Manti

We finally got the trailer out for the first camping trip of the year.  We headed down to Manti for the Barnes annual family camping trip.  We had a bit of a rough start.  When we got to Lehi, we heard a big bang.  Luckily we were right by the exit, so we quickly pulled over and found that we had blown a tire on the trailer.  Travis was able to quickly change it and find the nearest Big O Tires.  We had to replace all four tires.  Ouch!  It was about a two hour detour.  I was so proud of Travis for keeping his cool.  He is to be commended!!!

Every year I marvel at how absolutely beautiful it is down there.  I love to go on drives and just take it all in.  Watching for deer is my favorite thing to do.  We saw plenty this time.  There were a couple right in our camp.  

Emily proved to be quite the fisherwoman (is that a word?)  She caught the biggest fish and even dared to TOUCH it!!!  The second picture is her holding an albino trout.  It was a really interesting looking fish.  It was orange with red eyes.  I had never seen one before.

Tyler needs a little lesson in patience.  He had a hard time keeping his pole in the water long enough to catch a fish.  He was constantly reeling it in, sure that he needed to "check his bait".  Once he decided to keep the pole in the water, he did great!

Gavin is so darn hard headed, he insisted on doing everything himself.  He finally agreed to let grandpa help him cast it out and every time he did, he had a fish on the line every three minutes!  He was really fun to watch.  It never got old to him!

Here's Travis and his big catch!  

Just kidding.... Tyler had caught the bottom and Travis hammed it up!

Kate and I didn't get much fishing in this time, but we had lots of fun watching the kids.

Kate had a horrible first night.  I bet I got 2 hours of sleep total.  I remember sitting by the fire and watching the sun go down and then thinking how ridiculous it was that I was laying with Kate watching the sun come up.  Not much rest in between.  It was awful!  I was so paranoid about her falling out of bed that I decided to sleep right next to her.  She did good until she decided to roll over and there wasn't enough room for her to move.  The next night we decided to let her sleep by herself, surrounded with cushions and pillows and she did much better!  THANK GOODNESS!  I guess she just likes her space.

As we were going fishing one afternoon and passed this creek, there was an overweight man bathing.  The kids thought it was hilarious and wanted to re-create the scene that won't be erased from my memory anytime soon.  So funny!  It makes me wonder what goes through people's head.  If I were going to bath, I would make sure I was off the road a little bit :)

Here's Gavin with his "Diamond Coke".  (It was actually grape soda)

The kids had a great time shooting BB guns, fishing, watching movies, hiking, riding 4 wheelers, exploring camp, fishing, looking for deer and playing with cousins.  We can't wait for our next camping trip!

The best day of Tyler's life :)

The kids got a little antsy yesterday, so I decided to get them out of the house.  We took a picnic to the park and decided to try our hands at tennis.  

Emily couldn't get over the fact that her sandwich was almost as big as her head!

Don't they look like naturals?

We had TONS of fun.  We only had one ball and two racquets, so we had to take turns. Except Gavin.  This is what happened when we tried to take his racquet from him.  He wasn't even crying, just laying there. I'm pretty sure that inside his head he is thinking... "OK.  If I throw a fit, I get my way.  HMMM.  I can handle that". 

Oh look!  It worked...

It took a lot of hard work and imagination to get Gavin to share, but I finally convinced him to let Tyler and Emily play a game.  We played for over two hours.  The kids did great and love playing tennis.  In fact, Emily started a summer camp today and had to take something that describes her.  What do you think she chose?  A tennis racquet :)

Even Kate had a great time.  She is such a good sport to put up with all the things that we do.

Next time we go, we will make sure that each child has a racquet of their own.  Maybe a few more balls too.  When we got home, we played Kerplunk and since Travis was out of town, they all got to sleep in my bed with me.  We talked and giggled until after 11:00 and I got too tired to stay up any longer.  When Tyler told me before we went to bed, "Thanks mom.  This was the most awesome, best day of my entire life!", the thought occurred to me what little effort it takes to make my kids happy.  They love to spend time together as a family.  I hope that next time they start arguing or throwing tantrums that I am able to remember this day.  I really believe that everything can be put on hold... except for the kids :)

Under-Appropriate

Gavin came to the breakfast table totally naked this morning.  It's funny, but nobody seems to react anymore.  Seeing him naked is a daily occurrence around here!  He reminds me a bit of Mowgli from the Jungle Book.  Anyway, Emily looked at me and said "Well, that is totally under-appropriate". Funny Em.

My little tomboy

I was sitting here playing with my blog when I was suddenly startled by Emily bursting into the house screaming, 

"MOMMY, MOMMY, COME QUICK!!!!!"  

I thought there was a true emergency, with lots of blood involved, so I 

RAN, no SPRINTED 

to the front door to find her standing there with this...

She had just captured her first dragonfly and was absolutely thrilled with herself.  What am I going to do with her?  She is just like I used to be and it

SCARES ME TO DEATH!!!

She's quite the kid.  She can be such a little girly girl.  In fact, today we painted her fingernails and toenails. 

OR she can be one of the boys.  I guess a little of both won't hurt her.  Either way, I love her to death!!!

What's for Lunch?

I have to admit.  I LOVE blogging.  It gives me an opportunity to post things like this that make me smile, when otherwise, I would probably forget them.

I made Fettucini Alfredo for lunch today.  When I called Gavin in, he said "No lunch for me mom.  I'm not hungry."  I thought that I'd better leave it out for a few minutes, just in case he changed his mind.  I got busy and forgot to take care of the plate of noodles.  When I walked into the kitchen a few minutes ago, this is what I found...

Apparently he had decided to make his own lunch.  Something he liked better than crusty fettucini.  MARSHMALLOWS.  Any guesses on how many more were on his plate?  Oh wait... I probably don't want to know!

Six Months

This was a big month for Kate.  Here are some of her accomplishments within the last month:

1. She started eating rice cereal.  She LOVES it.  When we sit down to eat dinner, she squeals and/or fusses until she is fed.  She has also started some green beans.  She loves those too!
2. She can sit up by herself now (surrounded by a support team to catch her in which ever direction she should topple).  
   
3. She loves splashing in the tub.
   
4. She rolls over, front to back and back to front.  
   
5. She loves her feet.  Somehow she manages to get her toes into her mouth!
6. Still sleeping really well.  Goes to bed at 7:30 and sleeps until 6:30.  Naps from 8:30 until 10:00, again at 12:00 until 3:00, then a little catnap sometime before dinner.
   
7. She loves to lay on a blanket and play with her toys. Unfortunately for her, that still doesn't happen too often.  Mom likes to hold her too much (and protect her from her brother!)
8. She has discovered her tongue and she loves to stick it out and blow raspberries.  Cute, cute.
9. She's a kisser!!!  I love it when she grabs my face with both hands and lathers me with kisses.
10. Nothing beats when she snuggles into my shoulder, puts her thumb in her mouth and falls asleep :) 

I love her big blue eyes.  OOH, and her joules!  Love it!  She often sucks her bottom lip in so her chin almost disappears (as shown in the picture above).  It's fun to have one look a little different from the others.  As you can see, she looks nothing like me.  She is definitely a Barnes baby! I hate to see her growing so fast, but I am enjoying every second.  Kate is truly a happy, sweet, smiling baby.  I know that I say this every month, but she is such a delight to our family.  We absolutely adore her.

OH NO!!!

I have been noticing lately that when I do my hair, I am losing LOTS of it.  I am really not sure why.  Hopefully female pattern baldness doesn't run in my family.  At least I won't have to worry about pulling it out... because it's FALLING OUT ON IT'S OWN.  What do you think that means???

School's Out!

What a great year of school!  Both of the kids had really good experiences and were sad to move on.  They both loved their teachers, made new friends and had a blast learning too!  

Tyler's teacher was Mrs. Pettit.  She was absolutely WONDERFUL!  She was so good that I think Tyler will be disappointed next year.  Nobody can beat what she did.  She is so dedicated to her job and knows what the kids are capable of.  She pushed Tyler pretty hard, but it has definitely paid off.  His report card was filled with good grades, and it also showed that he is reading on an eighth grade level.  She even got him to sing and dance a little bit.  For those who know Tyler, I am sure that you would agree that this is no small accomplishment!  I am extremely grateful for the wonderful teacher she is and will miss her lots next year.

Tyler received many awards this year.  Among his favorites were:  Most improved musician and perfect attendance for the year.  Way to go Ty!

Emily attended afternoon kindergarten.  Her teacher, Mrs. Stephens, did a great job with her. She also had a teacher's assistant, Mrs. Maedgen, whom she absolutely adored.  She has learned to read and write and got 100% of every one of her spelling tests.  She was selected to attend S.E.M., a class that they offered once a week for higher learning.  Her favorite part of kindergarten was the chocolate milk, snacks, and art.  Her charming and outgoing personality made it really easy for her to make lots of new friends.  She looks forward to school lunch next year :)

We are extremely proud of the both of you.  You have bright futures ahead.  I hope that you will always strive to do your best and realize that your potential is endless!!!

Mr. Independent

Does this just scream "I dress myself"?  Gavin is very independent and I just hope that the other moms out there that have ever had a three year old will understand that he looks like this because in the long run, it's really not that big of a deal!

Gavin never ceases to amaze me.  I could post blog after blog after blog of all the silly, quirky things he does every single day.  I absolutely LOVE his personality.  He is so much fun and makes us laugh on a daily basis.  Last night he insisted on wearing the shirt he had worn all day to bed.  I didn't think it was worth the fight, so I agreed.  This morning when I took his shirt off to put him in the tub, 4 or 5 dead potato bugs fell out of the pocket on his shirt.  I was disgusted.  No wonder he didn't want to change his shirt last night.  That's my Gavin!

One more thing....

We were driving to pick the kids up from school when he started making choking noises.

  

I immediately pulled over and went to his rescue.  

This is what he was choking on....  

He had found a pack of Hubba-Bubba bubble gum and had shoved AT LEAST three huge pieces in his tiny mouth.  I should probably brush up on my CPR skills... just in case :)

A glimmer of hope...

Tyler's kind of been in this it's not cool to show that I love my mom phase.  He'll still give me hugs, but he doesn't like to kiss me anymore. It's not cool to have me come to school lunch anymore either.  I was feeling a little bad, until I got a phone call from him last week from school.  His class was doing a may pole weave and he called to remind me to come.  Here's how our phone conversation went:

Tyler:  Hi mom.  Did you remember our may pole weave today?

Mom:  Yes.  I did.  Would you like me to come?

Tyler:  Well, Mrs. Pettit (his teacher) does.

Mom:  OK.  I will be there.

A few minutes later, he called back and said, "OK.  I want you to come."

Mrs. Pettit called me about a half an hour later and told me that she had to tell me the whole story.  As it turns out, she asked the class if anyone needed to call their moms to remind them to come to the dance.  His hand was the first to shoot up, but as he looked around, he noticed that there were only two or three other hands and they were all girls.  His hand immediately went down, but it was too late.  She made him call me anyway.  It made me feel really good that he still actually likes me and gives me a glimmer of hope that he still has a spot in his heart for his mom :)