Pachyderms-a-Plenty

Popi and Nana took the lot of us to a circus in Dodge County today.  Along with the clowns and acrobats, the kids got to get up close and personal with the elephants.  Before the circus started, the older kids actually got to ride on an elephant.

And, thanks to a "timout" for a tired and cranky Nolan, he and I ended up standing not more than 10 feet from the elephants as they entered the performance area.  And then, once they were done, we got close to them again as they left:

Fun at Popi's House

Whether it's boating on it...

... or jumping into it, the lake at Popi and Nana's house provides a never-ending source of entertainment each summer.



Something for Everyone

The parade in Racine has something for everyone.  For Nolan, this includes snacks - lots of snacks.

For Cooper, this involves the 501st Legion:



Pre-parade

The Fourth of July parade in Racine begins with the pre-parade.  Along with police cars and tractors, parade-goers are treated to fire engines...

... and motorcycles!



Fireworks for the Fourth

For the 500th posting on RanLiCoop, you get fireworks.  This year, we attended the pyrotechnic show in Sturtevant, along with several carloads of friends.  As you can see, the fireworks in Wisconsin produced smiles all around...

Vrooming with Evan

At Evan's birthday party, Cooper and Addie got a chance to try out his 4-wheeler.  A couple of fits and starts, but they had a good time.

Happy Birthday, Evan!

Even Nolan got in on the action.

Racine 4th of July Parade

What a great day for a parade!

The weather was fantastic and the parade lived up to it's reputation.  A great pre-parade of fire engines, police cars and tractors led to a 3-hour bonanza of princesses, sports teams, dance teams, marching bands, creative floats and VIPs.

As you can tell, Nolan was very excited about the start of the parade.

And Cooper was all smiles.

See, I told you there were VIPs...

As the parade went on, the sun got a little hot - so, Cooper enjoyed cooling off with a cold one:

Slip-Slidin' Away

One of our favorite spots in which to beat the heat in Wisconsin is Cool Waters, a water park in West Allis.  They have a huge pool with an array of kid-friendly activities: splash yard, obstacle course and various sizes of water slides.  Last year, Cooper got up the courage to go down the "big slide" on a double inner-tube with Mommy and/or Daddy.  This time around, he did the double tube, the single tube and the "biggest" slide of all, the body slide: