Halloween

Coop and I decided to have our Halloween skeleton friend ride in the car with us.  We call her Nana Beverly.

On Halloween day, Cooper went to school as his choir teacher, Mr. Viets, who wears a name tag with a bunch of ribbons on it.

For the school's trunk or treat event, Coop dug out a giant 6-foot tall giraffe costume.  This is his good friend Renee:

With friends and his school principal (in the middle):

He went trick-or-treating Halloween evening with Molly and Eliza, who dressed as toothbrushes:

I happened to be at the law school on Halloween for a meeting, and I ran across this student:

Who was dressed as my headshot for halloween!!!

The Lights Fest

Coop and I headed to the middle of Missouri one weekend for The Lights Fest, where everyone releases a paper later in to the sky.  But first, we stayed at this fabulous AirBnb with alpacas!

At the event:

Decorating his latern:

Getting ready to release the latern:

fall misc

Doing homework:

Hugs in the kitchen:

At a charity event for Alexandra's House:

Dress for Success Wednesday:

Our October car companion, who we've named Nana Beverly:

Coop was reading some old notes from 3rd grade:

Lyons

Cooper and I went to Lyons with a BIG secret:

We were involved in the planning of (and lying about!) a surprise birthday party for Grandma Joan's 70th birthday:

The moment of surprise:

And the zwieback that were at the heart of our deception (and were also very, very tasty!):

While we were home, Coop drove the gator:

Exhausted after all the festivities:

September

Coop and I saw a concert at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City:

And he pitched the moon!

Working together:

Holding Jenny and taking a selfie for a lesson in language arts about selfies:

And it finally happened one day... Jenny bit him.  It was a bit traumatic at the time, though everyone is fine and happy again:

Back to school

Coop is starting 7th grade in a new school.  We attended the open house to get a feel for the place.  I made Coop take a photo with his principal Dr. Jones:

We spent some time decorating his locker---he opted for a plant theme:

And we found the auditorium:

Ready for the first day!

The school is just across the street, so Coop will walk every day:

Staring out the window waiting for him to come home in the afternoon!

Comedy

Cooper participated in a week-long camp at Theatre Lawrence, where the kids put on a production of Star Farce, a farcical version of one of the Star Wars movies (I forget which one....).  Coop was a silver version of C3P0, called T14 (I think?):

Celebrating with Orange Leaf frozen yogurt afterward:

Coop and I went to a comedy improv show in Kansas City:

And celebrated afterward with fabulous donuts!

Wrapping up summer...

Cooper has been doing a great job of interacting more with his pets.  Jenny is growing and thriving:

Klinger is still cute and (comparatively) little:

And then we watched Apollo 13, while eating astronaut ice cream:

Baby girl moves on...

But before she goes, a trip to Pet World:

Playing in the living room:

Riding a giant lion:

River City Rock Camp

Cooper participated in River City Rock Camp this summer.  He and four others were grouped together to make a band, assigned songs to play, and participated in a concert at The Granada in Lawrence.

Cooper (keyboard), Molly (bass guitar), Eliza (elec guitar), Delany (elec guitar), Parker (drums).

Dress rehearsal:

A video of dress rehearsal:

Songs:  Hello Goodbye, Wooly Bully, Werewolf in London, Jailhouse Rock

At the concert!

Baby girl loved the free popcorn:

Album cover?