Life with Robbie

July 25, 2009 – Part 2

After Narnia we headed over to the Science Center in Union Station. I wasn’t sure what we were doing or if we were going to have fun at first. We started off walking through echo cave where I said I could hear my echo even though I didn’t know what an echo was. I think I had Mom and Dad wondering what we were doing… After that we decided to see what was upstairs.

Checking the Air Ducts

Up we headed and there we noticed that there were a lot of things under construction. After a reading of the sign which stated that there were things that needed fixing inside the air ducts, to crawl through and find the problem, Emma and I took off. I did notice some fallen wires and things on our way through, though I didn’t get a chance to fix them. Here we are upon finishing our task. After that we headed over to some pipes and pushed buttons to see where the pipes ended. We also tried to turn some wheels fast enough to make the light bulbs work. Dad got his working, Mom got hers blinking, but I couldn’t get mine to light up. After that we stopped by a tree house that had pictures of all kinds of birds. We didn’t stay there long though, instead we headed up the elevator again. Our first stop was an area where you could make music on all sorts of instruments. Here we are playing the drums.

Trash Can Band

Behind us you could also see that there was a piano on the ground and some life size chimes in the background. There was also a button you could push that made a fan blow some wind chimes. After playing all kinds of tunes we headed on down to the Science Center’s town. Our first stop was the Astronauts Pad where we learned about how astronauts have to sleep in bags on the walls! That was really silly. After that we went into the towns hotel, which was really strange. In one of them Emma and I went up the stairs but they only went halfway up the room and then we couldn’t got any further because they kept going, except they were upside down. In one of the bathrooms we were looking in the mirror and then all of a sudden we weren’t there anymore. It was a very strange hotel, I’m glad we didn’t have to sleep there. We also stopped by the crime lab, though we didn’t stay there long and also the news station. There I finally got to watch a video of a tornado so I could see what one looked like. They also had a thing where you could push a button and make a smoke tornado like they had at the museum I went to with Uncle Nate. The next thing we did was head over to a police helicopter they had, which I had been keeping my eye on for quite some time. Here I am learning how to fly one with Emma as my copilot. You can’t tell from the picture, but the blades are actually spinning.

Flying a Helicopter

I practiced driving for a while. There was a radio inside that told us there was an emergency, but you couldn’t talk back on the radio, only listen. Emma was a pretty good copilot. She was a little unsure of my flying abilities and tried to close the door, but it was chained open. Mom and Dad told her it didn’t close. Fortunately no one fell out during our flight.

Flying - Pilot Robbie & Co-Pilot Emma

After a few minutes of flying we were off again. We walked past a neat deal where there were rubber ducks floating in a table of water and you could move tabs to make the ducks go different directions. I wanted to stop but Mom said we needed to move on and hurry since we were going to have to go eat soon. We headed downstairs and there we entered the public works system. There was another sign informing us of some type of blockage in the sewer pipes and asking for help in finding the problem. Emma and I headed up the ladder and into the sewer pipes. It was very dark inside. I slowly made my way down the pipes, it was hard to find any problems without having a flashlight. I think next time I’ll bring mine along just in case something like this comes up again. I made my way all the way through without any problems. Emma on the other hand needed a little bit of prodding from a girl behind her to go on through. We both came through all in one piece. After that Dad and Mom said it was time to go so we would have time to eat before the ballgame. I was really disappointed to go but maybe we can go back sometime. Here we are at Union Station:

Union Station

We had dinner at Chili’s. Emma and I shared chicken strips and apples as well as eating chips and salsa with Dad and Mom. Emma put a lot of salsa on her chips and said it was hot and drank a lot of water, but then she kept doing it. We ran out of chips around the time our food got there. I was ready to eat my food but when the waitress asked if we needed anything else Emma informed her that we were all out of chips and asked for more. We did our best to eat our dinners and the chips, but we ended up having to take some food home with us. We topped off our dinners by sharing a dessert, Emma and I had a little glass with brownie and cool whip in it. It was really yummy.

After dinner it was off to the ballpark again. We got there and headed over to the Rangers dugout to watch batting practice and see if we could get some autographs. When we got there the Royals had just finished up and the Rangers were just starting their batting practice. We watched them practice and tried to get autographs. Other people were able to get some of their things signed but we didn’t have a whole lot of luck. I had brought my ball that I got in Texas hoping to get it signed and was kind of disappointed that I didn’t get mine signed. I did however manage to get one of their practice balls signed by Josh Hamilton compliments of another fan that was there who ended up getting two autographed Josh Hamilton balls. They noticed my dissapointment and offered me one of theirs. I was very thankful for their generosity. The ball is signed and even has a verse on it. I am hoping Mom will pick up a case for me to keep it in so it doesn’t get dirty. After that we headed up to our seats, we sat in the same seats as we did the night before. After the first inning Mom had to take Emma to the car because she flooded, they missed two out of the three Rangers runs. They made it back in time to see the Rangers’ pitcher fall apart and the Rangers lose to the Royals. I think maybe they just need to fire that pitcher. After the game we stopped and got chocolate chip cookies as a treat and then headed home. Emma and I slept in the car so the trip didn’t seem as long to us. We got home really late and went straight to bed as we had church in the morning. That’s about it from our trip. Since then I’ve been helping Mom get caught up on laundry and we’ve been getting back into a routine with me back home. I must say I had a good trip but it sure is good to be home.

July 25, 2009 – Part 1

Saturday morning I woke up before Mom and Dad. I also woke up before Emma who had moved from her side of the bed onto mine and was almost on top of me. I tried to move her over but she started crying. Then Mom tried to move her over and she didn’t want to. She moved back to where she was and then decided to just wake up. We all got dressed and headed downstairs in the hotel for breakfast. Emma had cereal and a muffin. I had a waffle, cereal, and a muffin. After breakfast we packed all our things up in the van and headed to Union Station. When we got there Emma and I got our pictures taken as High King Peter and Queen Susan. Here we are.

King and Queen of Narnia

Standing by Giant Rumblebuffin

After we got our tickets we stopped by to look at Giant Rumblebuffin and get our pictures taken. The picture turned out kind of dark, but you can still see he is quite big. We headed from there downstairs to the Narnia exhibit. We went through the gate shown below and entered into a room that had things from C.S. Lewis’ home. There the man told us what it was like for the children during the war and how many of them were sent away from the cities to live in the country. In fact, C.S. Lewis himself took some children from which he got some of the ideas for his story. From there we were ushered into another room where the only thing in there was the wardrobe doors. While we were in there we could see it raining outside and hear the rain falling. The lady reminded us of the story how it was raining outside and Lucy was looking for a good hiding spot when she found the wardrobe. The wardrobe doors opened and in we went to the world of Narnia. We walked in past the coats and it was snowing inside! We all got snow on us and Emma still had snow in her hair after we were done and outside. I don’t know how they made it snow in a building but they did. Even though it was snowing it really wasn’t that cold. While we were in Narnia we got to sit on the Queens icy seat. I also got to touch part of a frozen waterfall. It had finger holes in it and I put my fingers in them. When I touched it I could feel it melting under my fingers.

Outside Narnia

One of my favorite things in the exhibit was a map of all of Narnia. I was able to see exactly how I was able to see how far it was from Lantern Waste, where the children entered Narnia, to Cair Paravel, where the story ends. Another highlight in Narnia was the catapult that Emma and I got to shoot. It shot rocks around the size of basketballs. We pulled our side of the rope and it shot the rock into a net. That was really neat! I also got to try my hand at building a tower. I put all the pretend stones together over the arch and then pulled it out and the tower I had made stayed together until Emma and I smashed it down. Unfortunately we couldn’t take any pictures in Narnia so I don’t have pictures of these. We also got to go under a huge tree stump and see Trufflehunter the badger’s home, crawl through a hollow log, design our own shield, and feel how heavy a suit of armor and a sword were. We got to see some of the actual costumes and props from both the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. After we got through Narnia we looked in the gift shop for a while. I was hoping to find something there for only $1 but there really wasn’t anything. Emma and I did get two postcards each though, which actually were less than $1 each.

July 25, 2009

What seemed like no time later Dad and Mom were waking me up and prodding me out of bed to get dressed and ready to get on the road. I stumbled through getting dressed and finally started to wake up. We managed to get up and out on the road pretty quickly. I made it until we stopped for gas before dozing off for the drive ahead. By late morning we were at the zoo. We made out way towards Australia first stopping to see the otters, panda bears, and a tiger. Then it was into the land down under. There we saw all kinds of animals, among which there were birds, two kinds of kangaroos, and sheep. Here are some pictures of us taken in Australia.

The Kangaroos were right behind us.

Kangaroos

While we were in there the animals were right there. You can see in the next picture that you could really get close to some of the animals. We went into the area with all kinds of different birds. I tried to get even closer to the bird after this picture but it ran off.

Checking out the Birds

We also got a chance to feed the sheep in the zoo. When Mom got the food to feed the sheep they all mobbed around us. I liked feeding the sheep but Emma got scared. I enjoyed the chance to get near the animals, Emma, however, was a little more cautious.

Emma and the Sheep

Robbie Feeding the Sheep

By the Train Bear

After Australia we found a nice shady spot and had some lunch. Right by our picnic area there was a fan that was spraying water. I got all wet. Emma again was a little more careful but she did finally get close enough to get a little wet. After that we saw the train stop at the train station. Here’s a picture of Emma and I by the bear at the train station. Katie who had slept through the last half of Australia decided to wake up and have lunch with us. As you can see from the next picture she did enjoy her time at the zoo while she was awake too.

Katie at the Zoo

Welcome to Kenya

After lunch it was off to Africa. It was quite a long walk to get there but we finally made it there. Here we are getting ready to go in. As you can see we finally made it to Kenya and got a chance to learn a little bit about where Aunt Judy comes from. As we walked in we had to go over a long bridge that crossed over some train tracks. We crossed this bridge, which was on quite the incline several times and I finally got a chance to see a train going under us the third time. As we headed into Africa my main goal was to see a crocodile. As you may remember I had seen one outside the Rainforest Cafe and I was quite anxious to see a real one. On the way there we saw quite a few other animals. We saw Hippos, African Hunting Dogs, Elephants, Zebras, Giraffes, Ostrich, and tortoises.

Africa

Finally we made it to the crocodiles. They had some pictures of some on the wall of the room they were in that were very big, but the ones that were in there were not as big. One of them was in the water and the other one was over by the rocks.  I learned that crocodiles will attack baby hippos, which I thought was very sad. But they won’t get the adult ones so the babies are safe if they stay with their moms. After the crocodiles we also saw a bunch of chimpanzees. One of them was little sitting by two adult ones. The little guy was being very silly with some lettuce hanging out of his mouth and goofing off. One of the adult chimpanzees had a stone he was holding and looked like he was thinking of throwing it but then didn’t. After watching them for a few minutes we were off again. We got to see a lion and rhinos. Here’s a picture of one of the hippos that we saw.

Hippo

A little further along down the trail we tried to see if we could see the cheetahs but I guess they were all sleeping. While there we also learned a little about elephants from listening to one of the zoo keepers. Two of the elephants that were there were missing one of their tusks. When asked what happened she said that one of them had run into something and broke it off but they didn’t know what had happened to the other elephants tusk. She did tell us however, that when they break their tusks all the way off they won’t grow back. I found this a little concerning as the elephants were eating and holding their food with their tusks. So it seemed to me that if they broke both of them off they wouldn’t have anything to hold their food with. Fortunately they all had at least one tusk. We also got a chance to learn a little bit about birds. Here’s a picture of Emma and I seeing what its like to hatch out of an egg. We also got to ride on the boat through Africa. Most of the animals were taking naps but we did get to see a few from our boat.

Elephants

Hatching

Jumping through the hoop

After Africa we headed off to see the Sea Lion Show. That was really fun. The sea lions swam around in the water and did all kinds of tricks. One of them jumped up and touched a ball with his nose. The ball was 10 feet high in the air. It made a really big splash. As you can see here he also jumped through a hoop and stood on his hand fins.They also were really good at catching fish from very far away. Every time we clapped they walked really silly. We also got to hear them bark. They sounded kind of like a dog.

After the sea lions we checked out the amazon exhibit and got to see several different kinds of monkeys. Some of them were playing and swinging around on the ropes. The nice part about this exhibit was that it was inside and so it was cooler. Overall we had a good time at the zoo and then it was off to our hotel room to get a quick rest before the ballgame. We got there and Emma and I got to share the couch bed. We tried to take naps but had slept some in the van and were just too excited to sleep. After a little bit we stopped to get dinner. On the way there a lot of police cars drove by us with their sirens on. They stopped close to where we were eating but we couldn’t see what they were doing. After dinner we headed over to Kauffman Stadium to catch a Royals vs. Rangers game. Of course we were all decked out in our Rangers apparel and ready to cheer them on. We were running a little behind though so I had to run to from the car and tripped. We made it there only missing the first half of the first inning. We enjoyed seeing the Rangers beat Grienke. After the game it was back to our room for showers and bed. I was exhausted and it didn’t take me long to fall asleep. Overall it was a really good day. Here’s a picture of Katie at her first game.

Cheering for the Rangers

July 23, 2009

Well, Thursday morning I got up and loaded all my stuff in Uncle Nate’s car. Then Uncle Nate, Granna, and I all headed up to Oklahoma to meet up with Mom and Katie for lunch. When we got there Mom and Katie were already there. Boy was I glad to see Katie, I forgot how much I missed her. I played and visited with her while we waited for our lunch to get there. We had pizza and bread for lunch, it was very yummy. After lunch we walked along the riverwalk to get back to the cars. Then we moved all my things into Mom’s car and it was on the road again. It didn’t take me long to drift off and I managed to get in a little rest before Katie’s crying woke me up. We made it home all in one piece just in time to beat Dad and Emma back from the fair where Emma won first place in her group for the baby show. She got a medal and her picture in the paper. It didn’t take Emma and I long to get back into our groove. We sure did miss each other though.

Together again

That evening we unloaded my things from the car and finished loading up the van for our family vacation. Then it was off to bed as we were going to have to get up very early. I was still excited from my break and excited about our family trip so I had a hard time falling asleep even though I was very tired. Eventually though I was able to fall asleep…

“And Me”

I had a fun day at Morris’ house. After that it was home with Dad for naps and then off to the fair for the baby show. I wore my new Pooh bathing suit and while I wore my crocs on the walk down there I decided I didn’t want to wear them for the show. I managed to make it across the stage all in one piece where Dad was waiting with my crocs. Once across I put them back on and they gave me a splash ball. Then we had to wait for all the other kids to finish. Afterwards I was supposed to get my picture taken with the boy who had won our age group. They had two chairs sitting there so I sat down and kicked off my shoes for the picture since I hadn’t had them on for the show. We finally got done with the pictures and headed home. When we got there Robbie was sitting outside waiting for us. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be glad to see him or not, but I was. We all headed inside to catch up on the days events. Then I tried to help him feed the dogs and our methods didn’t quite go together so I came inside and let him finish up. I must admit I really don’t mind giving him his job back.

July 22, 2009

Yesterday I helped Uncle Nate get a room at Uncle Nate’s house ready for Granna who was getting in last night.  I also managed to talk Uncle Nate into skipping my rest yesterday, which unfortunately made for kind of a long evening. Granna made it there all in one piece. I was glad she made it all right. This morning we started off our day with waffles! Later we went into town to check out the Baylor museum. I had a good time there. I got to drive a fire truck and sports car, ride on a wooden horse, and milk a cow among other things. I enjoyed taking my turn at being a cowboy even though I didn’t have a gun or spurs. It’s quite the museum. Here are a couple pictures we took.

Riding a horse

Milking a Cow

After the museum it was back to Uncle Nate’s. I took a nap this afternoon and then we went out for dinner. I got cheesecake for dessert and ended up wearing some of it. After my cheesecake we headed back to Uncle Nate’s to play dominoes. Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading back home. We’re supposed to meet mom in Oklahoma City and have lunch before I say goodbye to Uncle Nate. I sure have had a good time.

“And Me”

This evening we went down to the county fair. Mom entered her rolls in the fair. I was glad she decided to enter because that meant I got to sample a bunch of them. We had a good time looking at all the exhibits, watching the judging, and looking at the animals. We also got to eat dinner down there. I got to have chips with nacho cheese for dinner, it was really yummy! Tomorrow I get to spend the day with Morris while Mom goes down to get Robbie. I sure am looking forward to having him home again.

July 21, 2009

I’m still keeping very busy.  Sunday night Grandpa, Aunta Eva, Aunty Anna, and I all went to a Rangers game. It was $1 ice cream night so I was able to get some ice cream. The Rangers won the game with a walk off home run by Ian Kinsler in the 12th inning. It was a good thing too. Grandpa had said that if they didn’t score soon we were going to have to go home because Aunty Anna had to wake up early. I told Grandpa I wanted to stay for the whole game. So, it was a good thing that they scored so I could stay for the whole game and we could get back home for Aunty Anna. We had a good time at the game. There were lots of people cheering and it was very exciting.

Monday morning I got up, ready, and packed up so that I’d be ready when Uncle Nate and GranEsther came to pick me up. I was ready before they got there so Aunty Eva and I did some Playdoh. I had a lot of fun. Here I am with my creations:

My Playdoh Creations

Uncle Nate and GranEsther picked me up and we took Aunty Eva to lunch with us. We went to the Rainforest Cafe for lunch. It was really neat! There was a huge crocodile outside that opened and closed his mouth. Inside while we were eating we could hear elephants and monkeys (they were scared by the elephants). There was also lightning and thunder but we didn’t get rained on. We could hear the water running down the mountains. For lunch we had barbeque chicken pizza. It was very good but I took some of the lettuce off of mine. Here we are at the Rainforest Cafe:

At Rainforest Cafe

After lunch we took Aunty Eva back home and then went to GranEsthers. While we were there we were looking for something in GranEsther’s parlor. It was kind of warm so GranEsther told Uncle Nate she was going to have to go soon and get something cool to drink but then they kept talking. After a little bit I told Uncle Nate that GranEsther really needed to go and get something to drink so she could cool off. After a while it was off to Uncle Nate’s house. The evening he and I snacked for dinner and then had some peppermint ice cream we had picked up on the way there while we watched WallE. I was kind of disturbed (translated – distracted) by the movie and so my ice cream melted and I had to drink it. It was very good though and had little pieces of red and white candy in it.

This morning Uncle Nate and I had to take some things to his work and then he had to check on some of his patients while I watched movies. While we were at his office I sat in the corner and colored as I was kind of shy. After that it was off for Taco Tuesdays at Rosa’s Cafe. And guess how many tacos I had for lunch? Two! This afternoon I’m going to help Uncle Nate work in his yard. I can’t believe I left my work gloves at home! Next time I’ll have to make sure I pack them. Needless to say as you can see I’m keeping quite busy. Here I am finishing up my tacos:

Taco Tuesday at Rosa's Cafe

“And Me”

Its been busy today. I missed Robbie this morning when I had to pick all the toys up off the floor while Mom vacuumed. I managed to get it mostly done though. Then this afternoon I got some girl time in as Mom watched a girl who was 4 and a little baby boy who is just a little older than Katie. We had lots of fun dressing up in princess dresses, playing babies, and having a tea party. Katie also had a good time they both crawled around, rolled over, then fell asleep on their blanket.  Here are some pictures mom took of us.

Princess Mommies

Wore out from playing hard...

After our company left it was out to work in the yard with Dad since Robbie wasn’t here to help him with the yard. When we finished the backyard I was quite wore out and was more than ready for my rest. It seemed quite short though when Mom woke me up to get ready to go to the parade. Mom, Katie, and I walked downtown for the fair parade. I had a good time and got lots of candy. They didn’t throw any to Katie though as she’s too little. The parade was very exciting, I think the best part was the horses. I did enjoy watching the emergency vehicles as well and knew when the parade was starting because I could here them going “whoo, whoo, whoo”. That’s about it here. These are at the parade.

Waiting for the parade to start

Ready to catch candy

July 18, 2009 – Part 2

This afternoon we had a big lunch and then headed off to Mountasia.  There I got to ride in the bumper boats. Aunty Eva drove mine and Aunty Anna rode in her own boat.  I got really wet from the water splashing up. I also watched Aunty Eva and Aunty Anna ride in the go carts but decided not to try them out.  While we were there we also played some games. I played a basketball game and one with lights and frogs. I also got a ‘popper’, which I didn’t even have to pay for with my money because I won tickets and got it with that. It’s a lot of fun to turn it inside out and watch it pop up. I had a really fun afternoon. Here are some pictures Grandpa and Grandma took of us while we were riding in the boats.

Aunty Eva & I in our boat.

Bumping into Aunty Anna's boat.

Well, that’s all here.  Tomorrow we have church and then Grandpa, Aunty Eva, Aunty Anna, and I are all going to a Ranger’s game in the evening.

July 18, 2009

Here I am at Grandpa and Grandma’s.  I had kind of a rough first day.  I woke up and wasn’t feeling very good. We all sat down to a delicious breakfast of bacon, pancakes, and milk.  I drank some of my milk but unfortunately was not able to eat much breakfast as I got sick.  I was going to try to eat my bacon anyways, but Grandma wisely suggested I not.  I kept an ice cream bucket close at hand for a while. While I wasn’t feeling very good I did manage to go swimming and we got the train set up. I took a nap that afternoon and had some toast and applesauce.  Not quite as good as the Mickey nuggets that were originally planned but I still wasn’t feeling the best.

That evening it was off to a Ranger’s game with Grandpa. While we were at the game Grandpa and I went down near the dugouts.  The Rangers were not there but one of the security guards told us to wait and went inside.  Then he came back out with a baseball for me! The Rangers lost but Josh Hamilton hit a home run that went a long way. Around the fourth inning I started to get kind of tired and ready to go home.  I made it through the eighth inning and just couldn’t hold out any longer.  So, Grandpa and I went home and unfortunately I missed the big fireworks show.

This morning I woke up and was feeling a lot better.  I played legos with Aunty Eva and Aunty Anna.  One of the lego doors broke, but Aunty Anna fixed it.  We also found a frog in Grandpa’s yard.  Aunty Eva put it in the water and it swam.  Then Grandpa put the frog on Aunty Eva and it got scared and went to the bathroom on her.  It was very silly.  Aunty Eva and I also found some seeds in the garage that were yellow and brown.  Maybe I will glue some on some paper later.  I’m not sure what all we are going to do today.  “We’ll just have to wait and see.” I did tell Mom that I would call her again later and let her know what all else I am doing so she can put it on my blog.

“And Me”

We are all doing good here though we miss Robbie quite a bit.  I’m having to work very hard and do lots of jobs because he is not here to help.  It sure is a bigger job taking care of the dogs than Robbie made it look. The days are a lot quieter, my babies amazingly less demanding, and my tea parties much calmer but also much smaller. Uncle Josh stopped in last night because his plane was late so he couldn’t get a car.  Dad picked him up and he had dinner with us and stayed the night.  We had a good visit. We watched the Rangers game on the computer (I was kind of in and out), but never did see Robbie. I talked to Robbie on the phone again today. It sounds like he is having a good time.

Emma here signing in… We talked with Grandpa and Grandma earlier and sources informed us that according to Robbie, I am going to be taking care of his dogs. Fortunately though, according to the man himself, while I am going to be doing the work, he is going to be “on call”. Hopefully I am up to the task…

Mom and I managed to get all my stuff packed up yesterday and Emma helped Dad load it all into the van.  This morning we all got up early and jumped in the van and headed off.  We drove for a long time before we met up with Grandpa and Grandma.  I kept looking for their car driving towards us since they were supposed to be driving up and us driving down to meet up with them.  We met them in Oklahoma and stopped for lunch and played at a park for a while, so that Emma and Katie could visit with Grandpa and Grandma. Emma and I had chicken strips, fries, and milkshakes for lunch.  I traded my fries to Emma for one of her chicken strips. After lunch, Emma and I had a good time going down the slides until we got all hot and sweaty.  After a short break some other kids came and so off we went to play with them for a while.  We played hide and seek, played on seesaw and ran around for a while.  Katie played on the blanket and visited with Mom and Grandma.  After a while we loaded my things in Grandpa’s van and it was off to Sonic for drinks. Here are some pictures taken at the park.

Climbing up to the slides.

Getting ready to go down.

Emma & Katie with Grandpa.

Mom, Emma, and Katie headed back home, and I was finally off to Texas with Grandpa and Grandma.  We had a good drive down.  I watched two movies, one of which was a Veggie Tales movie about Baby Moses.  Then I took a short rest.  We made it to Grandpa and Grandma’s all right and now I’m keeping plenty busy.  Aunty Anna is showing me some of her things. I think I am going to have a very good time here.