Copy Coop and chatter box

Warning: Cooper will copy your every move. Cash likes to climb up the outside of the stairs while holding onto the banister. Last night Cooper was doing it. then, like his brother, he let go and fell backwards onto the couch. [insert heart attack].
The other night I was calling Chandler, who was upstairs. Next thing i hear is Cooper yelling, "chandler, chandler, chandler."

While Cash was gone Cooper's vocabulary quadrupled. Not surprisingly. It was probably there all along he just never had a chance to talk. Some of the things he says:
bike
Rylie
Swim
pool
Nona
Car
Truck
Tractor
Waffle
here
this
bath
bubble
gorilla
and so many more. I did also hear him put a few words together. Mostly, "brother bye-bye" or "Cash gone".

Also, he does this thing where he'll call your name and get increasingly louder if you don't respond. and when you do he'll say something so simple like , "here" or "hi".

He's a crack up and very happy and very cute.

Cash went camping

he really, really enjoyed camping. he took to it naturally. he loved getting dirty and spending time outside. he really didn't want to have to come home and hasn't been very warm to me since he's been home. gramma and poppy were fantastic hosts. I'm sure daddy is glad to be home and sleep in his own bed.

quick vacation

a couple weeks ago we went to Carlsbad, Ca for a quick get-away. We really, really enjoyed ourselves. We were slightly familiar with Carlsbad since this was where we came to visit when Rick was stationed over here. We decided to only subject ourselves to two nights in a hotel room with these guys so we left early on Friday morning and drove over. Our first stop was Legoland. it was fun but the boys had only taken short naps in the car so they faded quickly. We got to our hotel around 4 or 5pm, got checked in and then quickly headed out to explore the place.
The Carlsbad Inn was the perfect spot for us. It's made up of a hotel and condos. Next time we'll stay in one of the condos with a kitchen. There is a huge grassy area where all the kids play and the night we checked in there was a band playing and people bbq-ing.
We walked down to the beach, not expecting to play just expecting to check it out. before I knew it, everyone was wet and sandy! the boys loved playing at the beach. Instead of going back to Legoland to use our two-for-one tickets we decided to just stay at the beach. it was the right decision because we could take naps and eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the grass.
the next morning Cash and I swam in the pool and then we hit the road to get home before the traffic got too bad.
it was a perfect little escape and a place that i can see us going back to for many years.