!

Touch-A-Truck

Last Sunday, the city of Overland Park displayed their fleet of rescue vehicles and other assorted trucks at the OP convention center for a new kids event called Touch-A-Truck. Andy invited his Grandma along to touch the trucks. The kids were able to explore a firetruck, a race car, a police car, the bomb squad truck, a recycling truck, a limobus and a combine.

Driving the firetruck:

Driving the police car:

Watching the bomb squad robot demo:

Grape snow cones!!!

Checking out the combine:

Thank You!

Sammy loves her new birthday gifts. Since her birthday, she spends her days wearing her new backpack, carrying her new lunch bag while pushing Baby in her new stroller. We are a little worried she might be showing signs of a hoarder. She stuffs the bags and bottom of the stoller full with toys.

Sammy's Birthday and Vacation!

Last week, the Cooper family hit the road and headed to St. Louis for four days of fun. We started the trip out at the Zoo in Forrest Park.

Oops! We're not supposed to touch the butterflies, Sammy!

Going for a ride on the rhino beetle...

Watching the hippo swim by...

Nothing caps of a day at the zoo like a Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream Bar!

We went to The Magic House, a children's museum, on Friday. The kids had a great time with all of the exhibits and activities.

That night, Sammy enjoyed opening one of her birthday gifts a day early. Big brother of course then had to help her use her new Tag Reader.

We headed to the Missouri Botanical Garden on Saturday / Sammy's birthday. We first checked out the dinosaur exhibit they currently have on display, before spending most of the day playing in the Children's Garden, which includes rope climbs, slides, tree houses, and a splash park. Feeding the gigantic Koi fish in the Japanese Garden was also a big hit.

After opening the rest of her birthday gifts that night, Sammy showed off her new baby doll and stroller. She also decided to accessorize with Andy's John Deere hat.

Of course, no trip to St. Louis is complete without a trip to the Arch, so Sunday morning we went down to the riverfront.

While the kids were impressed by the real thing, they had more fun making their own Arches!

Summer

Last weekend, Andy helped his daddy mow the lawn. For some reason he felt a fishing vest, goggles and a hard hat were necessary for the job. The heat index at the time was around 100 degrees. After about 10 minutes of running back and forth behind the mower, he was ready to head back into the house..."I'm hot!"

Today we took advantage of a rare break from the heat and humidity with a bike ride and dinner on the patio.

With all of the rain and recent flooding from the creek, the bike trail was a little muddy today. Both kids were pretty splattered with mud by the time we arrived home. They didn't seem to mind and spent a good deal of our 10 mile ride giggling together.

I always cherish moments likes these...the two of them playing together without the need for a referee.

4th of July Holiday

The Fourth of July Holiday was a busy one for us. We started the weekend with a family trip to see Toy Story 3 on Saturday. This was followed by lunch at Indgredients alfresco and cupcakes. We are pretty excited that the cupcakery trend sweeping the nation has finally hit Leawood.

On Sunday, we checked out Village Fest in the morning followed by the neighborhood party that afternoon. The the kids kicked off the party with the annual parade followed by games and jumping in the bouncy house. As if that wasn't enough to make the two of them really tired, we stayed up for fireworks. Unfortunately, they were cancelled last minute because of the rain.

Monday we hit the road for Omaha and spent the night with Grandma Faye and Ron. Grandma treated us to a trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo on Tuesday. At the zoo, we rode the train, took a spin on the carousel, flew over the park on the Skyfari and checked out as many animals as two very hot and tired kids could handle. Andy's favorite was the aquarium with the shark tunnel. It's hard to say with Sammy, she got excited for all of the animals. It was a very quiet ride home this afternoon with two sleeping kids in the back seat.

Colony West Neighborhood Party:

Bike Parade with Abby and Catherine

Andy and Abby in parade

Wheelbarrow racing with Abby

Sack race with Abby and Catherine

Water balloon toss with daddy

Grandma's House:

The Henry Doorly Zoo:

Aquarium

Aquarium

Sea Turtle

butterfly in the Butterfly House

Skyfari

Riding the train with Grandma

Carousel

Monkeys

Cooling off with ice cream

We weren't even out of the parking lot before she feel asleep with her new polar bear.