Robertson's Visit - Part 3

Well, since I obviously fell off the 'blog-wagon' for a few weeks (OK, seven weeks may be more than a 'few'), I'm going to back date a few posts and stick to mostly pictures in an effort to catch up.

So, I'm going back to the Robertson's visit, for Part 3 and all the 'extras' from the weekend.

Out for dinner, two of my favourite guys enjoying a mutual favourite meal - ribs! 

Abby, finally enjoying her dinner after a long wait for our table.

Happy girl!  Not a great picture, but I love that smile.

Nolan concentrating in order to get his smoothie through that big straw :)

Working on a masterpiece while his parents packed up to head home.  Notice those Chicago Blackhawks sweatbands on his wrists?  He wears those ALL the time when he comes to visit...we even noticed he had them on at the Bulls game!

Proudly displaying his finished product.  He did an amazing job at drawing the Blackhawks logo on that jersey - I was VERY impressed!

And that wraps up a great weekend spent with the Robertson's.

Robertson's Visit - Part 2

So, I'm sure you're all dying to hear about Abby's first skate, so let me start there.

We tried to go skating on Sunday morning...we were going to go to the pond in Stirling, but when we got there, we discovered it hadn't been cleared off.  Then we decided to try the Bay of Quinte...but, on the way into Belleville, we stopped to get gas, and while Tom was out pumping gas, he realized it was going to be too cold to be outside for long.  So rather than having the kids freeze, and making Abby's first experience miserable, we decided to wait and find a public skating session to go to.  Luckily, we found one Sunday afternoon and managed to get there after naps...we only had half an hour on the ice, but that was probably enough for the first try.

And, here we are...Abby and I on our first lap.  That's Tom infront of us, and you may be able to see Nolan's skate behind us...he is climbing into the penalty box!

You can see that at first, I had to hold Abby under her arms and I'm quite bent over, at this point I was really holding her up.  BUT, it wasn't like that the whole time...towards the end, she really only needed to hold onto my fingers because she was able to stand on her own!  You can see the difference in this picture...

You can also see Nolan, chillin' on the ice behind us! :)

Once we got to that point, it was time to get her to try to take some steps on her own...

I was obviously VERY excited when she took a few steps by herself (despite first saying 'I can't do it!').  Her reward, a spin with Auntie Boo.  I wish you could see her face better in this picture, she was beaming - because she was pleased with herself and because I was spinning her!

Now, my focus was on Abby (because she was wearing the figure skates), but Nolan was there too!  And, I have to say, he is doing really well on his skates too!  He's A LOT better then the last time I saw him - he skates on his own now, and has no problem getting himself up if he falls.  He's hockey crazy though, so he wasn't too interested in skating with Auntie Boo the figure skater!  At one point though, Tom took Abby and I skated with Nolan, and I told him to lift his feet up (rather than shuffle them on the ice) so he would go faster...and I think he replied with something like 'oh yeah, wanna fight about it' and he dropped his gloves!  hahaha!

Our future NHL'er...he looks sweet in these pictures, but he'll probably be the goon! 

So there you have it, Abby's first skate!  I've been trying to think of a way to see her and get her on the ice again before Spring...I haven't figured anything out yet, but I'm not giving up yet!

And now there have been two posts all about skating, something we only spent 30 minutes doing...so, there are some other things to post about from the weekend, but I'm going to drag this out for one more post!

Robertson's Visit - Part 1

Well, things were looking pretty good for my blog back in January...I managed 9 posts in one month, that was a record for me!  And then February rolled around, and things took a turn for the worst...as you've noticed, I'm sure.  So here we are, February 21st and this is my first post of the month.  One reason for that is because things have been really busy, but not exciting busy.  A second reason for that, I just haven't felt like blogging.  It probably doesn't seem like it when you read a post, but it actually takes me awhile to put one of these together...not because I'm trying to think of something profound to write (obviously!), just because it takes me awhile to make things flow in a way that I like. 

Anyway, I'm here now because I have something worth posting about...the Robertson's came to visit last weekend!  Monday was Family Day (in Ontario), so we took advantage of a long weekend and actually spent Family Day with our family!

I have been excited for this visit for weeks, as I always am...but this time, I was extra excited to do something special with my niece Abby.  Here is a little clue...

I took Abby skating for the first time!  My mom and brother have both told me about Abby watching skating on TV, and saying that the person on TV is 'Abby'....or, sliding her feet on the hardwood or tile floor at home, saying 'my skating'.  So, I knew it was time to get her on the ice.  I borrowed a pair of tiny little Jackson figure skates from someone, and I couldn't wait to get them on her.  So, Friday night, as we were hanging out and visiting, I asked Abby if she wanted to try them on, and she was SUPER excited! 

HORRIBLE picture of me mid-sentence, but look at her with her arms up perfectly...such a proud Aunt I was at that moment!

Another BAD picture of me, but look - her arm is still up, and I think it's fun that we're both pointing at her little skates...I'm not sure who was more excited?!?!

You can tell I love this little girl, and LOVE that she is showing a little interest in skating, because here is another TERRIBLE picture of me....but, look at Abby doing a little spiral!  If that was my skater, I would be telling them to get their leg higher...but it's Abby, so I'll leave it alone. :)

After we took a little walk up and down the hallway to 'practice', I asked if she wanted to take her skates off and she said 'NO'...again, a proud moment for this Aunt!  ha!  So, we walked some more until she was ready to take them off.  And, she's two and a half, so she had to do that by herself.

All of that and she hasn't even stepped foot on the ice yet!  Guess I better break this post up a little bit...maybe that's a good thing though, means my history won't show only one post in February!  More weekend posts to come...