Fish and Flowers

Albuquerque has a very cool area that they call the Albuquerque Biological Park which consists of the zoo, an aquarium and botanical garden all connected by a little train. We love it so much that we got a season pass for it! We had already been to the zoo so we decided to go to the aquarium and botanical garden. The aquarium is small but not as small as the one in Utah. The kids had a great time despite the size. :)

 

Liv trying to get picture of the baby halibut that are buried in the sand.

This giant puffer loved the kids. He would swim right up to the glass and open his mouth really wide. I guess they looked tasty to him. ;)

They have 2 sea turtles that they hand feed every day. It is so fun to watch. They are so graceful and peaceful.

When we were done at the aquarium we headed over to the botanical garden. I didn't know what to expect and was pleasantly surprised. There was a "castle" that when you walked into you were "mini" meaning that everything inside was actually giant sized. The kids had so much fun running around inside there was even a slide and a maze. We had so much fun and plan on spending a lot of time there during the summer.

This is the kids standing by the dragon the guards the entrance to the castle.

There was a giant garden inside the castle. There were all different kinds of veggies you could play on.

This is inside the giant pumpkin. It was very real looking inside with seeds and strings hanging from the roof.

The slide went through a giant log. We could have spent way more time here but there was a lot more to see and do.

So oddly enough Harris is terrified of ants. Fire ants to be specific. We had to really coax him to get near this thing. He was quick to jump away when we were done taking the picture. It's funny the things kids are scared of. Liv was afraid of flys!

It was a wonderful day and so far I am really enjoying all that ABQ has to offer. Hopefully we get to have lots of visitors to share all this with. :)

Easter

While it was hard being away from family we had a great Easter. The weather was so warm that we were able to have our Easter Egg hunt outside for the very first time! The kids loved it! I was a little worried about hiding the eggs in the orchard because we have Roadrunners that live there and they are carnivorous. We avoided that problem by hiding the eggs while the kids were getting their Easter clothes on. Since it was Easter and Conference Sunday the kids got a more dressy and a less dressy outfit. I had them wear the less dressy outfit for the egg hunt. Aren't they darling?!

Looking for the eggs with the help of Disney. ;)

Harris finding his first egg and possibly a lizard. There are lizards living all over in the railroad ties.

Liv was the lucky one who found the egg hidden in the cactus palm. Yes she managed to get it out unharmed.

My mom used to make something called "sunshine eggs" every Easter with the eggs that we had found. Since I got married I have made them as well. Harris heard me talking about making them and said that he wanted to help. Well, he went and got his eggs and was putting them in the sunshine on the windowsill and then said "look Mom I made the 'sunshine eggs'". How cute is that...

It was a wonderful day of sunshine, fun and the spirit.

Spring Break

Two weeks ago we were able to go to Disneyland for spring break. I know that I have said that Christmas is my favorite time to be at Disneyland but I was wrong. There is something about springtime there, it's amazing. Living in Utah it seems like winter may never end but when you get to Disneyland you realize that there is still hope for good weather. It's warm and sunny and happy, not cold and cloudy and depressing. I think that my favorite thing to do while I am there is point out all the different kinds of flowers. My mom had an amazing green thumb (she got yard of the week in Orem 3 years in a row!) and was always telling me the different kinds of flowers whenever we would go anywhere. Seeing and knowing all these flowers makes me feel close to my mom and I know its cheesey but I hope one day Olivia and Harris will be somewhere and recognize a flower that I have pointed out and know what it is.

Harris was so funny this trip. He abbreviated everything! So here are the kids on Mr. Toad, Pooh Bear and Casey Jun Jun. I didn't get a pic of him on his favorite ride Pi's aka Pirates. Haha! Silly boy. We did actually get to do Casey Junior twice this trip! We haven't done this ride in years because the line is forever long but because we were there during the week it was pretty slow.

Since there are 4 of us we take turns with each other on the rides. Usually these are the two rides we end up doing the most ; Splash and "Autop". Splash is my favorite and Autopia is the kids favorite especially at night.

The last few times we have been to Disneyland my dad has come with us. I was sad this time that he wasn't going to be able to be there because we were going during the week. Well Wednesday morning he called and asked us what ride were on. I told him that we hadn't quite made it to the park yet but we were on our way. After I hung up I thought that was a weird phone call and then it donned on me "He's Here!". Sure enough when we walked into the park there he was leaning against a light post waiting for us. I was so glad he came the kids were too. They immediately started fighting over who got to go on what rides with him. It was a great surprise!

This is poor Harris on our way back to the Disneyland Hotel on the last night. He was so sad. He cried all the way back to the hotel that he "wished we lived at Disneyland". It broke my heart. Usually the kids are fine with leaving because they know that we will be back sooner rather than later. I think that he wanted to stay because it is a familiar place to him and New Mexico where we were headed "home" to was still very unfamiliar. Thankfully after a good nights sleep (and we promised we already had the next trip back booked.) he was fine with going "home".

 Goodbye Disneyland until next time!

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.