More summer fun

Coop and I went to play slip 'n slide with our friend Gus:

A Mexican squid?  (At Laugh out Loud play zone.)

Captain Underpants:

Library:

With our friend Henry (drawing dinosaurs while waiting for lunch to arrive):

Admiring the fish in the reeeeaaallly expensive aquarium store:

I'm not sure exactly who he was trying to be here.... but it's cute!

Train tracks in the living room:

Robot T-Rex

Coop got a kit to assemble a robot T-Rex for Christmas.  Finally this summer we were brave enough to try it:

Not bad, with only one spare piece (oops!):

 

Some videos of the T-Rex in action.  It's supposed to respond to sound and movement.  Maybe it does?  Maybe it just moves however it wishes...

 

 

Simon was curious (heh) but less that thrilled:

 

 

Randoms

Coop lost his second tooth!

Still doesn't like fireworks, as much as he really wants to:

But he did make little flags that we were going to hand out as part of our (three-person) 4th of July parade where we all march in a circle singing Grand Old Flag.  We practiced several times around the house, but never actually performed for anyone.

Six-month check-up -- everything looks good!

Coop came home from school and announced the he had formed a club.  Guess what kind of club?  Wait for it....   A Silly Club!  Naturally!  Couldn't possibly form a Sit Quietly and Read Club.  Nope, not my kid.

Here he's making a sign-up sheet for the Silly Club to take to school (I don't think Miss Ann actually let him hang up the sign, though).  What I loved about this picture though is the outfit -- KU jersey + backwards cap.  He looks 13 (if you ignore the juice box).

Lyons

We went back to Lyons over the 4th of July weekend for my high school class reunion.  We got some fun time in the Lyons pool:

Off the diving board!  (I was in the water to catch him, but he didn't really need me -- swam to the edge of the pool by himself afterward!)

And then Coop got to play with Grandma and Grandpa at a nifty new playground in Sterling:

And shockingly, they fed him a really tall ice cream cone afterward:

Simon

Craft projects

Cooper has a "craft drawer" in his desk.  (Actually, two now because he ran out of room in the first one.)  And he saves all sorts of crap trash treasures that he might want to use in some future craft project.  And I'm always surprised what he comes up with.

 

He saved the box that my watch came in.  And turned it into this guy:

Complete with tongue and plastic tooth that we hot-glue-gunned in place.

Coop and I put together some kind of truck thing that came with 107 (teeny tiny) pieces:

For my birthday, Coop made me this doll out of his craft supply drawer:

And then used a soccer ball sweat band to make her a dress:

Painting a bird house:

At play

Vampire:

Headless horseman:

Snake-tamer:

Fort-builder:

Pirate-ship-maker:

Spider web (with spider!) designer:

Dinosaur-bone-excavator: 

Dad and some grandparents

In preparation for Alan's return from England, Coop made a "Welcome Home, Daddy" sign, complete with a drawing of a spider.  I taped it to the door, which Cooper thought was lame.  Instead, he insisted on rigging up a pulling system in the breezeway, whereby he would pull the string when Alan walked in and the sign would rise up to eye level.

It would've been a flawless plan, except that we failed to notice Alan's truck pulling up in the driveway.  So he got all the way inside, and then we made him go back out and walk in again for the full sign-raising effect.


Coop and I took a quick (literally -- like only four waking hours) trip down to Lyons, but we packed in quite a bit.  We saw Grandma's new chickens:

And Grandpa's new tractor:

It even comes with a jump seat, just for grandkids:

Coop made this shirt at school for Father's Day:

While Alan was away....

Coop and I had nearly two weeks of bonding time while Alan was in England.  So I shipped him to his grandparents' house in Wichita for three days.  He came back with this feather hat (made out of wire and a feather) and a new (fake) pet turtle:

We went to a birthday party for one of his friends.  She had real live pony rides!!  And a petting zoo!  And a bounce house!!

And Coop made a "welcome home Daddy" sign for when Alan returned.  I suggested something lame like taping it to the door.  But Coop insisted that we rig up a pulley system so that when Alan walked in, Coop could pull on the rope and the sign would rise up so Alan could see it.

(It worked, except that we missed Alan's truck pulling into the driveway, so Coop made him go back outside and come in again... to the rising "welcome home" sign!)

The Superhero Family

Coop suggested one day that we each create our own superhero.  (He saw it in a cartoon he watched.)  When he asked me what my superhero would be, I was trying to coerce him into cleaning his room, so I spouted something smart like "one who cleans things."

 

Two days later, when he returned to the subject so we could draw our superheroes, I was stuck with the cleaning theme.  So I drew myself with a broom and a spray bottle.  Coop added two crows who would help carry cleaning supplies like rags and a vacuum for me.  And my motto KICK:  Keep It Clean Kids.

 

Here is Coop, with rocket engines to propel him.  KTA = Keep Them (the bad guys) Away. 

 

And Alan, clearly the artist in the family, is Tornado Man: