getting out of dodge

this is a make-up post for wednesday, august 6.

yesterday we took off from provo to head out to biloxi, mississippi. why biloxi, mississippi you ask? long story, but the short version is my dad is the trustee for an estate that owns a casino in a van down by the river. that last part isn’t true, but the rest is. as a result, the at least one cooper family vacation takes place in biloxi each year. it’s a nice compromise because my dad likes to work, we like to vacation; thus, biloxi is a win win for both camps.

now, in biloxi, instead of speeding from the lincoln monument to the jefferson monument while my dad works via his cell phone and then continues to work via his cell phone during the tours and meals, seaworld, disneyland, les miserables and most other things we do (no exaggeration, here, my dad once had to ask to use my cell phone for a business call because his ran out of batteries around 2 in the afternoon... not because he forgot to charge it but because he had been using it all day. also, some of my dad’s employees once offered to pay my brother-in-law to hide my dad’s phone while on vacation), big jeff goes to his office and we hit the pool. like i said, it’s a nice compromise.

biloxi? what? what? still with the questions, huh? i know... biloxi doesn’t really whet the vacation pallet, but ours are unique circumstances. you see, after katrina hit, many of the casinos in the gulf coast were basically destroyed (contrary to popular belief, new orleans wasn’t the only city that suffered as a result of katrina, biloxi just didn’t politicize things way new orleans did). long story short, renovations and reconstruction were kind to the hotel we stay at in mississippi. i will include some pictures below so that this makes more sense for those of you who are still scratching your heads.

back to the topic at hand. travelling with kids. i hate to keep going back to this, but in my well-documented drawn out vexation of driving with kids, i conveniently forgot how much more fun it is to fly with kids. oh, the security checks, the car seats, the metal detectors, the enclosed confines, the dirty diapers on the plane, the crying kids on the plane, the attempts to keep little kids entertained with diagrams of the flotation device for the thirtieth time on the plane, etc. i could go on and on and on, which is exactly what a flight with kids does, but those who have had the pleasure know all to well what i am talking about.

traveling pretty much sums up our day on wednesday. thus, it should come as no surprise that this is precisely why i am ending this post now, or at least after i try to make a last ditch attempt to infuse something comical into this post.. not much happened on wednesday, so there is not much to report. sure, i could hearken back to some funny childhood memory of flying or some other memory i could somehow tie into flying, but i shall spare you. get some rest tonight. get some work done rather than read my blog, your boss will appreciate it. spend some time with your kids and family. go for a walk. help the kids with the homework.

to be honest, i am starting to feel guilty for taking so much of your time. this blog cannot bring you happiness. it can only make you laugh for a moment (that includes courtesy laughs). life is about priorities and i sure hope the cooper five is not one of them and judging by the amount of comments i am getting, it isn’t. no worries, i will find those of you who aren’t reading, starting with you aim, and when i do... (i figure if i don’t finish this sentence, the suspense and worse case punishment scenarios floating through your mind will sufficient to compel you to read). crickets chirping.

pics are forthcoming