Robinson Family Reunion

Dad (back left), Mom (front right) and cousins
Dad talking to Uncle BJ and Aunt Glenna
Every couple of years, my mom's side of the family has a reunion, usually in La Verne, California. I have to admit that I was a little bit nervous to go. Even though I am related to all of them, most are still like strangers to me. But, I figure if we make it a point to go each time, faces will become more familiar. We had a great time. I really enjoyed watching my mom interacting with her cousins, and it was nice to see where my sense of humor comes from. Tevye probably thought we were all crazy, but at least he had fun wrestling with Caden and Vance. I also found it interesting that many of my relatives live less than 30 minutes away from us, yet we still never see each other. Dad, being the avid genealogist that he is, printed up two very long pedigree charts, and everyone worked to fill in the missing information.
Tevye, Caden, and Vance having fun.
Great-Uncle B.J. and three of his sons and granddaughter.

4th of July

I love celebrating the 4th of July! America is the best country, and I am so blessed to be here (legally)! This year, our friends, the Chitwood's and the Casida's, invited us to their annual ice cream/fireworks party. They live right next to the local high school, so we were able to see the city fireworks show from their driveway. The boys had fun playing Foosball and ping pong. They also played boccie ball on the very sloped front yard- it added a new dimension to the game.

Vista Tractor Show

Back in June, Tevye took the boys to the tractor show in Vista. I opted to avoid the walking around in the heat and stayed home instead. They came home tired, yet happy. Here are some pictures that Tev took.

Caden's job was to stab the potatoes as the tractor drove by. Vance's job was to put Caden's potatoes in the bucket. Caden got three potatoes all together.

One of the drawbacks of living in a second story condo is limited bike riding exposure. This must have been fun for the boys.

Vance loved the blacksmith shop. Tevye said that he couldn't get him to leave.

Here, the boys are wearing a viking helmet that the blacksmith made. Tevye said it weighed about fifteen pounds!

Camping at Grandma and Papa's

Last week, Caden and Vance stayed over at my parents' house in Murrieta. My brother, Bill, also brought his two sons, Nolan and Cole, and Cole's friend Kyle. I didn't show up until late the next day, but from what I've been told and the pictures I've received, the boys had a great time together. Billy is a wonderful cook, and he barbequed their meals. Apparently, the growing boys ate a ton of food! Vance was fascinated with Kyle (who he now calls "Carl"). They spent the night in the trailer. According to the boys, they only got 2 hours of sleep.

Nolan, Kyle, Vance, Caden, and Cole

Dad and Bill with the boys

Vacation Part 5

Our next stop was Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. We drove north through Idaho, then east through Montana. Let me just say that I think Yellowstone is one of the most beautiful places in North America that I have been to. On our way to the Old Faithful Inn, we searched for as many different types of animals and birds that we could find. There were lots of bison, elk, and canada geese. On a couple of occasions, we had to stop the car and share the road with the bison that just walk up and down it like a sidewalk. One walked right next to our car, and we could see all of the details of its matted fur. Our hotel was nice and right next to Old Faithful. I have to confess that I never made plans in my life to visit the geyser, but I am so glad that we did. It wasn't different from how I imagined it to be, but it was still impressive. What confounds me is how accurately they can predict when it will erupt. Yellowstone is full of geothermic wonders. The visitors' center is state of the art, and Caden and Vance had fun going on an informational scavenger hunt. Caden even did enough work to earn a Junior Park Ranger badge! Vance lost interest before he earned his. How sad that we only stayed there one night (it was expensive, so one was all we could afford)! We would love to go back and explore all of the trails, etc. On our way out of the park, we stopped for about half an hour so that the boys could play in the snow. They loved doing that! The snow was so deep that Tevye sunk down to his knees, but we didn't know that, because Caden and Vance were so light that they didn't sink down. Tevye would have to pick them up and throw them rather forcefully into the snow in order for them to sink. At the end, they were so wet that the boys were only in shirt and underwear as we drove out of the park.

My mountain men

Old Faithful

"Skunky Skunk" was clearly a highlight of the trip for Vance.

My little scientist.

Caden's self portrait

Snowball fight

Tevye throwing Caden into the snow

Snow angel #1

Snow angel #2

Koepler (sp?) Falls- one of my favorite sites

We stopped in Jackson, Wyoming to explore and eat dinner. Though the restaurant we ate at did not know how to properly cook a well-done stake (everyone probably likes it rare in Jackson), we had fun walking through the shops and a labyrinth. My favorite part was the archways of the central park area. They were made of shed antlers collected by the local Boy Scout troop.

The labyrinth

Howling with the wolves

Jackson has a lot of "stuffed" animals.

Vacation Part 4

Tevye with the boys on the Wind Caves Trail.

After visiting Hoover Dam, we headed north to Utah. Unfortunately, we had to skip going to the caves at Mt. Timpanogos (sp?) since they were closed. Poor Tevye- this was the second time he tried to go there but was unable to. We decided to continue on to his parents' home in Logan, Utah. The main reason for our trip was to celebrate Tevye's brother's wedding.Asa and Theresa were married in Greece just a couple weeks earlier. We were excited to see them and some of the other family members (not everyone could make it). Most of the time was spent playing board games around the kitchen table. Caden loved playing the games and is quite the strategist. Grammy helped the boys find walking sticks.We also took a short walk along the Logan River trail that runs through the golf course. I guess that one of the differences between Tev's family and mine is that his family went out of their way to catch a bunch of snakes and mine would go out of their way to avoid them. At one point, Caden was holding a snake, but the snake wriggled free and clamped onto his finger with its fangs. Luckily, Grammy was there to save the day! Michaela and Jared

Tevye had brought his RC truck, so he had fun driving it around with his siblings. Tev's mom made a great chicken dinner for the reception. We made a quick field trip up to Pocatello, Idaho to see Micah and Kolissa's cute new house. On our last day in Logan, Tevye and his mom took the boys hiking up to Wind Cave. I think they had a great time.

Goofy Vance

Some extra pictures:

Talicee and Logan

Vance, Caden, and Logan- the cousins had fun playing "Star Wars" in the front yard.