Breakaway

Hannah's first week of camp (a.k.a. vacation bible school or Breakaway) is now over.

It was fun but exhausting for our whole family.  

Matt led the drama team.  Peter hung out in the nursery and I helped some with the encouragement team.

I'm pretty sure Hannah had a great time even though when you ask her what she did she says, "I don't 'member".

Here are some pictures from one of her teachers:

messy hands mean lots of fun art projects

her cousin Reagan was her best pal throughout the whole week

having fun takes a lot of focus

painting mischief with Reagan

burgers

It is now that time of the year again.

All the Robbins (yes, there are now 18 of us) - get together and have a Burger Cook-off to celebrate the 4th of July and further illustrate our love of competition.

Lots of planning, 

preparation,

and grilling went into it.

To make the grilling portion more fair this year we had two gas grills and one charcoal grill all going at the same time to accommodate the 27 burgers 

and 12 sliders.

The burgers were "plated" (a term referring to assembling the grilled patty with all it's delicious accouterments and sandwiching it inside some sort of bun/roll), 

secured with toothpicks and cut into quarters.

Then carefully laid out on each place mat.

Our tasting palate.

Let the tasting and judging commence.

We carefully savored a bite of each burger quarter on our place mats and then wrote comments and assigned a 1-5 score.  (Personally, I think I made the right move this year by not entering a burger - I helped my oldest niece with her sliders and then reaped the benefits of everyone else's hard work.)

Okay, maybe we stuffed our faces a little bit.

And the results are in....

Tim's "Jalapeno Popper Burger" won first place!  

We finished the night with some sparklers

and fireworks.

Happy 4th of July!

Easter

This year (due to a last minute turn of events) we hosted the Robbins' Family Easter celebration!

It was my first time hosting the whole family - 17 (minus Liz & Craig).  And it went surprisingly well and stress-free.

here are most of us around the table

After the meal, Matt's mom/Grandma initiated a game to see who among the grandkids could make the angriest face.

 And after reviewing the pictures and some minor deliberation....

Hannah won, 

with this face!

watch out for when this girl gets upset!

 And then on to the Easter egg hunt.

We've spent a lot of time in recent weeks transforming our backyard from an over-grown jungle with paths - to a welcoming place for kids to play.  It was wonderful to see the fruits of our labor!

Peter and his uncle Tim matched with their green & white stripes!

We finished off the day with some dessert!

Peter is looking forward to being able to participate in the egg hunt next year!

family luv

the love of family takes many different forms...

cuddling with cousins on the couch

staking a claim on a future playmate

posing for lots of pictures

playing with play dough (even though you're an adult)

getting kisses from scratchy

and not so scratchy faces

we love it all!

the art of imitation

2 year olds are notorious for parallel play and imitation...

Here are some good examples from Hannah and Reagan (who is just 8 weeks older):

Hannah comes up to me and gives me the sign for eat. Reagan comes up and does the same thing.

Reagan puts her hands behind her head. Hannah puts her hands behind her head.

They are constantly watching eachother and doing what the other one does.

Reagan sits down to read a book. Hannah sits next to her and reads a book.

It's pretty awesome to watch!

Now, if only I could harness this imitative energy and ...

(I'm still trying to come up with a good use for it, any suggestions???)