Meet Melissa.....Sweet Melissa

Ok folks. I know this blog is all about Coop 'n Cruz but I promise this following picture relates to them somehow. Imagine Cooper getting to meet Pablo, Diego, Lightning McQueen and the Wonder Pets all wrapped up in one package. That is how special this pretty little thing is to me. Everyone, I'd like you to meet Melissa (we're totally on a first name basis now). Melissa Gilbert!!!! Laura Ingalls Wilder!!! Only the single most important person in my life when I was 10 years old. She was my idol.

Right before the show was about to begin, the announcer introduced a "very important guest" in the audience. She stood up and politely waved to the crowd and I about died. Forget about The Little Mermaid, I was all twitterpated about seeing Melissa.

Therefore, I may or may not have shoved a few giddy school girls out of the way in order to introduce myself and ask for a picture. Okay, I really didn't do that but I totally would have if anyone would have gotten in my way. Apparently tweens and teenage girls are still fans of Laura Ingalls thanks to syndication.

She was super nice and more than happy to pose for a photo during intermission. She told me she was good "friends" with the actor who played King Triton. (His picture is in the previous post in case you want to check him out again). I couldn't help but wonder what Almanzo would think about her hanging out with King Triton. I'm sure poor Melissa just wanted to enjoy the evening and possibly buy herself a bucket of popcorn or a churro before the show resumed but I wasn't going to let that happen. Plus, how could she continue to look so fabulous if I allowed her to eat a churro instead of posing with the likes of me? I actually did her a favor.

Pardon the picture quality. It was dark and we had to be stealthy and fast to make it all happen (A special shout out to to my cousin, Tim for being the photog).

Thanks to me, you are now only 1 Degree of Separation from Melissa. You. Are. Welcome!

The Little Mermaid

Grandpa Pat, Coop and I joined the group to see an evening production of The Little Mermaid at Tuachan Ampitheatre. Grandma Linda was nice enough to stay home with Cruz. The show didn't start until 8:45pm which is waaaaaaayy past our bedtime. Cooper didn't quite make it through the whole show. We ended up sneaking out a little early and Cooper didn't seem to care if he found out if Ariel got her voice back or if Prince What's-His-Bucket finally kissed her already.

It ended up working out great, Coop got a taste of the Theatre (imagine me pronouncing it "theataahhh" because that's how I imagine Theatre going folks pronounce it) and by leaving early we were able to beat the traffic coming home. Win-Win!

This is Coop's face when the show started
My handsome dates

This is Ariel. ARIEL people!!!!!!

Cute little Flounder

Kind Triton (Spoiler Alert!!!! There's a story about a friend of his in a future post)

Pickleball Champ

Another fun activity we played as a group during the reunion is pickleball. My Dad is quite addicted (and very good) and plays all the time. The courts he plays on at his community center don't allow kids under 18 so Cooper never gets to participate. He knows that Grandpa plays pickleball so it was fun showing him what it's all about. We found a city park that has pickleball courts so we were able to play (well sort of). Coop still needs to work on his technique a tad bit but he sure looked cute giving it a whirl.

Water Fun

When you plan a JULY reunion in the DESERT it is HOT! Therefore, you find lots of activities to cool off.

Family Hike

We went on a kid-friendly morning hike as a group in Snow Canyon State Park. The temperature was still cool and the kids had a blast.

Coop checking out the Moqui marbles
Baby Charlie

Mommies and Babies

Family Photos

It's rare that the whole gang gets together all at once so we made it a point to force ourselves to pose for some family photos. Even though it isn't a very fun process, we'll all be so glad we did this someday.

Everyone say "CHEEEEEEzzzzzzzzzzE"...........

Group Shot

The 'lil cousins

Cousins (minus my bro and a few other cousins that couldn't make it)

My Dad and his bro, Mike

Our Family (minus our Baby Daddy's)

Family Reunion

We've been busy playing and yapping it up with cousins and extended family this past week. And boy did we have fun! My Dad's side of the family came down and we had a great time visiting, reconnecting, and for some of us, meeting family members for the first time. We were surrounded by aunts, uncles, 1st cousins, 2nd cousins, and who-really-cares-what-number-removed-we-are cousins! It was so nice to be surrounded by family and KIDS! I also loved having a week off from the going to bed battle that has been taking place lately. Coop was pooped every night and fell right to sleep without any type of stand off. If only we had cute cousins to wear us out every day! We sure do miss "all the kids" (as Cooper says). Coop must really like his cousins because he introduced his new monster truck to his brother last night by saying " Hi Cruz, I'm Cooper's cousin, Monster Truck".

That pretty much sums it up......Coop thinks cousins are as cool as Monster Trucks. Trust me, that's BIG.

I'll try to post pictures of some of our adventures as soon as I can......