Pump it up

Natalie enjoyed her first trip to the indoor playground place (Pump it up) so much that we took her back for some more play time. Some of Julie's friends came along with their little ones and we all had a great time. Natalie is doing a lot better with climbing around on things, and she is getting much better at climbing up the big walls to the top of the slides. She also absolutely loves the little trampoline thing where she gets to bounce around. When we went into the place this time she actually let out a little squeal of delight before running over to the big slide. That alone made it totally worth it.

Here are some pictures of her having fun!





Even Mom got to have some fun!

The Robinson get together

On Christmas day we traveled to Indianapolis to see Grandma Ginny and Grandpa Steve. Aunt Emily, John, Aunt Rachel, and Uncle Nick were all there as well. We even got to see Great Aunt Connie and her crew who all came over to say hi. We had a great time!

Natalie got a big doll house, musical instruments, and the kids also got basketball goals so they can begin their basketball careers right away. Enjoy the few pictures that we got. As soon as Grandma and Grandpa send others I'll post them either here or on the website.

Look, a new dollhouse!

Everyone enjoying their presents

Here's Natalie playing her new instruments with Grandma and Grandpa. We all really had fun with the instruments, and we had a few total family band moments in the couple of days we were there.

Flannery get together

Here's a few pictures from the Christmas Eve get together we had at our house. Grandma Carol and Grandpa Jim were there along with Uncle Brian, April, Great uncle David, Great Aunt Nancy, and their kids Jeff and Todd. We had a nice big dinner and got to open a lot of presents! Natalie got a train set, a Dora bowling set, and lots of other stuff. Eric got quite a bit as well, with his favorite being a little musical toy that has a mirror on it so he can sit and look at himself while playing. Thanks for coming over everyone!

Here's a picture of Eric helping with the present wrapping.

And Eric hanging out with Uncle Brian and April:


Natalie checking out her new Dora jammies:

Look, a new train set!

And Dora bowling!

Here's everyone eating a great dinner.


And Eric opening a present:

Christmas morning

Christmas morning went very well in the Robinson household this year, with Natalie getting everything she asked for from Santa and then some. For the record, the items on Natalie's list to Santa were the following: 1. Pink and purple building blocks, 2. Drums, 3. A pink dress, 4. A magnifying glass, 5. A pink and purple jump rope. Word on the street is that Santa had a heck of a time tracking down a pink and purple jump rope, but he and the elves came through in the end. Natalie also got her first computer (a leap frog kids system), and quite a few other things. So far the big hit out of Santa's deliveries has been her Dora backpack, although the instruments that came with her drum are a close second.

Eric is thrilled with about anything he gets to play with as long as it's something he hasn't seen before. He got a few new books and toys as well and he seems pretty happy with all of them.

After hearing about how Christmas morning goes and thinking about it for days on end, Natalie was actually a little nervous on Christmas eve and Christmas morning. It turns out that she had the impression that Santa would bring the presents personally and still be in the house on Christmas morning. She likes him from a distance, but certainly doesn't really want to hang out with him in person. After some assurances from Mom and Dad she ended up having a great time with opening all of the presents.

There are a couple of pictures below. We actually don't have that many still shots from Christmas morning. It turns out that it's tough to take still shots while also videotaping the events and trying to help with opening presents. I'm sure we'll get the hang of it eventually!

More about the family events is yet to come, so stay tuned...

Check out my new roly thing! It makes a lot of noise and rolls around, but I still refuse to crawl and get it once it rolls away.

Look at my new backpack! It's just like Dora's!

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to hop on and say Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family from all of us at the Robinson household. I haven't downloaded the pictures from the last couple of days, but I'll post a few of them as soon as I do.

We hope you had a great day!

The Robinsons

'Tis the season

'Tis the season to be jolly, and one of the things that makes Natalie particularly jolly is cookies! Natalie loves helping Mom out with making cookies, especially since she knows she gets to test them out when they're done. She knows exactly what the first beep means (the oven is preheated and it's time to cook the cookies) and what the second beep means (time to eat!).

Here's Natalie helping with the scooping:

And here's Natalie testing out the merchandise to make sure it's alright.

Stylin'

For those that don't know, Natalie is on a kick where she wants to wear a dress and tights every day. Even when she wears pajama pants she needs to wear tights underneath, and she wants to make sure that everyone sees them so she pulls her pants up to her knees. She also loves her snow boots, so occasionally she'll just wear them around the house.

When all of these preferences come together they make for an interesting outfit, as you can see below. Here she's checking out her outfit in the mirror while dancing to some music. She's lookin' good!

Super cute

Hi folks. I haven't posted in a while, so I thought I'd just post a few pictures of the kids. There will be more posts coming in the next few days once I get the pictures organized.

Everyone is doing well. Eric is working on a few teeth. It looks like he may have 4 coming in at the same time! Natalie is doing very well at school, and she's learning a lot. She is just about ready to move up to the next level, which is officially pre-school. She's also potty trained and wearing her underwear everyday! She's already growing up :-(

Enjoy the pictures!

Natalie and Eric hanging out.


Look at me! I'm sitting in my high chair now and eating all the food anyone will give me.

I'm also enjoying my little stand up play thingy.

Natalie is growing up a little more every day.

King's Island again!

Natalie seriously loves going on the rides at King's Island, and she got another chance to go before the end of the season because they had a Halloween special going on back in October. We met up with a few of Julie's friends who all have kids around Natalie's age, and we all went on the rides together!

We also got to do a bit of trick or treating, pet some animals, go through a maze, and pick out our very own pumpkins! We can't wait to go back to King's Island next year!

Here's Natalie back on her favorite ride; the kiddie swings of death.


Natalie also got to ride a few rides with her friends. here she is enjoying the Swiper ride with Lindsey. They were both absolutely loving it.


Whoa, check out this pumpkin!

Wedding fun

Back in September, Grandma Ginny, Grandpa Steve, Aunt Rachel, and Uncle Nick came out to visit so we could celebrate a few birthdays and go to a wedding.

First, it was time to prepare for the wedding. What do you think of my new hat, Grandma?


Then we went to the wedding and hung out at the reception for a while



And then it was time to dance!




The next day we all got to hang out and celebrate 3 birthdays at once.





Thanks for coming everyone. We had a great time!

Halloween!

We had a great Halloween this year, and Natalie still has a bucket full of candy to show for it. Natalie was very excited as Halloween approached, and was telling everyone about her Minnie Mouse costume that she had for her trick or treating adventure.

Just before Halloween we got to make our pumpkins. Natalie decorated a couple of pumpkins that were just her size, and Dad tried to make a Minnie Mouse face in one of the big pumpkins.



Hey, what's all that goop in there?


On Halloween night we got to go trick or treating! Natalie thought Eric's turtle outfit was cute too. She got to go trick or treating with her friend Allie who lives right behind us. They both quickly caught on to the fact that the more houses they went to the more candy she would get. They both had a great time!

Pumpkin Patch

Back in October we all took a trip to the pumpkin patch! We had quite a crew this year as Aunt Kathy, Aunt Connie along with Anna, Clint, and Maddie, and Grandma Ginny and Grandpa Steve all came along. There were a lot of pumpkins to choose from, and it was quite an adventure to head out into the fields and find the perfect one.




The hay rides were also a lot of fun!


If you ask Natalie about the trip though, the first thing she'll mention is the pumpkin cookie and apple juice she got for a treat after picking out her pumpkins.

Afterward, we all got to hang out at the house to eat lunch and play with Maddie. Everyone had a great time!