America!

All right. I'm pretty proud of myself. Please admire this American flag snack tray. It's cheese, strawberries and chocolates. I, too, am impressed.

We hosted a watch party for the U.S.-Ghana soccer game. Aside from a super-exciting game and array of American-themed snacks, the most notable thing was the plethora of babies. There were seven children. SEVEN! We lamented about our past parties, when BYOB meant bring your own beer. Now it means bring your own baby.

Speaking of babies, here is ours. We let her wear the traditional Coppernoll international sporting events hat: a Hog hat with the American flag draped down in the back.

 Then Mia stole Leigh's camera and snapped a few selfies.

10,000 miles

So when we first bought our car, it only had 3,000 miles on it. In my mind, I would take a picture of us at every 1,000 miles, to show where we go and how we change over time. Of course, I immediately forgot about this plan until yesterday, when the car hit 10,000 miles today on our street. 

I was by myself, which doesn't make for the most exciting photo, unless you're a Millennial. A selfie will have to do. (I think this might be my first selfie ever. It felt creepy taking it.) So hooray for 10,000 miles!

Ahhhhhhhsemayaaaabodeebesibabaaaaaa

I go to make toast; I come back to Leigh and Mia reenacting the opening of "The Lion King." It was much easier when she was a baby. 

Senior Walk

This weekend, my Uncle Kelly took us for a trip around campus. I graduated from the University of Arkansas 10 years ago this May. (Um, what? How did that happen?) A lot has changed since I was there, obviously. So many lovely improvements have been made, but there were still many places that were the same. It felt nice to be on campus for the first time in a long time. Of course, we had to stop and see my name on Senior Walk. (For those of you who don't know, Senior Walk is one of the very best traditions at the U of A. The name of every graduate in the history of the school is etched into the sidewalks. No other school does it. It's really special, and something that graduates feel very proud of.) This is Mia and I sitting next to my name - Carrie Rebecca Coppernoll. My name fit in the letter limit by only two letters. Eep!

And here is Mia with my dad's name, which is on the lawn of Old Main. My dad earned his law degree five years before I earned my bachelor's. Two Coppernolls on Senior Walk! And hopefully there will be a couple Coppernoll descendants there some day with the name Jacobs.

Sign from the Kiwi gods?

So the Thunder drafted Steven Adams, a native of New Zealand. Then we discovered this in our kitchen! WHAT!

You've got a little something there

 

We went to supper with our lovely friends Lauren and Marc and tried out a new restaurant. The review? The wait was long (above) but the food was tasty (below). Um, Mia: you've got a little something right over, uh, there.

The chop

 I took a couple days off work, so I decided it was time for my once-every-three-years haircut. I donated 10 inches of my hair to Locks of Love. This was my fifth time to chop it off and give it away. Every time my heart feels so big. I absolutely love this. This time I did it in honor of my Aunt Barb, who is a breast cancer survivor. My hair will go to make wigs for ill children whose families can't afford wigs. I hope there's a sweet kiddo out there somewhere who will enjoy it.

Slug hug

Mia and I joined some friends to see Monsters University. (Leigh had softball in 100-degree heat. Who got the better end of that deal?) The movie was great, and Mia especially loved this giant plastic snail in the lobby. Apparently there's a movie coming out about racing snails. So there's that.

A quick trip to the park

Whenever we go to the library, there's a little park right nearby that just can't be ignored. Plus, there are some crazy looking ducks that poke around the pond.

This has lead me to the conclusion that there is never a quick trip to the library.

Swinging

After work, we popped over to the sprayground water park to let Mia play. Oklahoma City has a bunch of them all over the city, and the one we went to this time also happened to have a park. Here's a recap of what happened:

- Splash around in the water park.
- Scurry to the park.
- Go down the slide.
- Scurry to the water park.
- Repeat a million times.

Leigh and I eventually acquiesced and sat at a picnic table in the middle. Then before we left, Leigh taught her how to twist a swing around and around and then let go. Weee!

Go Hogs?

I love the Hogs as much as anybody, but I saw something the other day that made no sense. There is this Razorback sitting in the executive parking lot at my office. What? I mean, like ...? I'm guessing this means that there is an executive from Hogland. I'm determined to find this person and make fun of Bobby Petrino with him/her.

Hope still lives here

I went down to Moore for work and came across this house at the edge of the tornado's path. There's a tarp blocking the damaged side of this home with a spray-painted message: HOPE STILL LIVES HERE.

Mia "sings" in the mirror

And then she makes me smell her stinky feet.

Goslings!

Do you know what makes coming to work a little bit easier? Goslings! The flock of geese that hang out on our property have spawned adorable goslings.

Father's Day

For the first time ever, we got it together for a holiday. We managed to mail out Father's Day cards on time. To honor such a spectacular feat, I took Mia into the post office to drop the cards off instead of just clipping them to the mailbox.

Cupcake wars

Sometimes ideas are better in theory.

I decided that Mia and I should make cupcakes for Leigh's birthday. Wouldn't this be adorable? Wouldn't we take the cutest pictures? Wouldn't it all turn out lovely?

Please. Let's be honest. Mia was basically taking a bath in the batter once she realized how delicious it was. (Sometimes I don't teach her the best life skills ever. Like the time I taught her how to snap up popcorn with her tongue.)

And lesson learned: 3-year-old don't have the motor skills to fill the baking cups.

The only photo we have is this, and Leigh's smile cracks me up. He is totally pretending like this wasn't a giant ordeal that ended with cleaning the kitchen and giving Mia a bath.

Storm party

Once again, the weather is attacking Oklahoma. We're seeking shelter with some of our favorite people - Scout and her moms! Here is Maggie buried under a pile of girls. Keep in mind, they aren't scared. They're, as Mia would say, "so super excited" to be hanging out. By the end of the night, we weren't the only one to show up at our friends' house because of their basement. There were 11 dogs, 9 adults, 3 children and a cat.

She is fancy

This evening, as  I was folding clothes, Mia pulled her little pink blazer out of the laundry basket. She said something about and called it a jacket. I told her it was a blazer, which was kind of like a jacket that you wear for special occasions. She asked what kind of special occasions I meant. It's for when you want to be fancy, she said. She pulled on the blazer and buttoned it up. I asked her why she was putting it on.

"Because I FANCY. I so, so, fancy."

True.

Mia and the carousel lady

We visited the zoo for the last hour or so it was open and decided to visit some animals we don't normally see, especially the ocean exhibit and the meerkats. Well, the zoo has a carousel, which we forget because we never walk past it. Mia spotted it right as we were making our way out at closing time, but we decided to go ahead and get in on the last ride.

We were too late.

The woman running the carousel told us it was the last ride and we were too late. Mia sat down on a brick wall and made the saddest little people face of all time. I patted her on the back and told her we'd ride it next time.

The carousel lady couldn't handle it.

"Oh, OK! Come on! Hurry!" 

I snatched up Mia and we scurried on board. She was so, so happy. It was seriously the best. Thank you, carousel lady, for having a heart and giving this 3-year-old a chance to ride on a crane.

Coach Leigh

Well, Mia's soccer coach went on vacation with his wife, and Leigh has been left in charge of  the team.

I can't explain how excited I am about this.

Wrangling 3-year-olds is hilarious anyway, but now my husband is in charge of the wrangling. Soccer has now become twice as hilarious. Here are the main duties of a coach for this age group:

- Point out where the goal is.
- Lift up renegade children and place them back down within the field of play.
- Encourage players to stop playing with dirt and/or grass.
- Discourage crying.
- Pause for hug breaks.

Leigh was fantastic.