The Lions Roar

The Saturday after Livs birthday we decided to do something to take a break from unpacking and furniture shopping. Chet and I decided that the zoo would be a good place to go since the weather was beautiful and the kids could run around. I can honestly say that it was the best experience at a zoo that I have ever had! The zoo isn't very big but they have a ton of animals and they were all super active! (at least while we were there) Like most zoos it is laid out with similar animals from similar places grouped together down pathways that all connect together. The path that we took first lead us to see the orangutans. There is a baby orangutan that was born last July named Reese that was the most adorable thing I have ever seen and he knew it! He was totally putting on a show for everyone climbing around and swinging from the trees. At one point he fell and bonked his head and his mom came over and picked him up and hugged him! It was amazing to see her react to him getting hurt. We continued along the path to the other animals and came upon the Jaguars. There was one that was all black and was walking up and down the fence line purring! It was sooo cute. I wish they weren't wild animals because I would totally have one as a pet. :) We kept walking and came to the area where you can ride camels! (I remember doing that at the Hogle Zoo when I was little.) Liv saw it and looked at me and said "NO WAY! What if I fall off?!" Maybe next time I'll bribe her into doing it. ;) We continued wandering around looking at the animals when we heard this really loud roaring. I thought that it was just sounds that the zoo was playing over the speakers for fun, but no. When we eventually made it to the Lions there was this big ol' male lion standing on the top of this big rock roaring! It was so loud you could hear it throughout the whole zoo! Harris was scared and mesmerized at the same time! It was awesome! We all had a great time and the kids have been asking to go back ever since! I guess a season pass is in order.

We forgot our camera but we did get this little video of the lion with Chet's phone. We will go again and get more pics and better videos.

Liv's Birthday

So I feel that life has calmed down enough for me to blog for a minute. Today was Olivia's birthday. It was a little weird that there wasn't any big family parties or anything but we did the best we could. Since it was a Thursday she had school and I made her go. She wasn't very happy about it but she did get to open a couple presents first. (some clothes she picked out at Abercrombie) Since she gets out of school so late (4:00!!) I picked her up and we headed to meet Chet at Pei Wei for dinner. I'm not sure why she picked that place. I mean she likes it but I wouldn't call it a favorite. We got there before Chet so I ordered and got a seat. When Chet got there he walked in with a dozen roses that he had ordered for Liv. It was so sweet. He said he wanted her to feel extra special. :) We had a great time at dinner and then headed back home for the rest of her presents (more clothes and a new bead spread set for her new room) and a giant cupcake birthday cake. Yes, I bought a giant cupcake mold and it is quite fun. It was a good day. Happy Birthday Liv!!!

Birthday Morning

Yay Presents!!!

Friends

A couple of weeks ago Olivia and I were talking about moving and about having to make new friends. She said to me "Mom, I wish we didn't have to move. I've never had a best friend like MaCall and Abby J. I love them." :( I replied "Just think though, if you hadn't changed schools you never would have met them. So think of the friends you are going to meet in New Mexico." "I guess." She said. She was also saying how sad she was that we were leaving just before her birthday. I was going to try an squeeze a party in for her but we will be living in a hotel next weekend and I just didn't think it would work out. (which I was feeling totally guilty about) Well, on Wednesday I got a call from Abby J's mom and she told me that Abby J and MaCall wanted to throw her a surprise birthday/goodbye party. (I don't think I ever had friends that would have done that for me.) I was so happy that they would do that for her that I was teary! Tonight was the party and they had a great time! When Liv got there Abby's mom answered the door was like Olivia what are you doing here? Liv was a little confused since MaCall and Abby J couldn't keep it a secret and were telling her all about it at school today. But then the girls jumped out and said surprise. Liv was so excited! They had a great night of watching "The Sound of Music", jump roping, giving each other pedicures and eating lots of snacks. I am so glad that she made such good friends and hope that she does the same in New Mexico.


The poster they greeted her with.


Her birthday caramel popcorn.

Best friends MaCall and Olivia.

Best Buddies Abby J and Olivia.

Christmastime 2009

So, Jaime and I have been slacking a little bit with the blogging. I have been asked to tackle "Christmastime" for the Robinson's.

I'm lucky enough that my work makes me take the last 2 weeks of the year off (mandatory shutdown). It can be a bit of a pain having to save vacation days but I have always enjoyed the extended time to be with the fam. This year our Christmastime was full of school programs, a trip to Disneyland followed by the actual Holiday itself. I'll cover the first and last items while Jaim will cover the D-Land trip.

OK, Christmas programs. Harris and Liv both had programs this year. Harris attends Learning Dynamics Preschool while Liv is in the 3rd grade at Saratoga Shores. Harris was so cute in his little holiday outfit and had a "speaking part" this year in his program.

Here is the vid of his big performance:



Toward the end he really started to do a good job and get into it:

So, it is interesting to note that both of my kids seem to rub the sides of their mouths when they get nervous. Liv didn't like being in front of the crowds at this age either but Harris seems slightly more at ease (only slightly though :))

This is a pic of his "nervous" face:

Olivia threatened us with our lives this year if we showed up at her program, so naturally we made sure to be there...

Olivia does better in front of crowds since starting karate but still gets nervous. She is especially wary of being "embarrassed". I can tell you as a father that I want nothing more than to constantly be at any and all her performances to embarrass the heck out of her!

Anyway, she did a great job as well. Here is the vid:



This is a pic (a little blurry but you get the idea) of me making sure to say hi to her and give her a big hug in front of her classmates.

So, that was the Programs. They happened on 12/18 (my last day of work for the year), on 12/19 we took a family trip to Disneyland. It was way cool, Disneyland during Christmas is neat. It is also waaaayy busy, but oh well. We also had the chance to spend a wonderful evening with my Papa Jay and Grandma Cheryl. They were such wonderful hosts and Cheryl is an amazing cook. We were lucky enough for my Aunts Leahna and Lauren to be there as well as my Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa, Lorraine and Henry. We had a great time. We returned late in the evening of 12/24 and that is where my blogging picks up.

Christmas Eve was a lot less crazy than is usually is (and more crazy in some ways). We flew home from LAX and arrived just after 8PM. After getting our luggage and driving home we got home around 9:30PM and the kids were asleep by 10. Not too bad. We made sure to finish most of our Christmas Eve preparations before we left on 12/19 so we didn't have a ton to do. Usually, Jaime and I spend 5 hours or so watching "A Christmas Story" with our good friend Ralphie but this year we only watched it for a couple and went to bed at a decent hour.

Christmas Day was neat as it usually is. Jaime was back on her game this year for gift giving and did an amazing job (I took a lot of heat last year for saying that she was having an off year, yikes!) She really did do a great job, for me as well as for everyone else.

We told Liv that she couldn't wake us up before 7AM. She came down at 7:03...

We told her she could be awake but that she couldn't wake Harris. Harris didn't wake up until 8 (and that was only after I opened his blinds and turned off the white noise :))

Anyway, here is the customary vid of the kids coming down the stairs to the toy wonderland:



After our morning festivities that also featured Jaime's yearly Breakfast Casserole (Yum!) we went over to my parents house and exchanged gifts with them and then went to dinner at the Wakefield's. Jann made an amazing Prime Rib and we also exchanged gifts. Here are a couple pics:
Present opening, Liv is making a funny face.

Trevor, Cami and Liv make up the "Bigs" and Harris, Ryan and Aubry make up the "Littles". This is a pic of the Bigs.

So, Christmas is always awesome and this year was no exception. We were able to kick it off with a beautiful visit to Temple Square to set the spiritual tone of the season and have really been able to keep that tone and enjoy some meaningful time together as a family. I hope you all (who am I addressing here?) had a great Christmastime as well and enjoy a Happy New Year!

Cheers.

Olivia's First Karate Tournament

Saratoga Springs SWAT and STORM demo teams

Olivia's sport of choice is karate. It is fun for me that she has chosen something that I can get in to. Many of you might remember the story of how we got to where we are today. Olivia was attending dance class last summer in Saratoga Springs (she wasn't super into it but we wanted her to do something outside of school) and we decided to check out the karate studio next door for Harris. Olivia asked to check it out with us and was instantly hooked. We had her do the summer program (Harris, funny enough, decided it wasn't for him) and have pretty much committed wholeheartedly to karate. Olivia has advanced really well (she is a green belt now) and has excelled. Even compared to other greenbelts she is really quite good. She has great form and dedication and I am quite proud of what she has been able to accomplish.

So far karate has produced a number of teaching moments.

• Last year we had to address winning vs. earning (Olivia didn't win the big drawing at her first karate open house and was quite sad. I think the prize was a piece of karate equipment and she was quite distraught by not winning. I had the chance to explain how much better it is to earn instead of relying on winning or getting for free.).
• Initially Olivia thought she didn't make the SWAT team and we had to talk about having the courage to try for things even though you don't always succeed. (it was immediately after that talk that we received notification that she actually did make the team).
• We had the chance the last couple of weeks to talk about constructive criticism (how it isn't a bad thing but can help make you better) as well as showmanship (Olivia is good at what she does but was translating that into a more "relaxed" attitude that came off as bored. We got to talk about what it means to perform and show the appropriate amount of energy to convince the crowd that you are excited to be there and thus earn their cheers.)
• We also had a good talk about laughs in the crowd and from those that watch her. She was initially concerned about this and it made her feel bad when people would see her and get a smile on their face or chuckle. She thought they were making fun of her but I had to explain that the conflicting images of "cute little girl" and "powerful roundhouse kicks to the face" was just funny. The smiles were ones of enjoyment and were not demeaning, as she seemed to think.)

So anyway, we are really enjoying the ride and believe karate to be a great experience for our little girl. Would I be just as supportive if she had chosen something else? Absolutely. But I still take joy that she seems to enjoy things that I do (read: basketball and Paramore).

So, to bring this section full circle; Olivia was invited to try out for the Saratoga Performance/Demonstration team called SWAT (Special Winning Attitude Team, the team is for 10 and under. There is also a team for 10 and over that is called STORM or Special Team Of Role Models) and was selected as a member. This was only about a month ago, so they haven't had a ton of time to practice their routine yet but, all things considered, they did very well.

On to the tournament. Bobby Lawrence studios hold inter-school tournaments a couple times a year. There are 16 BLK studios throughout Utah. Olivia and her team took 3rd place overall with their demonstration team performance. Here is the video of their performance:

In her division Olivia competed in weapons and forms. She took 1st place in weapons and 3rd place in her form.

Here is the video of her gold medal winning weapon performance:

This is a picture of Liv receiving her 2nd of 2 medals. Way to go Liv!

We also hunted down Olivia's instructor, Dallas Lawrence,(a 4th degree black belt)and got a picture with him. Dallas does a great job and we are lucky to have him leading our studio.

Halloween with Cousins

I think that this Halloween was one of the best we have ever had. The weather was so nice! (for Utah) I had a great time with my sister while the husbands took the kiddos trick-or-treating. They came home tired and loaded with candy. (Chet note - so, just down the block a little Harris quit. It was funny, he turned to me and said, "I'm done". It was funny.)

My tender lumplings, Liv and Harris, as Jack and Sally. Liv wasn't to crazy about being Sally but Harris said to her "it's Jack and Sally." So being the awesome big sis that she is she went as Sally.


Bestest friends. Cousins Olivia and Camille ready for some candy!Lil punkin Aubry in her costume from Build-a-Bear, from Auntie Lindsay. Could she be any cuter?! (Chet note - yes, you read that right her costume is from Build-a-Bear!)
More bestest friends. Cousins Ryan and Harris ready to go! (Chet note - I did the fine face painting job on both Olivia and Ryan. I know, I am awesome...)

Halloween Eve and Pumpkin Carving

So, every year we like to spend some time together and carve some pumpkins. Inevitably, this involves me spending hours and hours carving away at a pumpkin, it usually involves Jaime saying she doesn't want to carve a pumpkin but doing it anyway and the kids will inevitably start a number of pumpkins and we will finish...

Anyway, we'll keep this one short. Here are our creations:

You'll probably notice a theme to our pumpkins this year...

Anyway, Jaime went with Oogie Boogie.

This took me almost forever. Jack and Sally was what I was going for if you couldn't tell...

Liv started and let me finish this scary Pumpkin King creation.

Harris worked on and let Jaime finish this carving of Zero.

How are people supposed to get to our front door you ask? Well, unless you are going to buy our home, I really don't want you visiting...

Happy Halloween Eve!