Fun & Crazy Times!

After a fun week in Indiana, we met Gretchen and the boys in Terre Haute, IN and started our fun & crazy trip to Colorado together, getting their new van back part way to CA.

 

Lots of McDonald's stops, two full days of driving, and a nice luxurious night's sleep at the Drury Inn in Missouri in between to keep our sanity up...... It was fun and wild and we almost went crazy about half-way through Kansas.... but we did it and we made some fun memories together, too! ;-)

 

Creepy Ronald McDonald somewhere in Illinois......

 

 

It was so fun to get to know little Ollie a little better! He's a little "cricket" as Grandma calls him - a bundle of constant energy and sweet smiles.

 

The boys loved getting to jump from bed to bed at the Drury Inn!

 

 

Gotta get all of that male energy out!

 

Back home, we went to town keeping the boys busy and occupied, with mud, toys, lego tower building sessions with Uncle Jim, parks, water play, you name it....I got up in the morning and laced up my tennis shoes ready to go! Gretchen and I were running all day long!

 

We loved seeing Lars and Wade connect with each other...at the last day or so they finally seemed to discover each other and loved playing "bad guys" and "rocket ship" and who knows what else. They are two peas in a pod!

 

Ollie loved playing with the fine motor toys and Gretchen and I got to talk about homeschool and plan for the coming year of starting Anders on My Father's World Adventures in U.S. History.

 

Showing Chris the big lego tower. It was nice to have some time with him before they all drove back to California!

 

A fun and memorable time together! I'm so glad we made it work. :)

Barnes Family Pictures

Summer! Fishing, and Indiana

Jim and the boys headed up to Krylie Pond in June to fish and caught a few! They had a blast. Fishing is one of their top fun things to do.

 

 

Then we headed out to Indiana for the 4th of July! The boys loved playing with cousins, riding dune buggies, sleeping in tents in Grandma & Grandpa's front bedroom, swimming, fireworks, ETC.!

 

It was also Walt's birthday! He had been through a lot with his health this year, and it was great to see him doing better and to celebrate with him.

Wyatt loved making "potions" with the cousins and brothers in Grandma & Grandpa's backyard.

 

 

A lot of us went to the Creation Museum one day and met Gretchen and the boys there, as they were staying in Cincinnati for the month!

 

Wyatt loved getting a balloon pumping set.

 

We went to the Children's Museum with Walt & Judy, Jeff & Lisa and the kids. Lots of fun!

 

4th of July dinner!

End of school, beginning of summer

Garrett finished first grade! A few of the things he accomplished that year: Math-U-See, Discovering Art Together, a Jewish calendar, Science with Plants, a Bible Notebook. He had an overview of the whole Bible and wrote a few sentences about each story he read.

 

 

 

...And the view of the teacher from the student's view...after having been bequeathed a pizza lacing necklace...

 

He finished writing his last proverb. He worked hard that year and did a great job!

 

Last day of school.

 

Now for some summer fun!

Wade loves riding the lawnmower with daddy! (So do the other boys...)

 

Wyatt really enjoys shucking corn.

 

When he unloads the unbreakable from the dishwasher he loves to put them together on the counter in creative ways, stacking them and fitting them and balancing them to make structures.

 

We loved having Aunt Gretchen to visit at the end of June! We ate at Smashburger and she joined us at church before going to the airport on Sunday.