I don't even know where to begin about our long, fun-filled weekend. You already know from the previous blog that the flight went well. After Cooper got up from his nap, he had some one-on-one time with Popo. My dad is that guy that all kids L-O-V-E! He likes to tickle and wrestle and get on the floor. He makes funny noises and laughs at everything. And while Cooper has seen Popo on a number of occasions, it is usually for brief stints, especially since he has been old enough to be aware of his surroundings. So, it took some adjusting to a new house, new people, and new dogs, but by the end of the night he was running around yelling "Bopo!" The next morning when he woke up, he was calling us over the monitor. "Ma! Da! Bopo!"

Daddy arrived on Friday which was Halloween. Nana works at the University in the administration building and had to take candy up to the office. It seems that the Early Education program was bringing the daycare kids over to trick-or-treat later that afternoon. But I guess these folks were ready, because when we came walking down the hall, people started coming out with bowls of candy. Cooper wasn't sure what to think at first. He is kind of shy anyway, and when random strangers were getting in his face with bowls of stuff, he was a little taken aback. But then he realized he could TAKE the stuff in the bowls. Whatever that stuff was, it was colorful, so why not take a few more. We didn't go into the building with early trick-or-treating in mind so we didn't have his candy bucket. We all had to stuff candy in our pockets.

For the actual Halloween evening, we opted for some good wholesome fun. I didn't really think that Cooper would get trick-or-treating. As mentioned, he is a bit shy and I think he would run the other way when people came to the door. And heaven forbid people might be wearing masks. We had an unfortunate incident at Target a few weeks ago where Cooper completely lost it in the Halloween section. Plus, we would probably end up carrying him quite a bit. So, Nana and Popo had located some good church festivals where we could play AND get candy. Actually, it was so perfect for Cooper. He was thoroughly entertained by all the activities.

Saturday was the big game: UT (Danny's Alma mater) versus Texas Tech (my Alma mater and Popo/Nana's team of choice). We made pancakes in the morning which Cooper followed with dessert out of his candy bucket. Then I took Cooper to the neighborhood park for a morning outing. We took bread with us because we saw ducks there and I know he likes that. We got there and he immediately fell in love with the gravel. I guess that most parks we go to have wood chips, but this one had gravel (probably better in the West Texas wind). Rocks in general are one of Cooper's obsessions and we collect them everywhere we go. So, tiny rocks kept him engaged for about 20 minutes. Not too mention another little boy about 2 1/2 joined in the fun. Both of them wearing their game day shirts, but for different teams.

While Cooper was throwing gravel around, I noticed a gaggle of geese making a bee-line for a woman walking with her grandson... and they were honking like crazy. I started to question the wisdom of bringing bread with us. I turned my attention back to Cooper who wanted to go down the slide, but when I looked up about 5 minutes later, the gaggle (turned pack) was heading straight for us. Hmmmm. By now the grandmother had joined us on the slide and said the geese were a little "in your face" but if you threw the food AWAY from you, it should be fine. Oh dear. The couple with the opposing team's shirt decided they weren't sticking around, picked up the kid and wished me luck (not kidding). I wondered if the geese smelled the bread I brought so I decided to get rid of it. I put Cooper up high on the jungle gym and took the bread a few yards away and started throwing it in chunks. Then I ran back to Cooper and crawled up on the gym with him. The geese scarfed the bread and then circled under us looking for more. Cooper wanted to get down and pet them, so I had to wrestle him to keep him up there. Eventually, the geese lost interest in us and we crawled down the other side and headed for the swings. The gang of geese made another lap or two around the jungle gym, decided there was no more food, and headed for the lake... right past US on the swings. I was ready to start kicking and flailing if they even got close, but I guess they no longer smelled bread and waddled right past us. Whew!

Nana and I decided to stay home and do some stuff with Cooper while Daddy and Popo went to the game. They went down about 4 hours early because of parking. Everyone in town was so geared up for this game. ESPN Game Day was there and the buzz around town the week before the game was out of control. Ticket prices were through the roof. Nana's friend Kyle sold his 4 tickets for $495 each and then turned around and bought 4 more for $200 each. Not a bad profit. Danny went up there without a ticket, found one for $200 from a friend, and then somehow worked a trade for Nana's ticket and made $250. However they did that, Danny sat with Popo at the game and watched his Horns lose! :-( The last 10 minutes or so were super intense, but I am sad to say I missed it. I fell asleep after writing my last blog entry and missed the whole thing. Oh well. It's just football right? Right?!?!

Sunday was casual. We had breakfast and went to another park. This one was really big and was built from community donations. I mean it was huge with slides and giant saloons. Cooper ran about every single square foot of the park!

After that we went to visit my cousin... er, second cousin... hmmm, third cousin?? Whatever, he is the son of my Mom's cousin and that whole family lives in Lubbock too. John and Andrea (thirdish cousin) have a 3-year-old boy named Griffin. Cooper and Griffin played all afternoon while we all chatted and watch the Cowboys stink it up. But, Griffin had some great toys. Cooper loved the guitar and also the toy kitchen utensils. Yes, Griffin has a kitchen set... which I LOVE! Cooper can already put his waffle in the toaster in the morning and crack his eggs, so he loved the kitchen stuff too. He was walking around with a spatula, pan, and plastic corn-on-the-cob all afternoon.

That night we had to pack up all the giant bags and head for the airport again on Monday. Once again, Cooper was a gem. The flight was full but somehow we finagled the only open seat on the entire plane. We basically sat Cooper in it and then never met any one's eyes as they were walking down the aisle. This time Daddy was there so Cooper had double entertainment, but he got grumpy again in the last ten minutes of the flight. I guess that is a lesson for when we think about taking him on longer flights in the future.

Cooper was back at daycare today and so happy to see the kids and MaMaw. But he was still calling for Popo (and Nana too) on the way home tonight!