Roadtrip! Part 1.

Cooper, his friend Renee, and I headed out for a weekend road trip.  Dinner in Springfield, MO:

Airbnb:

World's largest fork:

In the car:

New Years

Cooper had a New Years' Eve party to attend.  He was going for a James Bond vibe, but couldn't find a martini glass, so a champagne glass had to do:

With his English Language teacher at the party:

With some friends from his pre-K class at a New Years' day open house:

Xmas in Hutch

Grandkids:

With Scarlet:

Xmas in Inman

The crew:

New vests:

Dessert!

Xmas in Lyons

The grandkids with the directional sign for Grandma Joan and Grandpa Cecil:

Grandpa Cecil made ladder ball sets for all the kids!

The crew:

Lincoln logs:

The big kids on cots:

Clue (Zoey won.  Twice!):

Puzzling:

CHRISTMAS!

Ready for Santa:

Coop got me the Friends Lego set!!

Santa brought Cooper a desktop computer!

All set up and playing Minecraft:

And a metal detector!!

Christmas prep

Cooper's winter choir concert:

And the school spelling bee:

Coop placed third!  (He missed Tabasco, which I would have as well!)

Puzzles and a bridge-building kit with a Christmas movie:

And some time with the wii:

special things

Coop came home from school looking like this:

Theater make-up from speech and drama class:

We had tickets to see Potted Potter, a Harry Potter spoof:

And we ended up in the second row!  So good!

Secret Santa

Cooper and a group of friends organized a secret Santa gift exchange.  They met at our house one afternoon to decorate cookies:

And exchange gifts:

And play nerf guns:

Daily life

Coop went back to visit Raintree teachers.  This is a round table that Alan made for Cooper's pre-K classroom.  Still in use!

Reading:

Helping the school secretary change the school sign:

Nana Beverly decked out for the holidays:

Dress for Success Monday:

Reading in bed:

Choir

Cooper made district choir.  Vest and bow tie for the occasion:

The concert was held at Topeka High School:

A bit of one of their songs:

I found Coop in the audience (with the other choir members) after they sang.  He was less than thrilled to see me:

Fancy

Cooper's pets both enjoyed some Washburn swag, even if it was not quite the right size for them:

Cooper got all dressed up for his first 7th-8th grade dance:

With his friends: