Katie's 2011 Summer

I'm not finding much time to blog these days but I thought I'd show you a collage that Katie and I made in September to show her preschool class how she spent her summer!  (I put a yellow stickie over her last name so as not to give away her last name on this blog.)  You can click on it to see a larger version.

Happy 4th Birthday, Katie!

Happy 4th Birthday, Katie!!

We returned from the beach at 11 pm last night after a fun weekend with John's family, part of which was spent celebrating Katie's birthday early.

She brought pink cupcakes to preschool today, and they gave her a crown to wear.

This afternoon a few friends will come over for pizza and to enjoy the pool, which I told Katie opened for her birthday. (It actually opened a few days ago but we've been at the beach so this will be the first time this year that she'll get to go to our new neighborhood's pool.)

Tonight she will also open a used Barbie dollhouse that I bought for her, and I will pass along all my Barbies and accessories that I had when I was a little girl.

Joshua gave her a $2 fake Barbie named Michelle.  She doesn't know the difference and she welcomed her with kisses.

Joshua also gave her "Annie" DVDs.  He's a bit jealous; he loves "Annie" as much as she does.

In two weeks we will have a larger gathering at a campground on the water -- a chance to have a big rustic swimming party.

What a beautiful, sweet, amazing little girl I have.  Happy birthday, Katie!

Scenes of Summer, Part 1

A few of my favorite photos so far this summer:

Katie's attending a music class this summer.

Katie with her best friend Daniel, who will become a big brother about 9 hours from now!

Katie's first jacuzzi experience

This is what happens when you forget Katie's swim diapers. Look at that rear end!

Joshua meets my grandma for the first time

"Stuck!"

Katie and her good friend Sofia at the zoo.

We've been finding items lined up in rows around the house. Looks like Katie's got some of her mother's obsessive compulsiveness in her.

Katie, her cousins, and Uncle Jason being pulled by Grandpa.

Katie rides a camel at the zoo with Uncle Jamie.

My brother Stephen graduates from Army Reserves boot camp with his then-fiancee (now wife!) Lindsey at his side.

Speaking of which, congratulations to Stephen and Lindsey, who got married May 2! Here are just a few photos from their wedding and our trip to Seattle.

Joshua slept in my carry-on suitcase while we were in Seattle.

Mt. Ranier


Joshua had his own "First Flight" uniform for the plane rides, complete with aviator goggles, and he was coincidentally given a bear with a similar outfit!

The stewardesses were so impressed they took all of us up to the cockpit, where Joshua got to meet the pilot!

Lindsey and I with all the brothers.


My brother Daniel thought I was embarrassing myself by slow-dancing with Joshua at the reception, so he asked us to dance.

Roberts Family Beach Trip 2008

Earlier this month my family spent more than a week at my in-laws' wonderful beach house in Delaware. It was a wonderful time to gather, and all of our family was able to be there, even including Stephen's new fiancee Lindsey for the last half of the week. Here's a rare whole-family photo that we took our last hour together. You can click the photo to see it larger.

(l-r: My dad Jeff; sister-in-law Sharon, brother Jason, and 15-month-old niece Ali; brother Mike; brother Daniel; 4-year-old nephew Andrew (Sharon and Jason's son); Katie and John; future sister-in-law Lindsey and brother Stephen; mom Debbie; and me)

You may remember that Katie's cousin Ali is only 3 weeks older than her. Here's a photo of the two close cousins with their respective mommies. Their grandma is hiding behind us.

Here's Katie goofing off with her cousin Andrew. Katie and her cousins bonded immensely over the week, so much so that they were regularly exchanging hugs and kisses as they played.

We had a wonderful time, and so did Katie. Her favorite activities were enjoying the beach, the kiddie pool, and her cousins. My favorite activities were spending time with family, watching the Olympics till at least midnight every night, and being able to catch up on sleep a bit.

Here's a cute photo of Katie modeling one of her new fall outfits (thanks Anna!) and "reading" Little Red Riding Hood. I love how, more often than not, she "reads" books upside-down.

Beach photos
Katie ran up to a group of kids building a huge mound of sand and chatted nonstop at them. They were a bit bewildered by her, not knowing what to do with her because she was obviously too young to help them. But she wasn't too young to help them knock down the mound afterwards!

Sandy-faced Katie! You don't suppose that's because she likes to put her entire face in the sand, do you?

Katie's new favorite pose: sticking her rear end up in the air. Why? So we can help her do a somersault, of course!

Katie decided this trip that she LOVES the ocean. She was quite the Kamikaze Katie, running full-speed ahead toward the waves every chance she could. John and I would stand with her at the edge of the waves, holding her safely. But if she saw a wave that didn't quite make it to her, she'd get mad at the wave and try to run further into the ocean. It was exhausting to restrain her! But of course a lot of fun to watch as well.

Kiddie Pool

Katie also loved the kiddie pool in the beach house community. Here's a video of her enjoying the water, the pool signs, and Mommy and Daddy.