So this was not the first time here by a long shot. In fact this is a place I really enjoy going to. Grandma and grandpa have never been though so it was good to get them out there. Man, this joint rocks. Food is ridiculous and I always get a ton of it to sample. Now that I have 3 whole teeth and one on the way, I can eat pretty much anything. Buckwheat and banana pancakes from dad, chocolate from mom, hash browns, bacon, man what a morning. Then off for the nap. Food is good.
Grandma and grandpa came out for the week for my birthday. Sweet. Mom and dad’s furniture arrived a few days back but was sitting in the respective boxes on the deck. Grandpa was bored so the furniture assembly began. Given my track record with helping out with tool projects, I once again jumped right in. I was mostly clanking tools together, playing with styrofoam, playing with the boxes, well, you get the picture. Took grandpa almost an entire day to assemble but in the end, the furniture was up and all was good in the universe.
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So while this may not be the first pasta experience it was one of the first. Certainly the first one with a camera nearby. Typically speaking I have yet to coordinate my hands with the mouth and well, eating is not always the cleanest activity I do. Pasta was particularly interesting and dad could not stop laughing. Then out came the camera. Thanks dad. I will be sure to pull this up to show my friends sometime in the future.
While I recognize the need to mow the lawn on a regular basis I was straight sick of dad getting to have all the fun. Wheelie and cousing Sam hooked me up with this sweet little gadget so I can now join in the fun. The blades on mine are not quite as sharp as dad’s but mine makes cool popping noises. No one can touch that.
After dad’s 100 mile stint on the bike he has become a bit of a bike guy. Loving tools the way I do I wasted no time jumping right in and lending a helping hand. I played with zip ties, wrenches and a few screwdrivers. We successfully mounted the odometer on dad’s bike so he can now know how fast he is going. Every time he goes a bit faster, he will now think of me.
[album: http://www.cooperhampton.com/wp-content/plugins/dm-albums/dm-albums.php?currdir=/wp-content/cooperAlbums/workingOnBike/]Last year mom and dad (mostly dad) got hustled by Flo in Hoboken to install a baby seat that the bike store knew was too big for me. Their disappointment aside, a year has passed and voila! I am big enough. So the weekend weather was still holding out so they packed me up and away we went. I must admit I was not thrilled to have the helmet on. Aside from that though we had a great time. Dad was pushing for an even 10 mile ride that first day but mom pooped out around 6 and when dad took me back out we didn’t quite make it the 10. You can see the odometer here. It was pretty hot and I was getting a bit dismayed on that seat. All around though a good day.
[album: http://www.cooperhampton.com/wp-content/plugins/dm-albums/dm-albums.php?currdir=/wp-content/cooperAlbums/firstBikeRide/]This was the first appearance at mom and dad’s famous Memorial Day bash A bit different this year as they are now in Baltimore but aunts Jen and Liz showed up from the Boken along with a few neighbors and of course a good portion of Mom’s family. Dad even had a friend from his old California days show up (nice to meet you Mr. Mergen). Thank you Facebook for letting him know he lives 20 minutes away.
8 pounds of skirt steak, chimichurri, Jack Daniels, a few cases of beer, etc later everyone went home by 7:30; an all time worst for mom and dad and highly disappointing. Seriously. Oh well, they said they will re-work the plan for next year and try again. In the meantime, the chimi went over well and that is really all that matters!
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Sam and I have very similar birthdays so this was the first year we were able to really experience that. While I see some potential issues with the future “shared birthdays” Sam was here first so I will play along; this year. Once I figure out how to use these hands of mine though, you had better watch your toys buddy. Mom, aunt Jenny, and uncle Nik took us to the air show to look at planes. It was a lot of fun actually. We saw the Blue Angels. I was a little unnerved by the loudness of the planes at first but I soon got over it and all was well with the world. Then we were exhausted afterward as you can tell from the picture taken on the ride home.
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