July 4th - NYC Style!

Peter and Peggy came down to NJ on Thursday for the holiday and for Claire's last 1st birthday party which was Sunday (Mere will fill you in on that). They stayed at the Hyatt in Jersey City which has a great view of the NYC skyline and we were hoping would have a good view of the fireworks. We were disappointed to find out the patio had been reserved for a wedding so we had to find somewhere else to watch them.

Saturday morning on my way back from the beach I stopped by the hotel for breakfast with Mom and Dad and the manager let us know that the patio was actually reserved for an event held by the Grand Hyatt in NYC (also known as Dad's 2nd home)- open bar, free food, great view of the fireworks that would not require sitting out for hours beforehand! Of course he was able to talk his way in - this was one of his best parties to crash yet!

We had a great time - Claire did great, we each had our fair share of beverages and plenty to eat. Here are some pictures I downloaded from the photographer walking around. Enjoy!!! Thanks Dad!!!


Grandma, Pipere, Claire, and her new found obsession - Graham Crackers!
After the photographer took this picture she commented as to what a great family picture it was. We felt a little bad and debated drawing a picture of Kristin on a napkin and asking her to take it again but then Dan and I ran out of drinks. Just kidding, Kris!!! :)


Mere and Dan enjoying the evening

This is the life! Enjoying a cigar, G&T, and NOT standing on the pier with all of the other spectators :)

Do you recognize these people?

It looks like someone had a fun 4th of July!



We finally had a weekend in Hoboken and it ended up being a great one. Mom & Dad came down since Claire was having her last birthday party. We scored big time on the 4th when Dad managed to get us into a party at the Hyatt in Jersey City. Not only did this mean that we were in a perfect spot to watch the fireworks, but it wasn't crowded at all, there was lots of yummy food, music, and most importantly open bar! Here are Dan & Claire getting ready to head out for the festivities
Great job Dad - you did good with this one. Don't you look excited?
Claire was just happy they had graham crackers......and bubbles, and hot dogs, and steak, and juice boxes, and everything else that could make her happy. But she really loves the graham crackers and juice boxed. She even figured out how to suck through the straw for the first time :-)
And we can't complain about the view. This is downtown Manhattan. See all the people on the pier? Lucky for us, on the deck, we didn't have to worry about the crowds. And today Claire had her last birthday party. I probably would not have had a party in Hoboken, but the group of ladies I met in the Hoboken new mother support group decided to have one big party. So the 6 Mommys planned the party for the 6 kiddos. We had a great time. Doesn't Claire look like she is up to no good?
Just a quick pose for the camera
And here are all Claire buddies, the birthday kids - Holden (the lone guy), Charley, Claire, Avery, Hannah, and Brooke. Claire is the oldest (June 20th) and Hannah is the baby (July 15th). The girls all had the same shirt that said Birthday Girl, with a big 1 on the back. Well, that was our weekend - I know someone in Vermont must have taken pictures. Time to share..

New Pictures

I should have lots of pictures to post since Claire just had her third party and we just got back from a wonderful trip to South Carolina, including two different picture appointments. Here are some of my favorites. I hope to get some more posted soon.

Changes..

After a wonderful weekend, I made a few changes to the blog. Most importantly - the new ticker at the top!!! :-) Congratulations again!

It was great to hear from Julie yesterday and I thought she sounded great. Instead of Gail having to post everything from her twice, I added a link to the right side of our blog so you can see the last time her page was updated. Now you will know when you need to click over and read her latest updates.

Thanks again to everyone for making Claires birthday wonderful. Sorry there wasn't any cake drama for you to witness. However, there would have been if you were around Sunday morning at Wishing Well Way. No action from Claire, but someone had to enjoy Claires frosting in their face....

Congratulations Erin

Congratulations to Erin for passing her Teachers Exam!

Great work Erin we ar proud of you.

We think you should ask for a raise!

A Big One!!!

Sad Story

Dad's friend's son was sentenced to 6 months in jail today from his car accident a couple of years ago. Dad and some of his other friends went down for the sentencing. I didn't get to talk to him for too long but he said the trial today was very emotional - looks like it from the video

http://www2.tbo.com/video/2009/jun/15/judge-shows-teenager-leniency--96226/video-news/

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/criminal/article1010360.ece

News from Julie

News From Julie

Hi,

I am doing well. I am having fun and getting ready to really start training now. We are on our way back from vision quest where we got to stay at someone's site for about 5 days. I was at a site way out in the middle of nowhere with no electricity or running water. It was fun and opened my eyes to a lot of the issues I will have to deal with. I will be fine with the living conditions, but we'll see about dealing with the community issues because there are many. I am excited to find out where my site is next week. We have our site interviews in the next couple of days, and then we find out where we are going and start learning the language. I don't have much time right now, but thought I should let you know that I am doing well and having fun. I dont have my address book with me so I don't have other email addresses, so please spread the word that I am doing well and I am happy. Mom, you can update my blog if you want. Oh yea, and I think I am getting a phone sometime in the next week or two so I will let you know my number and all that.

Love and miss you all!
Julie

The Banana Test There is a very, very tall coconut tree and there are 4 animals, a Lion , a Chimpanzee , a Giraffe , and a Squirrel They decide to compete to see who is the fastest to get a banana off the tree. Who do you guess will win? Your answer will reflect your personality. So think carefully . . . Try and answer within 30 seconds. Got your answer? Now scroll down to see the analysis. If your answer is: Lion = you're dull. Chimpanzee = you're dense. Giraffe = you're a complete moron. Squirrel = you're hopeless.

A COCONUT TREE DOESN'T HAVE BANANAS. Obviously you're stressed and overworked. You should take some time off and relax!

Not my day....

Tuesday was not my day. There were horrible storms around 2:30 in the morning that had us wide awake, Claire slept right through them! As I was getting ready to leave for work I realized that my rain coat was in the trunk of the car. Not a big deal, except the car was parked 3 blocks away. It was supposed to pour so I needed my coat. When I get the coat, I realized we were parking in a No Parking Wednesday spot, which meant we would have had to move the car last night. We had a busy night planned so I decided to move the car at 6:30 AM since I was already there. No luck finding a parking spot so I gave up and ended up driving to work. Tuesday is my gym day, but I am always rushing to get out of Spin class, shower, and get to daycare before they close at 6:30. Since I had the car, I figured I would take Claire to the gym with me since we already paid for 50 daycare sessions. That plan backfired as I got called out of spin class not once, but twice, because Claire was pitching a fit. That also meant I didn't get a shower at the gym because I couldn't leave Claire. But, I was playing with Claire in the day care room at the gym to try and get her comfortable and guess what Little Miss Thing decided to do...

We finally had dinner and Dan had a condo meeting so I put Claire in the crib, jumped in the shower, then gave Claire a bath. I took her down to visit with the neighbors and Claire decided she was going to pull up on the neighbors coffee table. Like a proud Mom, I was saying, Wow - she has never done that before, this is a first....and down she goes. On her butt, fall back, and bump her head. Maybe I should have done without the rain coat yesterday....

On another note, I have been bad with the pictures so here are a few from this past weekend. And I put two new videos on Claires page.

What I love about this picture is that you can see the black raspberry ice cream on her top lip, the peanut butter ice cream on the bottom, and the orange sherbet coming in on the spoon. Would you guess that she was being spoiled by Kristin and Andrea at the same time?
These pajamas might be the cutest things I have ever seen, so I had to post them. Claire has her arms up waiting to give someone a hug. Hopefully that someone is you on June 20th!

Julei

Check Julie's Blog for an update by Gail!

PARTY

Amy's Party will be on Sunday, June 21 at 1:00. She is looking forward to seeing the family.

????????for Robillards and Ryans

Could you make it if I have Amys Graduation Party on June 27th? I am not sure about having it on fathers day.

June already??

I don't know who had more fun this past weekend - Dan & I went to a wedding in Maryland while Grandma & Pipere babysat Claire for us (with the help of Auntie Andrea of course!). I think Grandma had this date on the calendar since last year, so I know she was very excited! Apparently Claire had a blast and got to enjoy the swing they bought her. I don't have any pictures of Claires weekend, but here are some of our weekend.Also, if you have yet to receive an Evite for Claires birthday party, please give me your E-mail address. We are just trying to get a good idea of how many people will be there. The party is June 20th at 1PM. We hope you can make it!

PARTY WEEKEND

Just a heads up.....Claire will be celebrating her first birthday in West Spfld on June 20th and Amy her graduation from AIC on Sunday June 21st at 1:00p.m. in Spfld. Invites to follow. Anyone reading this is welcome.

Greggory Myers Graduates

Congratulations to Greggory Myers.

 He will graduate from Edward Little High School on June 6th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great Job Greg

Pats Season Tickets?

Happy Wednesday!

A guy I work with is on the waiting list for Pat's Seasons Tickets. He asked me today if I was interested in standing room only season tickets for $450. While I do love the Pat's, driving up there every weekend isn't that exciting of a thought but I said I would check if anyone else was interested. You have to have a seasons ticket account to get the tickets but I'm pretty sure he can get them in anyone's name. Let me know if you are interested!

Obama in Ghana

One of the other volunteers in my group for Ghana posted this on our facebook group wall and I thought you all might find it interesting. Obama's first visit to Africa will be to Accra, Ghana, the capital. And, it will be while I'm there, though I'm sure I won't get to see him. If Ghana is good enough for Obama it should be good enough for us, right? Anyway, here's a link to a short article about it.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/16/obama-chooses-ghana-for-first-africa-trip/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Plans this weekend?

What is everyone up to this weekend? Will anyone be around? Mere, Dan, Claire and I will be heading North tomorrow and wanted to know who is around.

What are your plans?

Here is a shout out to Sarah Puffer Caron spuffer@bathpath.edu for getting her Master's Degree in Occuaptional Therapy this Sunday, May 18th and.... Amy Elizabeth Caron amybeth9051@hotmail.com for getting her Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Education this Monday, May 19th

Compose Email: kmrousseau@aol.com

Add to Contacts

Finally....

Sorry it took so long! Here are all the pictures from family weekend. And a few for you to enjoy if you don't feel like looking through them all.

Julie's Ghana Blog

I created a blog to keep everyone updated on my adventures in Ghana. The address for it is juliebordua.blogspot.com. Check it out and keep checking it while I am gone. The first post is intimidatingly long, but don't worry, you don't have to read the whole thing if you don't want to, but at least read the first part that I wrote. The majority of it is letters from the peace corps to family and friends that you don't necessarily have to read. My address is also there, so make sure you save it and send me lots of letters and packages because I will miss you all a lot! I'm also putting a link to my blog in the side panel here so you can always get there easily.

Uh-Oh!

Watch out - Claire is mobile! How things change in a short amount of time. She has discovered scooting as a mode of transportation. I added a few videos to her webpage if you want to check them out.

Enjoy!

Vermont Schedule

Let us know when you will be visiting our favorite Summer getaway. There is a link added under favorites on the right hand side so you can always check back.

Let's try our best to keep this up to date, it will help out everyone!

Andrea has set up a calendar so you can see who will be in Vermont when - it will stay in the post and also on the bottom of the blog - just let Meredith or Andrea know and they can add when you are going to be there and it will show up below. If you want access to be able to add stuff to the calendar you need a google e-mail account - let us know and we can help you get set up!

Congratulations Gail!

For winning the Valley Advocates award for best birthing center.
"The staff at Wesson Women and Infants Unit regularly win in this category, and they attribute their success to their love for their work and their teamwork. They strive to provide whatever birthing experience a couple is looking for, while keeping everything as safe as possible. Being a teaching hospital keeps them on the cutting edge of technology and new techniques, and also provides their patients with a safety network of checks and balances. They are the only neo-natal intensive care unit in the area, and they can handle a wide variety of situations arising during pregnancy.

This weekend while the girls were at the house we made some plans for family weekend... Let me know what you think.
 
Friday night:  We really have nothing planned for the night but we were thinking maybe a fire in our backyard or something of the sort.  But Maryellen wants anyone who is going to be drinking to stay the night.  We have plenty of room.
 
Saturday morning Paula would like to make fried dough for everyone!  We thought we would do this here as an incentive to stay the night.
Lunch at noonish at Gail's. 
Wiffle ball game at 2ish?  Don't know if this works for the Peter Robillards.  I know you are having your grandfather over for brunch.  And Erin is taking the teachers test, but I think she will be done by then. So if that time doesn't work it can be changed.
 
Saturday night we are having dinner catered by Christian.  Chicken parm, ziti, salad, and bread.  If anyone would like to bring an appetizer or dessert feel free.  I will be making a peanut butter pie. It is quite tasty!
 
Sunday we will be having a Mother's Day brunch on Gails new deck!
 
Unfortunately they are predicting rain so these plans may have to be changed.  We were thinking maybe bowling...
 
Let me know if you have any ideas!

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Insert movie times and more without leaving Hotmail®. See how.

Celebrations of the week...

Happy Birthday to Sarah (it was on Sunday!)
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday dear Sarah,
Happy Birthday to you!

And can you believe this handsome couple has been married for 25 years?? Congratulations and you are still as cute as ever (I don't care what the others say...)

Everyone raise a glass to them this Family Weekend! My guess is there will be no shortage of drinks to do so with.

Let's talk Family Weekend....

Family weekend will be taking place in 3 short weeks. Would anyone care to share the plans that are in place?

Make Tuesday a good day....

Stop by Dunkin Donuts for a $.50 small iced coffee
and don't forget Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry's

Happy Easter!

I hear we missed a nice Easter brunch at Auntie Cindy's. We had a great time in Cleveland and wanted to share some Easter pictures. (Now I think everyone else should share their Easter pictures with me!)

Happy Birthdays!!

Just because you live in Vermont doesn't mean we would ever forget your birthdays

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday Tina & Teddy,
Happy Birthday to you!

Have a fabulous day - we love you both very much!

Support me in Relay for Life!

It's everyone's favorite time of the year - well, at least my favorite part of the year! Relay for Life 2009 is coming and I need your support. I am hoping to raise at least $700 this year and would appreciate any support you may be able to offer. Here is a link to my page:

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/andrearobillard

Now, if you don't remember my Relay efforts last year, let me remind you. Mere was about 8 1/2 months pregnant but her doctor was assuring her she would not go in to labor that week so I decided to go. Basically as soon as I got to the Cape Mere called and I turned around the next day and came back - and I missed actually walking in Relay. So, while my friends understood while I left, there were consequences to missing Relay...

Here are my friends, about to extinguish my torch from Survivor Island


The quote on this one was 'The tribe has spoken Andrea, it's time for you to go'

And finally, my extinguished torch the next morning at the end of Relay - BUT notice we got a Gold award last year because we raised so much $$$.

So in order to not get voted off this year, I need any help I can get...I'll keep you posted on my progress! :)