Grade school gal pals

I've grown up with Adrienne and Amy B. since kindergarten. There is one other girl, Amy H., who we ran around with until high school but I've lost touch with her. We got together at Amy's parent's farm house so the kids could play for a little reunion.

Sometimes it's hard to believe that Amy married a doctor and has 3 daughters, Adrienne married a policeman and has a son and one on the way, and that I'm married with 2 kids. Just yesterday we were in Allendale Jr High school playing passing notes about what boy we liked that week.

BBQ at Adrienne's House

We had our last holiday gathering at Adrienne's house because they have sold it. Next spring they will be moving into their newly built home that Mike, Adrienne's husband, has designed. Can't wait to christen it! Also, Adrienne is pregnant but she's not showing yet. The baby will be born on her birthday - May 9th. They find out the gender on Christmas Eve. Many exciting things going on in the Robinson household!!

Little Joe, Carter and Erica became great pals that night. I love how kids just jump in to play with each other with no reservations. (Oh, and on a side note Liz is Adrienne's sister. I'm sure Joe has a ball with his Aunt Lizzy!)

Gang pix again

Can you tell Liz and Eric are the hams in the group?

The Gang's All Here!

Well, sort of..... we missed a few key members that night like Adrienne, Kim and Mick. I especially enjoyed the night of laughter, beer, pizza with old friends. And can you believe we made another stop after eating pizza to have one of Syd's tacos? (Thank goodness I had my gall bladder removed last spring or I'd been hurting puppy!)

In the group photo, back row from the left to right:
Liz, Eric (aka Airbo), Willy, Tony

Front row: Tammy, me, Janis (yes, she's pregnant -- it's not all pizza)

And I want to also publicly thank my dear husband for taking the kids to my mom's house that night and letting me stay out with the motley crew! We're all getting old.... I was still home before midnight. It's just hard to raise kids if mommy's hung over, so I turned in early. *sigh*

Grandpa John

The kids took to their Grandpa John. They remembered him from Halloween when he passed through town with Mr. Uncle Curt. On Friday after Thanksgiving, he flew his plane to my Grandma Hughes' house and landed in the field. He gave family members rides after dinner (gee, was the timing bad or what -- can you say "barf bag"?). Erica would get so excited before he would take off saying, "Mommy! Come look! He's going to make the leaves blow!"

Granny Jo

Some pix of our time with Granny Jo. By the time we did a "photo shoot", Carter was too tired to cooperate. So I didn't get any good ones of those two.

Thanksgiving 2007

The kids enjoyed seeing "Mr." Uncle Curt again. We enjoyed meeting his new girlfriend, "Sarah with an 'h' ".

McD's in Hays, Kansas

This is the nicest McD's we've ever been to. I didn't get a photo of the stone fireplace or stone building exterior, but this McD's belongs in Aspen -- not Kansas. ;-) When we venture back to Illinois/Indiana, we try to stop here for a rest and let the kids burn some energy.

Old Chicago Pizza Tour

The MOMS Club took a tour of Old Chicago Pizza and the kids were able to make their own pizza for lunch! To conclude the event, the kids were issued an "Old Chicago Outstanding Pizza Maker" certificate.

Cookie Monster Playgroup on Halloween Morning

Oct. 31st: Playgroup was at our house on Halloween morning, so we had a party of course!

"Mr." Uncle Curt and Grandpa Visit

November 1: Curt and my father were trucking to Cheyenne, WY, and detoured through Colorado on their way home. The kids really liked playing with Uncle Curt. Erica is excited to see them for Thanksgiving. She called my brother "Mr. Curt" at first. (At her schools she has to use the appropriate prefix to the teachers names, i.e. Mr. or Miss.) When I said, "No, it's 'Uncle' Curt." she started saying "Mr. Uncle Curt". :) By the end of the night, she asked me where "that boy" went when he got out of sight.