Every Boy Needs a Dog

As much as he would want one (and he does) unfortunately it's not going to happen. However, there are opportunities out there for dog loving boys. He was in dog heaven this weekend when we went for dinner at the condo of our Relief Society President, Ann Romish and her husband. They have two dogs (one in Cooper's arms, the other quite similar) and their son who is deaf/blind came over with his golden retriever service dog who was a real beauty and very friendly. Cooper was in dog heaven. They live on the 9th floor in a high rise in the U-District (as in UW for those not familiar with Seattle) with a fabulous view of Lake Union and the Seattle skyline. They are fabulous people! There was also a heated pool which despite the windy, chilly evening was also enjoyed by the boys as you can see from the photo of Spencer.

Last week Spencer finished his last day of elementary school (sigh). He is moving on to middle school next year. The last week of school was pretty much one big party. The picture with the girls is from the 2nd to the last day when they had a field trip where they went to the Space Needle (which gave me a headache--I guess I'm getting old) and they "rode the Duck" which again if you are from Seattle needs no explanation but if not, it's a big silver boat looking thing on wheels with a canopy over it that tours around Seattle on land and water. It was a rather fun day. The girls are just three of the six that are his friends. He's quite the ladies man.

The Young & The Restless

I had to post this picture just because it is so Cooper. The boy is in constant motion and everything he does is over the top. From eating to smiling he can't do anything in a small way. I took a bunch of quick action photos one day when he was playing catch with Dennis. Mostly I missed the action--guess I need to practise more--but I did manage to catch one or two pretty good shots. His smile lights up his whole face and you just can't resist that infectious grin. It just doesn't get any hammier than him--except maybe his Grandpa Vaden. He is so much like Grandpa Vaden it's scary! All the way from eating butter (by itself) to the wooden poses for photos at times. He can't sit still for 2 minutes without having to make some noise, squirm, say something, or just move. He has constant clammy hands and feet, his head is perpetually wet from sweating and every day he comes home from school dirty from head to toe. From the Chandler side he gets a hearty appetite. He has been known to eat two huge hamburgers (with bun) and then ask mom "Are you going to finish that?" about her half eaten burger. The picture says it all. That's Cooper.

Field of Dreams

The oh, so controversial baseball field across the street from our house reopened last week. Dennis' baseball team of 13 & 14 year olds played their last game of the season there on Wednesday, May 30th. The field is controversial because it is artificial turf. A group known as "no plastic grass" dogged it every step of the way. Construction was originally scheduled so that it wouldn't disrupt baseball season (or at least only a minor disruption). But the NPG group litigated, complained, stymied, etc. so that construction started way later than planned and the only game the kids got to play was this last game of the season. Dennis coached the team despite not having one of our boys on the team. He said he enjoyed the season but will not be back for a repeat next year. You can see how beautiful the field looks--particularly when framed by a gorgeous day in Seattle (yes, we do have those-more than most people suspect). The field has been in constant use since it opened--more so than it was ever used on any given evening in the past. Sure it would be nice to have real grass--but, there are those occasional not so gorgeous days that make a grass field impractical for the amount of abuse it gets. Now if the dog owners can just manage to take the "no dogs on the field" sign seriously and stay off, all will as it should be. (The kids on the field are not his team. His team was dark blue and they lost the game 8-0. Small wonder with bruisers like those on the other team!)