Dos for Coop

I have missed 13 nephew birthdays over the past five years.  That is a lot of sad-faced "wishes I could be there" to evites.  So what fun to be able to celebrate Cooper's big two with him in person! 

Enjoying his pah-resents.  A boy after his mother's own heart.

The birthday boy with Aunt Shaanti (and something a little extra!)

 

Mason and Cole, shooting hoops with the uncles.

We started the celebration at Chuck E. Cheese's--which, since it's the same Chuck E. Cheese's we frequented as kids, held a lot of memories...especially for Casey and me, who haven't been back there for years.  It also held a lot of chaos and out-of-control-ness, especially for Casey and me, who don't have little kids yet and are used to relative peace and quiet.  Sigh.

Kade, enjoying every second of being stuck in that high chair.

A quick pic with Mason

This is the only pic Troy would let me take.  He was very serious about it.

 For the record Chuck E. Cheese's is not quite just for kids.  We all enjoyed way too many skee-ball games, and Casey and I ended up playing the street b-ball game for a good half of the night (I blame the basketball-sized belly for the fact that I lost every single game to him).  And the boys had a blast.

Hangin' with Mr. Cooper

Clearly this kid has too many tickets

Dad and Casey, entertaining themselves the old fashioned way

After that, we went back to my parents' for snacks and Italian sodas and a broader birthday season celebration.  Casey, Coop, Kim, and I all have birthdays within two weeks of each other, followed shortly by Adam and Jenny, so it was fun to get to celebrate all together.  And, by the way, it was way fun to see Casey and Kim, who came down for the shower and the weekend before heading back to snow-ridden Moscow.