Can you tell his parents are lawyers?

We went to the zoo today & after hours of animal watching, eating, tram riding, & walking, we told Cooper he could ride in the stroller or walk & he chose to walk. Shortly after that, he threw a tantrum when he found out we were leaving the zoo. He calmed down & then John offered to carry him on his shoulders. As Cooper rode on John's shoulders they had this conversation:

Cooper: Dad, sorry I yelled.
John: That's okay, kiddo.
Cooper: Dad, my options were ride in the stroller or walk, right?
John: Yeah.
Cooper: My options weren't carry me or ride on your shoulders, right?
John: Right. Cooper, are you trying to say that if you had the option of riding on my shoulders we wouldn't have argued?
Cooper: Yeah.
John: Well, that's very disingenuous of you Cooper.
Cooper: Thanks!

The scary part is, by the time he's a teenager he's gonna win the arguments because I started to side with Cooper, until I remembered that the argument had been about leaving the zoo and not walking/riding/being carried. Smart kid.

Goin' 'sploring

Little Red Schoolhouse just opened their new building (which Cooper quickly pointed out is not red, or a schoolhouse, but just a grey building) so we took the boys to see it. It's really nice & Cooper loved the new kids play area with puzzles, sticks (his current obsession), and other activities. We did some 'sploring outside too.

So Big!

Dexter's growing so fast! I attempted a 9 months picture, but the sign went into the mouth. Pretty predicable really. So we got some assistance from big brother Cooper.

Caycee K. turns 3 today! Happy birthday Caycee!

Random links & strong feelings

I'm thoroughly disgusted by this...
Blogher.com article: "Does Breastfeeding Cause Divorce?"
I'm just so outraged about it I don't even know what to say, so I'll let you all read it for yourselves.

and thrilled by this...
Recipe for Parisian bagels
I made these bagels today (I added dried onion flakes) & they're delicious. I tried one this afternoon & it's taking all my willpower not to go in the kitchen & eat the remaining nine.

Celebrating the Fourth

We spent out Fourth of July with Grandma & Grandpa.

There was swimming...

and playing at the park.

Dexter was a little confused. He crawled into the room with the dogs when my mom called them for dinner, & even crawled over to my dad for his "turn" to be petted like the dogs. Weirdo.

We went to a nearby lake for the fireworks display, but the bugs were so bad we had to move into the van to watch it.

(P.S. There are more photos of Dexter, but I promise I haven't forgotten about Cooper. He's just become much more difficult to photograph & even runs from the camera now. Unless it's a modeling job, & then he's a complete ham.)

Black beans anyone?