3 months in a few paragraphs...

I could give all sorts of great reasons why I haven't been posting here recently, but it really is just laziness.  I got a laptop for work this fall and hardly ever use our desktop computer anymore. But, all my photo software is on the desktop.  Thus, I rarely download pictures to the desktop, or use this computer to make blog postings.  Yes, I could easily move from one computer to the other, but I just don't!

But, with that disclaimer out of the way, here are some updates on what we've been doing over the past few months:

 Anna finally has hair long enough for a ponytail...but she rarely has the patience to let me put it in a ponytail!

We do some mean pumpkin carving at our house!

My pirates (I love these outfits, and I love Halloween!)

Enoying the snow (in a sun hat...)

Steve's favorite Christmas event - hanging the lights!  (I'll have to see if I can get a picture of them lit at night, it's pretty impressive.)

Sam decorating the house.

Our annual Breakfast with Santa during Christmas in Centennial.  Sam also got to drive in a fire truck to bring Santa to the event...if you are a 4 year old boy, this is a BIG deal!

And, telling Santa how much he wants Legos for Christmas.  Anna may not get any presents since she refused to sit on his lap. Oh, wait, on second thought she is just very good at recognizing "stranger danger"!

Marathon #2...and counting?

Yes, Steve ran his second marathon!  It was the Twin Cities Marathon on October 3, in Minneapolis/St. Paul.  His time was just slightly off his goal, but he still did amazing and we are incredibly proud of him!  Last year, after his first marathon, it took him a few weeks to decide that he'd like to run another marathon.  This year he decided within a couple of days that he'd like to try for a third!  I think its a great idea to fold these into family trips so am pushing for the next one in a place like San Diego, so we can all go along and have a vacation as well!

We did make a vacation of this year's marathon.  We first drove (yes, drove) with the kids up to Grand Forks.  We hadn't been back there for over 5 years, and it was so nice to see old friends and work colleagues as well as revist the town.  As we were driving across North Dakota we kept commenting how "at home" we felt in the state.  I don't think it is a place we would necessarily move back to, but the memories we have from our time there are just wonderful.  It truly was/is a great place.  I should note that this is not how we felt we when revisited Arizona earlier this summer!

After our GF visit, we drove onto Minneapolis and visited our friends from PT school, Chris and Emily, and their two kids, Brayden and Nora.  (Chris also ran the marathon). Sam and Brayden had a splendid time playing together - we are trying to convince all of them to come along with us on our next "marathon vacation"!

We haven't taken a long road trip with Sam since he was about 2, and Anna has never had one.  So, even though there were Goldfish and Froot Loops in most crevices of the car and we went through about a dozen pacifiers (they get thrown!) we actually had a pretty good trip.  Sam particularly loved staying in hotels, and he can tell you all the details about each one we visited!  The DVD player and iPod (Sam has his own) were also lifesavers.  Seriously, how did my parents drive us all around the country in the technological dark ages? :)

Sam and Brayden at an Apple Orchard

The Cow Train!

Pony rides also at the orchard

Relaxing after a tough day

In addition to the ND/MN trip, we've done several other smaller trips this fall. In fact, Sam told me the other day that we needed to "slow down" on the trips and stay home for awhile! (Not documented below, but we've also been to Colorado Springs to see Steve's brother's family and Casper for a family photo day!)

At the Botanical Gardens in Denver - Grandpa Wayne's birthday gift!

Another trip to Denver - this time to the Aquarium!

Anna was a big fan of the overhead fish!

Hard to see, but Sam is showing you a shark!

On that same Denver trip we also got to see Thomas the Tank Engine. We had taken Sam to see Thomas when he was 2, but he didn't remember it. He had a fantastic time this year (even though Mom left the tickets in Laramie and Grandpa met us in Cheyenne with them - THANK YOU!)

Sir Topham Hatt

Driving a train!

And, after being hauled around a dirty train yard, missing a nap, and needing a snack, this is what Anna thought of the Thomas trip!  (I'd like to note this is the only picture of me from the day!)

This one is hilarious - This is our "time out" corner, and Sam was there for some type of infraction.  Anna went over, sat down on the carpet, and kept him company for the rest of his time out!  As you can see, it doesn't seem to be too much of a punishment for him ;)  Also, this was the first time Anna smiled "on cue" for a camera - a huge development in our family photography!

Yep, that is as big of a pumpkin as you can grow in Laramie! But, thankfully, two grew and got orange (yes, only two) so each kid could have one for Halloween.

Who is this crazy blogger?

What?  Two posts in two weeks?  I've taken a lot of pictures over the past few days and once I downloaded them on the computer I realized there were a lot I wanted to share!

First, as I looked at my pictures I realized we apparently we have Sam involved in a lot of sporty activities.  I think he'd much prefer to read books and sing, but we want to raise a well-rounded kid!  So, here is the array of physical activities he's been involved in:

He played t-ball for the first time this summer. His father was thrilled to have his son finally involved in his favorite sport!  It took Sam a little "warming up" (as it does with everything) but he really seemed to enjoy t-ball by the end of the season.  I think the snacks at the end of every game helped...

Batting was always his favorite part of practice and games.

And, this is what Anna did during his gams - walked/ran around and came back to me every once in a while for a bite of dinner!

Now, we are onto our next official sport - soccer.  I've never been involved with soccer in any capacity, so this is a learning curve for me.  We've only had two practices so far, so I'll report back how it goes when we get further into the season!  (Sam is on the "Green Dragons" - name chosen by 3 and 4 year olds.  My favorite team in the league, though, are the "Red Carrots"!)

Hard to see, but that is Sam in that bike trailer!  This trip was a long one all around town with Papa Tom last weekend.  Anna also had her inagural trip in the bike trailer a few days ago.  There was a lot of laughing and talking (until the sun got in her eyes..darn sun!  What was it thinking?)

Next activity - bike riding!

And, finally, here we are having a grand time at the park.

Not to be outdone, Anna has also really figured out the play equipment at the park this summer and is delighted with her abilities!  We think she is going to be our athletic kid as she already has great coordination at only 17 months.

The slide is the top attraction.

Whew!  After all those sports and activites, we decided we should nurture Sam's mind as well - so here he is on the first day of school this past Monday.  (Refer back to last August's posts for the first day of school last year - my little guy has grown!)  And, this is a "bragging mommy" moment, but I'm putting it in anyway.  There are two pre-K (4-5 year old) classes at Sam's school.  The kids are divided up based on their current skills and in the "upper" class are mostly older kids (those who turn 5 this fall).  Sam won't be 5 until the end of the school year, but he was let into this class!  Plus, most kids attend school 5 days a week and Sam only goes 3.  But, the school director and teachers thought he would have no problem in the accelerated class.  Can you tell I'm proud?

I have no clue why the school is "open"!

In his new Pre-K classroom!

I wanted to take a picture of my flowers and Sam would only be in it if he could make a goofy face!

Not a great picture, but it makes me happy.  When we re-did our kitchen about 2 years ago I bought two stools for this seating area.  At the time Anna wasn't even born, but I knew that down the road I'd have an unhappy kid if there was only one stool.  Now, finally, Anna is old enough to sit at the counter and eat!

Aunt Mary moved to Laramie to finish school at UW this past weekend and we're thrilled to have her here.  Anna is thrilled that Papa Tom and Grandma Pat brought their dog, Baxter, along when they helped Aunt Mary move.  Anna has a "bit" of a dog obsession.  When I say a bit, I mean that she wouldn't leave the back yard the entire weekend while the dog was out there and was quite upset every time he even walked away from her!  One of her three words is "woof woof".  (In case you're wondering "hi" and "pop" - referring to bubbles - are her other two.) We are not a dog family, but might have to reconsider that when she gets older and more able to voice her opinions...

I rarely get pictures of these two together, and the faces here show why!

And, finally, just a cute picture of my munchkin!

Did you think we left the country?

No, we haven't left the country, and hardly even the state, but I just haven't updated the blog this summer!  I kept telling myself it was because I hadn't downloaded pictures from my camera in a few months.  But, more likely it was because this summer has just been packed.  We started looking at our weekend schedule back in May and realized we had something going on for every weekend up until mid-August.  On top of that, Sam has been giving up his nap this summer (its an ongoing process).  So for the past four years I have counted on a couple of hours in the afternoon to teach my classes, and that hasn't been happening.  I feel like I'm constantly playing catch-up to get my work done!

So, since this is an entire summer's worth of blogging, I think I'll give our updates through pictures:

Playing with Taylor at the water table

This was mid-June and Anna was practicing walking.  Stay tuned...it took her awhile to actually walk on her own!

Summer picnics

And summer foods!  (Yes, Sam ate all of those pieces you see on the counter!)

What are we going to do when it's winter?  All of the fun toys are outside!

And, now, mid- July (a month after the other walking picture) Anna is finally walking on her own!  She took her own time doing this, but finally at 15 months it seemed like a good idea to her.  I was thrilled since all of the knees of her clothes were filthy from crawling around outside!

The whole Robillard clan took a long weekend trip to Steamboat (a Christmas present from my Mom and Dad!)  What cute boys they are in the morning...

Swimming was a major event of the weekend

Some nice botanical gardens

My one picture of the summer (literally!)

Not sure why, but for kids statues are always chairs!

One delighted little girl!

Papa Tom and Papa Wayne bought and built a new playset for the kids. It has been a HUGE hit!

Sam even got his own toolbelt and gloves for the project!  He has informed me that he now knows everything there is to know about construction (and firetrucks) because he is a very smart boy.  We may have to tone down how much we boost his self-esteem...

Anna found the dryer one morning.  No, we did not let her "dryer ride".  Yes, that dryer is really old - at least 40 years by our estimation!

At the end of July my mother's whole family (from Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Colorado) came to Laramie for a reunion.

Loving the new playset...

Conquering the old playset

And, we'll end this photo journey with an installment of photos Sam has taken.  He has his own 4-year-old perspective on the world that is quite interesting to view!

And, with that, we are now at the end of summer!  Sam goes back to preschool on Monday, Anna begins an in-home babysitter, and my new semester begins (with additional job responsibilities this year).   Summer, we love you!