M-i-ss-i-ss-i-pp-i on the 4th of Ju-ly

Hiiiii y'alllll - we just got back last week from spending the long 4th of July weekend in Mississippi with Josh's family. We had a blast and it was hard to come back home.

We started the trip with a long plane ride, involving mommy handling a squirmy, curious 9 month old all by herself in a window seat in coach. Cooper did fantastic and was laughing and smiling the whole plane ride, though he was intent on trying to grab the large 'fro of the white nerdy guy sitting next to us on the way to Houston. Luckily he never got a hold of it, though he did slap a wet, icy baby hand on the guy's equations he was working on. Cooper was amazed by everything around us, especially as we made our way through each airport, and we tried to make a tough day of travel into an adventure.

When we finally got to Mississippi, Cooper's Gigi was sooooo excited to see him, and Cooper finally got to see his cousin Foster again after over four months.

On Friday night, we grabbed pizza at Soul Shine, where a one-man band was playing (according to Lee Flaherty, the guy's name is "Fingers", though we never confirmed whether that was true, or just Lee's beer consumption talking). Cooper was RIVETED by the musician and all of his gear:

He twisted around in his highchair and just stared intently and solemnly at "Fingers" for at least 20 minutes, so much so that good ol' Fingers gave Coop a shout out and asked him whether he was busy working out the meaning of life with this expression on his face:

Cooper wouldn't even bat an eye. It was hilarious to watch him so fascinated by something in such a serious way!

We spent lots of time with the whole family, just hanging out and of course, eating tons of delicious food. Cooper had a blast playing with Uncle Justin and Yaya, Uncle Lee and Aunt JJ, cousin Foster and cousin-to-be named in Yaya's tummy :)

On the 4th, we headed up to Newton Mississippi for a family reunion. Cooper and Foster sported matching firecracker t-shirts and I must say, they were the hit of the party.

Cooper loved pulling up the grass and showing everyone his exciting discoveries:

And tried to give cousin Foster some kisses:

We also got to spend some time in Gigi's pool, and Cooper was in heaven. We practiced what we've been learning in swim lessons and had him kick through the pool to get to his soccer ball. Every time he finally got it, he tilted his little face up and made this expression:

We were all dying laughing, and it was precious to see him so excited and proud of what he was doing. If we just handed him the ball, he didn't react, but if he had to "swim" over to it, he was absolutely elated as soon as he accomplished what he was trying to do!!

On our last trip, Cooper was too small to really notice or interact with his cousins, but this trip he loved watching and trying to play with the big boys. He and Foster had fun figuring each other out:

Cooper would just stare at his big cousins in awe and amazement:

The three cousins!
Don't worry Foster, I love grabbing a hold of those chunky-monkey legs, too!!
We had the best time just relaxing and hanging out with everyone, and it seemed like just when Cooper was settling in, it was already time to leave. We can't wait to go back soon and are excited for everyone's next visit back to California!