PawPaw's last practical joke- mama.

Grams and PawPaw spent a lot of time cleaning out their basement this summer, which meant they unearthed a ton of old timey toys from when papa was little. With Henry's new music obsession, they knew this tape player was perfect for him.

Not only does it come with a microphone (that can't be turned down), it came with the only tape Grams could find- the Three Dog Night greatest hits tape. We all just want to give PawPaw and Grams a great big thank you for that. While there is one song that is tolerable- the "Number Song" as Henry calls it (One is the loneliest number), the rest of the tape is driving me to the brink of insanity. We've spent all week celebrating-"celebrate, dance to the music" with Jeremiah the bullfrog and on the lookout because "Eli's coming." This is what they must mean by inhumane torture.

PawPaw's going away party- June.

On Saturday night, we packed up the car and drove to Marion. We heard there was a big party going down.

Mama wanted me to look nice, so she put on this pretty long dress that Great-Great Aunt Lillie sent me. It was beautiful, but too cold outside. Plus, I was only interested in getting dirty and mama didn't want me to ruin m dress the first time I wore it.
Mama and papa had the best child free day ever, as I found many willing relatives to play with me. I think Uncle Chip spent two hours following me around.
Here's the entire Cooper clan. 6 kids, 12 grandkids, and 3 great-grandkids.
This time with wives and husbands. We were so glad everyone made the trip to see PawPaw off.

Maybe you notices, I'm clutching my nukie andblankie in these shots. That's because they decided to take the picture about 15 minutes after I went down for my nap. We all know that mama never would have dreamed of waking Henry up from a nap for a picture, but I'm the second kid, and they don't love me as much. Also, I'm much more likely to go back to sleep when woken and I was pretty drowsy from the benadryl (more hives on Sunday).

Henry spent the whole day running and playing and mama and papa barely saw him, except when desserts were brought out and he announced he was "so hungry."
Our cousins Paige and Teahl posed for this shot, but demanded that they be allowed to see it before mama posted it to facebook. I think they look great.
Among the many Coopers, you could even find a few Parsons at the party. Unlce Michael, Aunt Molly, and Aunt Katie challenged everyone to game of Ladder Golf.
Uncle Adam and Jessica took in a game of corn hole.
Don't let this old man fool you. GG feigned no knowlege of how any lawn game was played and they won a game of ladder golf by himself in about 4 turns. He had an 8 point turn once. Mama played her one obligatory game, and no one invited her back to be on their team.

Don't even bother Aunt Kate, GG's a hustler.
Grams and Tyler show good form for their game.
Henry chased his cousins for about an hour straight.
As a college professor, papa needs protection from all those pretty young college girls. Luckily, PawPaw loaned him some body armor.
On second thought, I don't think he needs to worry about an college girls coming after him.
Mister Anthony tried his best to help Payton out from under the pile of Cooper kids. And did you hear the news? He won't be Mister Anthony forever. Soon (but not until after college), he's going to be our Uncle Anthony! He popped the big question and Aunt Girl said yes!
Since PawPaw is going to be in Iraq for a year, we wanted one last shot of Pawps with his grandkids.

Best buds. We'll miss you PawPaw. Let us know when you get your webcam set up!

Two parties-June.

Like mama said, we didn't get any pictures from the Seibert summer party.

She did manage to get two pictures of Tessa and I swinging in the park beside the shelter house where we had the party. You can't see it here, but I'm starting to break out in what has finally been determined to be hives. We think the cause is maybe chocolate or grass. Both of which have never bothered me until the past 2 weeks. I broke out twice this weekend. Both times have resulted in almost instantaneous hives. But then they go away as soon as I get a dose of benadryl and hydrocortisone cream. The good news is that I never notice the hives when I have them. We can't wait to hear what the doctor thinks.

Tessa practiced being cute. And she even gave an attempt at walking to impress all of her great aunts and uncles.

On the way home, we all fell asleep. Henry saw that us girls were sleeping and asked mama permission if he could take a nap too. When we got back to the Taller house, the girls woke straight up, but Henry slept in the van for another half hour.

We ordered pizza and had an early party to celebrate Annalise's 3rd birthday.

Annalise had a pretty butterfly cake. As soon as the birthday song was over, the kids scrambled to claim a frosting butterfly for their own.

I didn't eat any cake because I was playing with the toys by myself minus the burden of clothes.

Annalise enjoyed a big piece of cake and a scoop of bright Superman ice cream.

While Tessa gnawed a slice of pizza.

It was a great trip to Indiana in which the 5 oldest grandkids kept themselves occupied most of the weekend hiding in Evie's bedroom making signs that declared certain rooms of the house off limits to brain eating. Lucky for them, Monster Uncle Bran disregarded all signs and terrorized the kids to their extreme enjoyment. And now that we're safe back in South Carolina, we can tell Aunt Jenni that there was also a lot of jumping on Evie's bed that kept the kids happy. Sorry Aunt Jenni, at least they took turns jumping from the step stool on to the bed.

Touch A Truck- Henry.

On Saturday morning, we attended the premier Carmel event of the season- Touch a Truck. And for the first time ever, I actually wanted to touch a truck. Any past attempt, I have never wanted to get near any truck or tractor.

Too bad Tessa decided to skip Touch A Truck to go consignment shopping. This may be the best picture yet of the grandkids.

Papa's shoulders offered me a good view to decide which truck to see next.

June found a pair of sunglasses in the car and insisted on wearing them all morning. Pretty stinking cute.

Natalie and Oliver look good in this fire engine.

I look just like Curious George in the two fire station books we own.

Here's one of the four of us.

Natalie and Oliver search for garbage.

June was not impressed by the big trucks.

Now that we've got a lawn, we need one of these big tractors.

June and papa decided to forgo the snowplow.

Evie visited enough trucks to get a bingo and earned a prize. We all got shovels and buckets for our truck touching skills.

Mama and June both gave Papa large sunglassed attitude.

What a great morning. I really wanted the chance to push the loud air brakes, like some other were doing, but mama didn't let me touch anything, especially after she noticed that most of the trucks still had the keys in the engine. Safety first.

We left the trucks behind so we could get to the Seibert summer party. Unfortunately, mama didn't take any pictures of the actual party. But it was great seeing everyone there and everyone did great, despite missing their afternoon naps.

Indy-Henry.

This weekend, we packed up the van and headed up to Indianapolis to see the Tallers. It rained on Friday, but we didn't let it keep us down. We pulled the cars out of the garage and had fun. I rode around and around on the tricycle.

June was the only one to brave the rain when a ball rolled out of the garage.

I sat in this lawn chair, but mama and Uncle Kevin really relaxed in the zero gravity loungers. Later, Aunt Jenni brought out beers and they really had a great afternoon. Being a stay-at-home parent is so hard.

Tessa chose her favorite early as "Gram-pa" became her second word.

Aunt Jenni says this bottle is empty because she made a pitcher of sangria. We're not entirely sure and she and Juner weren't hitting the juice.

Here's a video of me on the bike. Look at how fast I can go. And June also indulges in her latest obsession- carrying around a ball.