Boys' Day Out

Now that Lisa has returned to work, I got to spend the entire day with both of my guys last Friday. As usual, everyone woke up early. This time, however, it was Mommy who was up getting ready for work. Daddy got to stay in bed and watch Handy Manny with the boys.

Once we did get up and get going, we headed out to the Durham Museum of Life and Science, one of our favorite hangouts. As usual, we headed straight to the rockets and everything astronaut-related. While there, we found out that the museum was doing a sneak preview of the new Dinosaur Trail. With the world's #1 dinosaur fan in our group, it was no question what would be the next stop on our tour.

A friendly Parasaurolophus greets you at the beginning of the trail. In fact, you can even climb up on this one and give it a hug if you want to.

Not all of the dinos on this trail are as friendly as the Parasaur, however...

Of course, no trip to the Museum of Life and Science would be complete without a trip to the butterfly house. Every once in a while, you can get really close to the butterflies - or even entice one to climb onto an outstretched finger. If you want to get close to a butterfly, however, Cooper has discovered a new strategy: wear a leaf-colored shirt...

Cousins Hanging Out

Cousins on the couch at Popi's

Cruising Cousins

On the Lake at Popi's

Popi and Popeye know their way around the lake.

And it should come as no surprise that Addie is good at showing Popi which way to go.

Ahh, an entire lake to myself.... now this is relaxing.

Fun and Fireworks on the Fourth of July

Uncle Larry's pool party is always a highlight on the Fourth of July. As you can see, Cooper and Addie had a great time lounging in the pool.

After the partying, it's time for the fireworks. These brothers know how to ham it up for the camera.

And, it looks like they kinda like each other.

All smiles... and ready for the fireworks!

Cooper and Evan investigate some of the local wildlife (ants) before the big fireworks display over Lake Michigan.

Happy Birthday, America

Now this is the way to take in a 4-hour Independence Day parade. You can believe me, or check out the national press to double-check, but the Racine Fourth Fest parade is long enough that every spectator ends up sitting down at some point in time.

With the Harleys, emergency vehicles and huge farm tractors, earplugs were the order of the day.

Everyone loves a parade...

Happy Anniversary, Station 6

On June 27th, while Grandma Jean was visiting, we stopped on over to Station 6 to help them celebrate their 60th anniversary. As you can see, Cooper and Nolan enjoyed exploring every piece of equipment in the station. From the state-of-the-art ladder truck to the 1950 Mack engine, they rang every bell and honked every horn they could find. Cooper even managed to discover (and make use of) the bathroom. Happy anniversary, Station 6 - and thanks for a great party!

Heading Off To Camp

Despite all that traveling in June, Cooper still managed to mix in a week at Space Camp.

He did a great job. He made a bunch of new friends and learned a universe of new information about solar systems, black holes and good ol' Earth.

On Wacky Wednesday, you get to wear whatever you want. It was no question as to what our little astronaut was going to wear ;-)

Ocean isle Beach Trip

One of our June trips was to Ocean Isle. Lisa and the boys headed down early in the week with Mary Catherine and her kids. John and I joined them on Thursday evening and we spent a relatively relaxing weekend at the beach (as relaxing as possible with the progeny in tow).

Many, many thanks to Mary Catherine's parents for allowing us the run of their beach house. I sure hope we cleaned it up sufficiently when we were done.

As you can tell, Cooper and Carter had a great time playing on the beach and running/jumping over the waves. This was a whole new Cooper we saw at the beach this year. Gone was the hesitancy regarding the ocean - he truly had a blast running, jumping and splashing!

Should I stay or should I go now?

(that lyric's for you, Rich and Joe and Andy)

Stay, definitely stay.

Turns out Nolan is Louisa's new best friend. It was almost impossible to separate the two of them.

Skater Dude

While Popi was in town, Cooper had a chance to show off some of his new moves on the scooter. He hasn't come up with any names for these moves yet, but that second one almost looks like the Tree position in yoga...

Racing For A Cure

The whole family decided at the last minute to take place in this year's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. We joined Mary Catherine and Carter for the 5k run. We didn't set any personal best times, but with 20,000 other people running 3 miles with us, we didn't expect to... ;-)

Here's Nolan warming up just before the start.

We all had a great time for a great cause.