Road Trip

Last week, the Coopers took a bit of a road trip. Actually, it was a lot of a road trip. By the end of it, we would have hit: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.

It was a grand idea. By grand I mean insane. But we Coopers are a crazy bunch, often up for any adventure that doesn't require lots of fore planning (well at least on my part). So we embarked.

The trip was an excursion to Atlanta, GA for a showing of Road to Roubaix. Normally the kids and I don't accompany Dave on his film trips but in this case we were going to mix business and pleasure. From Atlanta we would head to the Myrtle Beach area of SC to visit Dave's Dad and his wife. Then we'd head home.

We had five days to accomplish all of this. And we were to travel by car.

So my fellow traveling souls if you're up for it, I'll break down (in pictures) our trip day by day for you. So here's our first installment....

Day 1: On the Road

To keep the bigger one occupied (and to make me feel better about the 3 unexcused missed days of school) I required her to journal her trip. So armed with a fresh blank journal and a brand spanking new set of colored pencils the girl was ready.

Someone didn't make it far before dozing off.

Pit stop

Cracker Barrel. The official road trip eatery.

He was done. It was about 9 hours of travel at this point. We only had 3 more to go.

The kids cheered with glee when we got to the hotel room. Their absolute most favorite thing? The shower. I have to say, it was rather magnificent.

Ellie unpacked. Not sure what the gloves are for. Apparently she felt they'd be required at some point on our trip. You'll also notice she brought along a lizard and not one but TWO watches. You know, two watches are always better than one. I do love the way she arranged everything so carefully. It was most definitely done with attention to detail.


Next up Day 2: Seeing the Sights

Nine Years Ago Today....

Happy Anniversary my Love.

Guest Blogger

Today I was lucky enough to have one of my projects (there are so many of them in various states around the house) featured on Make and Takes. Love the site and feel so honored to have my work seen there. A big huuuuuuuuge thank you to Marie for letting me be a part of it!

Car Wash

The boy loves a car wash. And since I park under a tree in which many birds seem to reside, I'm more than happy to oblige.

Cape Giveaway

We're giving away a superhero cape to one of our facebook fans today! You still have time to enter—so be a friend!

Lunch Time

This picture was snapped after lunch last week at one of our favorite neighborhood hangouts. Since it was spring break, it was a rare treat for all four of us to enjoy a lunch out together. Our kids are well seasoned restaurant diners. Dave attributes it to us always eating out. I say it's the atmosphere and all the people around that the kids enjoy. I do occasionally like to mix it up and serve dinner at home too. But I can't say I don't enjoy the fact that the servers at the places we frequent know who we are, what are kids like to drink and often stop to chit-chat with us. That and not having to wash all those dishes afterward.

Happy Easter

I found this essay by David Sedaris on a blog and laughed so hard it hurt (in that good kind of way). It's an Easter tale of multi-cultural and linguistic adventure. Or would it be misadventure? In any event it's hilarious and made me think of the Easter we spent in Belgium three years ago. In Belgium they do have Easter bunnies, except they weren't of the chocolate variety. They were large brioches and the ears were just as tasty.

Photographer

A year or so ago in Classic Play, I wrote about an idea I had for a playdate - a photo scavenger hunt. There's something amazing that happens when you put a camera in a kid's hands—you get their unique perspective.

I think one of the most fascinating illustrations of this was captured in the film Born Into Brothels where documentarians gave a group of children living in the red light district of Calcutta cameras, taught them how to use them, and followed their journey. The journey started with taking pictures on their neighborhood streets to some of the children showing their work in a gallery. If you haven't yet seen the movie, put it on your Netflix queue. It's a fascinating film.

Here in the US, digital cameras are as ubiquitous as cell phones (which often have their own camera) and photo editing programs are increasingly more user friendly. This all means photography as a means of self-expression has become available to an ever wider audience—including kids.

Now I'm not sure if it's having a daddy for a photographer or a natural love of capturing pictures of things they find interesting, but my two love to take pictures themselves. So today while we were waiting outside of a restaurant for a table to open up, I handed my camera to Ellie to help pass the time. Here's what she captured...






If you ask her, she'll tell you why she chose each picture and the corresponding filter. And I love that. I love the quiet confidence and I love the perspective. It's her world and she's sharing it with us. That to me, is beautiful.

A Rare Photo

Since we've had kids, Dave and I are rarely seen together in a picture. This picture is especially meaningful to me since Ellie is the one who snapped it.

Yoga

I've recently started practicing Yoga. I take a couple classes a week at the gym and while it's supposed to be grounding I find it rather challenging to do at home as I always seem to have an audience. The kids are apparently taking notes: