Girls weekend away!

I spent a wonderful weekend with friends at one of the gal's lake house on Sam Rayburn. We ate and drank too much, lazed around for 2 full days, and laughed ourselves silly. Make up and hair products were not packed. We poked at each other about being retired vs. still working, talked about school stuff (all of us are/were educators), told stories none of us will ever share, strengthened old friendships and solidified new ones. We bragged about our kids or, for those of us who have them, grandkids. Once you have grandchildren, your own children lose significance in those conversations!

On the road to the lake! (The "before" pictures!)

Lots of time was spent in the most wonderful deck chairs I have ever reclined in. Early mornings with coffee and muffins or late evenings with adult beverages, these chairs are great for contemplating nature and the stars.

The kitchen was the gathering place at particular times of the day, like lunch, dinner and happy hour.

The lake shore is sandy, like a beach, and perfect for lounging around.

Beach chairs positioned just so in the shallow water are much cooler than sitting in the sand.

Local neighbors stopped by one evening for a visit and snacks.

Sunset was a main event each evening.

A lunch stop at Pickett House restaurant in Woodville, all you can eat fried chicken, veggies, corn bread and biscuits, all served family style. Also, our "after" picture.
As one gal said on the trip home, what made the weekend even more special (in addition to just lazing around in bathing suits all day and not worrying about hair or make-up) is that everyone was free to do as they pleased. I preferred to hang around the covered patio in the mornings in the shade and under a fan, reading on my ipad. Others wanted to spend the mornings at the lake beach. Some of us went to water aerobics Friday morning early, others slept til 11:00 a.m. Some watched the sunset from beach chairs in the water, others from the deck. I think we all had a great time, I know I did! And I'm retired, I can be lazy anytime!

Visiting with William

Bill and I spent an evening with William, and parents Jeff and Jaime.

William and Jeff

William and Grandpa Bill

William is learning how to patty-cake, or maybe praying for dinner to be ready soon!

Here is a video of some of the things we watched William do. He can really scoot around fast in his army crawl, he also gets up on his hands and knees, he pulls himself up to stand, he jumps in his jumper and he loves playing ball with his dog, Sammie.




And of course, William loves to play with Bill. Even with so many distractions, Bill can captivate William's attention and the baby will focus on Bill and whatever he is saying and doing.

Visiting John and Taylor

I made a long weekend trip to McKinney/Dallas area to visit John and Taylor, who I haven't seen in over 6 weeks. Looks like Taylor might start walking any day now, and I was hoping to see that.
Ashley, John and Taylor met me at a water park that is for toddlers. Zero entry (beach entry) all the way around the pool to about 18" in the center, and mini-water slides for kids in the center, with 2-3 lifeguards. Perfect for toddlers, and with shade and picnic tables around the pool, perfect for mommies. See video below of John going down the slide. With all the water fountains spraying water, I didn't keep my camera with me for long. Also, John kept me busy all over the pool, watching him go down slides, and swim in the shallow water, blow bubbles, and turn water sprayers on and off. We had a great time, made up several games, and stayed wet and cool, with a lot of sunblock all over our bodies.



Ashley had brought the kids a mid-morning snack, John shared his pretzels with me. Taylor has enough teeth to eat that Ritz cracker and Ashley also gives her fruit. She buys the frozen fruit, then cuts and thaws what she wants at any given meal. Taylor was getting peaches that day.
Back at the house, Taylor showed off her climbing skills. In the pictures below, she stands up on top of Poindexter while holding onto the couch, and from there climbs up onto the couch. She was quite proud of her accomplishment.



I did get to see her stand up by herself, and walk along holding onto the window sill.



On Saturday, Jason and family took me to lunch in downtown historic McKinney at The Pantry. It is just off the square in the old hardware store building. Excellent pie!

After lunch, we wandered into the Mom and Pop Corn shop, which is like an old fashioned candy store. John opened lids and decided if he did or did not want this or that particular candy, and I filled him a bag with samples of many different treats.
Taylor loves her Daddy! You can see John on the couch enjoying his candy.

Another photo op for John and JanMa...

... and with Taylor, who may not look very happy, but she didn't cry when I held her!

And finally, John gets to hold Taylor too. He is a very good big brother, even though he can get annoyed when she tries to play with whatever toys he is playing with at the time, he is still very gentle and patient with her.

Wonderful trip, got to spend lots of time with John and Taylor, and I look forward to going back to visit in August.

Cousin Allison's BDay Party

The twins cousin Allison turned 5 with a party at Little Gym, just like the Little Gym that John went to in McKinney. Great place to have a party, the leaders handle the children's playtime and games, and serve the cake and drinks in another room with a short table and little chairs. Birthday girl takes presents home to open later, and kids take home party favors. Little Gym staff/leaders clean up! What could be better?

Allison, the birthday girl
Little brother Travis (John's age)

Twins sitting with the big kids.Twins having birthday cake

Allie enjoying her party and pink castle cake.

Claire hit the ground running and dancing to the music. She loved bouncing on the mats and on the bouncy blow-up mat. She had no fear. Jake stayed a little more out of the center of the action, but he was taking it all in, and liked climbing up and down the padded steps.

Video of twins having a good time at Allison's birthday party.

The twins also enjoyed sitting at the table with the bigger kids and eating their weight in cheese puffs and M&Ms, then cake. Claire sat between Jake and her cousin Travis. Claire took in all the other kids and the excitement, Jake kept his eye on Mom and seemed a little tired out by it all.

Twins snacking at the party.

Party is over, and Jake is ready to head home.

Kid sized Adirondack chairs

I bought some really cheap plastic chairs for the twins, and they loved having chairs their own size. John has one on his patio that he likes to sit in, but John's chair is an adirondack style chair.
The twins quickly showed me how easy it is to tumble over in the flimsy plastic chairs. A few days later I was at World Market looking for my favorite dark chocolate cookies, and I found adirondack chairs for kids, on sale! Sturdier, made of wood, broad base makes them tip-proof, and painted pretty colors.
Bill assembled them that same evening, with a little help from me. I handed him the bolts and read the directions.
I thought Claire might like the turquoise blue one, and Jake would go for the green one.

But no, they had their own minds quickly made up.

After dinner and outside play time and a bath, I put the chairs in front of the TV and they sat quite comfortably for a while and watched. The chairs did get in the way of Claire's dancing though.
Charlie dog is on vacation with me for a couple of weeks, and he went with me to deliver the chairs to Jake and Claire. Claire kept talking about the "puppy" and Jake panted like a dog pants.

Charlie knew where the food would be coming from at the Robin twins' house of cats! Jake obliged by tossing a few chunks on the floor, which he does to signal that he is through eating. Jake also used the word "done" or "down" when he was finished and wanted out of the booster chair.Claire plants a smooch on Jake.

Here is a video taken about a week ago of Claire dancing. She really loves to dance and gets into it. Jake enjoys it too, but not quite as much as Claire.


Jake is starting to "talk" in recognizable syllables. He said gracias, so he may make Spanish his first language!! Claire is using phrases like "please" "thank-you" and "you're welcome".
Here is a video of Claire and Jake eating, Claire tells Jake "way to go" when he retrieves his fallen water glass. You can hear Jake say "wawa" which either is water or aqua, he is drinking water. Also, Claire says "no no Charlie" to Charlie dog who is sniffing around for fallen crumbs under her booster seat.



Here is Claire bathing herself, and helping Jake out too.

And finally, Claire goes down the small playroom slide.

July 4 weekend

John Howard Robin got to see his first parade this July 4th weekend. I saw some video and pictures and he was so excited watching the parade.

Taylor was appropriately dressed in a cute red/white and denim jumper.

At the end of the day, John was tuckered out.

I want to make a trip to Dallas soon, but I'm dog sitting now for Sir Charles, so it will be toward the end of the month before I get up there. Taylor will probably be walking!!

I had Bill and sister Susie and her daughter-in-law to be Jodie over for July 4 weekend. We hung out in the pool, had dinner and a belated birthday celebration for Susie. I actually cooked a pork tenderloin, Bill and Susie's mother's three bean casserole recipe and my mother's potato casserole recipe. Dessert was a frozen key lime pie, with one candle in it for Susie's birthday.


July 4th Monday the twins came to swim in JanMa's pool, a first. Jake is already dressed in swim trunks and T-shirt and hat, and trying to manhandle his float out to the pool. Claire saw the pool and kept saying "swimming". She was ready also!

Jake showed how good he was a blowing bubbles and how much he enjoyed getting under the fountain spray. Claire practiced climbing up and down the top step of the pool, along with counting to 3 and jumping in to her Daddy.

Later, they enjoyed watermelon on my infamous vinyl holiday table cloth spread out on the floor of the living room.