Fall Break Retreat

We are never on this blog anymore. It's very unfortunate but given the hecticness of our new life and schedules, something had to temporarily go and sadly it was the blog. We are on fall break now though and have a moment to pause and breathe.

We went up to Flagstaff for the weekend to get away. It's pretty cold up there, a brisk 45 degrees, so we rented a small cabin. The cabin had a small, wood burning fireplace inside to keep us warm. In the morning, we had drink coffee and cocoa by a campfire while Roland ran around exploring.

 

Our little cabin that we rented for the night. No one else was around so we had the whole campground to ourselves. 

 Roland especially loved that nobody was around because he was free to run without a leash.

Owen liked being able to explore, play with sticks, chase prairie dogs, and be in a place that felt like winter. 

 We came across a stick tent that some wonderfully creative person had built.

 Overall, it was a much needed break and family time.

Kindergarten

The past two weeks at our house have been chaotic. Owen started kindergarten; I had my first week of teaching; and Ed went back to school while being a 24/7 teaching mentor and coach for me. Then to top it all off, our air conditioner went out so we started this new crazy adventure in a house that was 95 degrees. Fortunately, we made it through the chaos alive and our house is cool again. 

Owen was very nervous to start kindergarten. We enrolled him in the school's Jump Start program and we are very happy we did. Through the Jump Start program, he was able to start school a week early in order to get comfortable with the school and his teachers. He only went half days, so it was a nice transition to full-day kindergarten.

Thankfully, Robyn/Grandma Bug was in town to help us out. She took Owen to school and picked him up. We believe that also helped him get comfortable with his surroundings. Grandma was able to hang out a bit longer on campus then we would have been able to.

Owen was pretty proud of his new school shoes so he wanted a picture taken to show them off. They light up, you see. Very cool.

Owen has two teachers: one that teaches him reading, writing, and social studies using English, and another that teaches him math and science using Spanish. He already seems to be catching on to Spanish. He likes to say, "let's go!" in Spanish (vamanos!... I'm guessing the teacher must say this a lot) and asks for "agua."

With Robyn gone, and Ed and I working full-days, Owen attends the morning and afternoon Kid's Club. This makes for incredibly long days for Owen. Ed and I are feeling quite a bit of parent guilt. On the positive side, Owen loves Kid's Club so far. He says it is, "wonderful!" They plays games, color, go to computer class, and play on the playground.

Overall, he likes school but doesn't like all the "boring" rules, like lining up to go to the cafeteria. He also isn't eating his lunch or using the bathroom, so when we pick him up he is hungry and needs to go potty pretty bad. Transition stuff, but still hard for a parent to see. What helps is that he is in good spirits when we pick him up, has made good friends, and is learning.

Happy Tuesday, Y'all!

 "Hey guys, how do you make a tissue dance?"

  "Put a little boogey in it!!"

"Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all day."

A Sweet Good-Bye

Last week I started my training through my/our school district. It was the first time in over a year that I left for work without bringing Owen with me. When I told him that I was going to work again, he replied, "all day long, like the old days?" *insert mom guilt face here*

He was bummed but understood. Plus he was going to spend "boy time" with dad which helped with the transition. The first day Owen wanted to watch me leave. This was the sweet image I had in my head driving to work.  I must admit, I snuck a look at this picture on my phone a couple times during work. It made me smile each time.

New Friend

After two years of patiently trying, Owen finally caught a lizard in our backyard. It's a small lizard, but now that he's caught one, I anticipate his efforts will be redoubled.

Owen has declared the lizard his best friend, much to Roland's dismay. Although he followed that with Roland and Nala also being his best friends. I don't think it helped Roland's disposition any.

As the lizard got closer to Owen's head, his jubilant outlook waned a little.  It's right about this point that he decided a lizard in a jar would far outweigh a lizard by his head. 

I'm not sure this little guy is going to last in captivity, but we'll give it a shot. If anything, the little guy's experience, for good or ill, will help reinforce caring for our animals, which I'm sure will sit well with Rollie and Nala.

Dog Days of Summer

The boy and his dog just hanging out on a Friday night.

Sanctuary

At the last minute, we decided to leave the sweltering heat of Phoenix and head to the cool breezes of this:

Big Lake, Arizona, 4.5 hours northeast of Phoenix.  It's at about 9000 feet, which results in a 35 degree drop in temperature. We were happy to have 4 days of 75 degrees.

Our campsite was shaded and overlooked the lake. It was perfect because we got some shade, some sun and even a thunderstorm or two. 

Owen was able to do some fishing, which he picked up from Grandpa Cooper. He didn't get any bites. We are, however, stressing the tranquility of simply spending some time near the water with people you love. Five year olds don't really get that.

Unfortunately (or not, if you are a vegetarian), we only caught a crawdad. Owen still loved fishing.  This guy was lucky we don't eat shellfish because he got thrown back. We later read that they're an invasive species and should be killed if they are caught. Double lucky!

We went on short hikes through the ponderosa pines.

Owen really loves camping and he's in good spirits whenever we go.

The dog too.

Owen made a buddy who was nine, meaning he was the most awesome person on Earth. He was a really sweet kid who looked out for Owen and they went on adventures. I suspect he rather enjoyed being the most awesome person on the planet to Owen.

This was our favorite activity in between cooking, hiking, fishing and skipping rocks (enjoying each other's company, not drinking beer).

New Hero In Town

Owen has cycled through the typical array of superhero idols.  This is not uncommon for little guys, especially when each new Hollywood blockbuster makes each new superhero more amazing than the last.  The most recent superhero to grace the household is a little more obscure, but I'm very happy about it. 

So you're thinking, "must be Wolverine, that's Ed's favorite superhero."

 No.

And then you're thinking, "Spiderman is fun, it could be Spiderman."

Nope.

"Batman?"

Uh-Uh.

Owen's new favorite superhero is none other than...

Captain Underpants! Tra la laaa! (His catchphrase.)

I really like this because this character is from a chapter book series and I love that Owen is getting interested in chapter books.  I think it's great that there are authors out there who embed fantastic literary structure into absurd storylines that 5 year olds will find absolutely hilarious. (I'm looking in your direction, Attack of the 50 Foot Toilet.)

I guess Owen really likes it too:

 Take that Giant Robot Monkey.

 And that Professor Poopypants.

Gotta love that kid.

The End of an Era

Georgia owned and operated the Briar Patch Beauty Supply for 35 years. Given I have been around for almost as long as the Briar Patch, the store has been a significant part of my life. My dad did the block work for the very first Briar Patch in 1978 and my mom worked in the store while we lived in Montana. When I would go back to visit in the summer, I would either help out in the store or hang out there while Georgia worked. That being said, when Georgia closed the doors for good, it created a feeling of loss for many people. My mom, Judy, and I decided that a retirement party/celebration was in order for such a momentous occasion.

We had an array of goodies, including a dessert bar. The rabbit was in her store window for the whole time the Briar Patch was open so it was fitting that it also attended the retirement party.

We made favors and Judy brought flowers from her garden for decoration.

The kids drew pictures for Georgia and we displayed them on the wall.

The weather was perfect so the party spilled outside where there were games (such as "Death Frisbee," or at least that's what the children could have coined it after all the facial Frisbee impacts).

And most importantly, there were friends and family: 

It is nice to be around for these moments.

Montana Celebrations

This past week we headed up to Montana to celebrate two very important events: my cousin Pat's wedding and Georgia's retirement. I am the oldest cousin on the Cooper side with my cousin Pat close behind. While living in Montana, the two of us were close growing up and we tried to keep in contact after I moved.

Ed and I had the pleasure of meeting Pat's bride, Erin a few years back when they took a trip to Arizona. The two of them complement each other wonderfully and it was a joy to see them get married.

Owen was torn between feeling goofy for wearing a tie, and feeling cool because he was wearing a tie like dad.

He soon learned the ladies love a kid with a tie, so he decided the tie wasn't such a bad thing.

Two of the Thorsen boys (Pat's brothers) and their lovely ladies. We love these guys. The Thorsen boys are good people.

The groom dancing with his mother. The wedding was beautiful and not a detail was forgotten. Unfortunately, Owen came down with a serious tummy ache so we took turns keeping him company in the hotel room. We managed to sneak away though, thanks to Debby, to boogie down with the Cooper/Thorsen clan.

Splashin' in the Splash Pad

Everything we do now must involve water or an air conditioned building. Luckily, there are plenty of options for us to try out.

We're currently making the rounds on the splash pads. This was, by far, the nicest splash pad I have ever come across.

The boys had a great time, the moms relaxed on lounge chairs under palm trees, and afterwards we had some delicious yogurt. A fun day for under $5 bucks. Can't beat that.

Splash!

It's officially summer. Let the daily pool time begin!

Fun in the Sun with a Little Mud

This was our fifth year of going to Mighty Mud Mania. In all honesty, we were not planning to go this year. It's hot and crowded and Owen is usually hesitant to get really muddy. Instead, we had planned on going camping. But Owen's swim lessons are at the park that MMM is at, so he's been excitedly watching them set-up all week. We decided to stay in town and rally the troops to brave the heat and mud once again.

,

It took five years, but Owen finally really got into the event. He went through the mud obstacle course (with only minor hesitation).

He splashed, jumped, and ran around in the mud. Here he is lounging with a buddy from preschool that we met up with. 

Niah and Miles ("the troops") were there too. Miles still doesn't like the mud, so Owen and Niah made up for his lack of dirtiness.

Not wanting to be left out of some good 'ol fashioned fun, Ed played around in the mud pit with Owen, which Owen got an absolute kick out of.

Afterwards the gang came back to our place to eat, drink, and cool off.

We're happy we stayed in town this weekend. Heat is much more bearable with good friends around.