Alphabet Soup

Letter magnets + bowl & spoon = lots of fun in the kitchen!

 

Easter Weekend

My brother Dave and his family came for a visit over Easter weekend. He and Kate have two kids, both of whom are not too much younger than our kids. It was so much fun to have cousins, constant playmates at our house for the whole weekend! We had beautiful Spring weather all weekend, and spent a day at the zoo, had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, got all dressed up for church services on Easter Sunday, and enjoyed the company of more cousins that evening for dinner. Not to mention the playing, tickling, wrestling matches, way too many treats, and not enough sleep! It truly was a wonderful weekend, and we're very grateful that the Robinson clan made the long car trip to come play with us.

 

Natalie, Makenna, & Jake riding a lion at the zoo

Makenna wasn't too sure about getting up close and personal with a giraffe.

I'm pretty sure Nati felt the same way about the giraffe.

Touching a snake (this one's for you, Uncle Steve!)

My little owl sitting in his tree.

Kenna riding her horsie on the carousel.

Jakers, getting so big!

Hi Mom!

All dressed up in our Easter Sunday best! This was the best I got of my two munchkins.

And this is how all the kids really felt about having a hundred pictures taken of them. Are we done yet???

Auntie Fra Fra and her boys joined us for dinner, and the kids had a ball decorating dessert. I love this shot of Jake grinning at his beloved Auntie.

Look, Mom! I've got jelly beans!

So much fun! I'm not sure how much of the candy actually made it onto the cake

Love my boy!

Getting tickled by Uncle Dave

A wrestling match with Natalie. Although Jake's winning this part of the battle, I think it ended with Jake at the bottom of the dog pile. :)

Finding Easter eggs in our backyard

Sweet Miss Natalie

The best shot of Natalie, Zach, Jake, and Makenna. At least they're all four looking at the camera, right? :)

And this is what the other 99 pictures looked like! Trying to photograph an 18 month old, almost 2 year old, 3 1/2 year old, and almost 5 year old was really hard! Which is why the picture above was as good as it got. Funny side note: once Makenna figured out there was candy inside of the eggs, she had no interest in anything else. Lol! 

Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center

Jacob loves school. When your morning consists of playing with friends, drawing/coloring/crafts, learning new stuff, what's not to like? When Spring Break arrived the end of March, we were without the almost daily diversion of school for longer than Jake or Mommy would like. So, our little family decided to pay a visit to the almost local dinosaur museum and let the kids enjoy some prehistoric wonderment.

 

 Don't ask me why there was an army tent/teepee there. Maybe that's really where prehistoric cavemen lived?? The kids thought it was great, that's for sure. And the smile on Jake's face? I only captured it by telling him I had chocolate. Which I did not. :)

 Peek a boo!

 Loving on her Daddy!

 Help! We're about to be eaten by a giant shark!

The coolest thing about this place was the hands-on dinosaur learning center. Jacob is holding a fossilized dinosaur claw in the picture above. He also got to hold fossilized dinosaur poop, many different dinosaur bones, teeth, etc. The guide running the show was very knowledgeable, especially with (mostly) little kids asking the questions. Pretty cool! 

Touch a Truck

My little boy loves anything that goes, and has for a very long time! Here's a picture of Jake at age two, absolutely enthralled with a truck we rented for a few hours.

This picture is from an outing this weekend at an event called Touch a Truck. The little boy is much bigger than he was 2 1/2 years ago, and I think his love for anything truck has grown as well.

The kids had the opportunity to sit at the wheel, climb around inside, and do just about as much touching of the trucks as they liked. There were police cars, race cars, diggers, golf carts, milk & pizza delivery trucks, tow trucks, dune buggies, a SWAT vehicle, fire trucks, and the tallest digger and road scrapers that I think I've ever seen! (And those are just the ones that I remember!)

Hi Mom! I'm  taller than you!

Daddy standing next to the digger, giving us a good idea of just how big this sucker really is!

Lots and lots of fun! We'll definitely go again next year. 

Play Time

While Jacob has been in school this year, Makenna and I have had some one-on-one time at a fun place called My Gym. This little monkey has had a blast running, jumping, climbing, playing with balls, and a host of other things!  

 

Kid Speak

Jacob loves tuna fish sandwiches. It has been permanently placed on the Saturday lunch menu, no matter if we are home for lunch or not. I swear he would eat it every day if he had the choice!
We had the lighting in our kitchen replaced, and Brian has been in charge of finishing up the project with sheetrock, mudding, & sanding...on Saturdays, his day off from work. This last Saturday the kitchen was so full of sheetrock dust that it was pointless to be anywhere near the kitchen, let alone try making Jake's beloved tuna fish. It would have to wait until the following day.
Sunday lunchtime rolled around (and the kitchen was finally clean!!) and while Jake played in the other room, I made the sandwiches. He knew what we were having for lunch because he'd made sure to remind me, more than once, of my promise the day before.
M: Jake, lunch is ready!
J: Okay! What are we having?
M: (kidding) Dog food.
J: (Instant tantrum) No! I don't want dog food! That's not what I eat! and on and on and on...
M: Jake! I'm kidding. Relax. It's tuna fish!
J: I don't like kidding. You shouldn't say that. You're in timeout, Mom!

Oh, please!!! Can I??

Daddy's Birthday

Brian had a birthday, number forty-eight to be exact! The kids love birthdays and we all love the man of the house, so balloons, a banner, presents, and cake were in order. And, of course, singing "to you!" (Makenna-speak for Happy Birthday to You!)

Oh the joy of "helping" Daddy unwrap his presents :)

Birthday kisses

The candles had to be relit, as Jake took it upon himself to blow them out. Daddy subsequently blocked the second attempt...

which resulted in tears from Jake, who really wanted it to be his birthday!