36 years young

It was so special to be surrounded by my nuclear family on my birthday this year. We laughed a lot together, enjoyed a traditional dinner of Marion's Pizza, and had birthday cake at an amazing park with a huge slide built into the side of a hill. What a blast! Oh, my goodness, how we laughed! The kids zipped down even faster once Uncle Larry whipped out the waxed paper. Uncle Larry, Uncle David, and I were brave (or crazy) enough to try it out too. Hey, you're only young once (or at least, deluded into thinking you're young until the next morning!). My brother has some great pics on his photography site too.

Centerville Splash Park

3 adults + 5 kids under 10 + lots of cold water = one crazy, wet, and wild day!

We started off my birthday with a trip to Centerville's fun water park with Susan and her kiddos. The boys had a blast chasing each other through the fountains and having huge buckets of water dump on their heads. It was hot and sunny, but the water was cool and the nearby playground even cooler! What a great park. And free! Unfortunately, my accident prone Isaac ended the day by banging his head and losing a little blood, but fortunately it didn't require any stitches this time.

Pool Party!

Johnny, Andy, Ian and Isaac had a great time together at the pool on a hot Sunday afternoon. I think they even had some fun IN the water. What a cute bunch of fish. David and I got in on the fun with our own cannonball competition during the "adult" swim break (and I use the term "adult" loosely!)

Boonshoft Museum

This is one of our favorite places to visit in Ohio. It helps that our Greenville Zoo Membership gets us in for free! : ) They have so many fun hands-on things for the kids (and us big kids) to enjoy. The highlight is always the otter tank, and we enjoyed getting to see the planetarium show this time too. Thanks, David and Julie!

Goofy Guys--part II

It must run in the family!

Andy!

We got to spend lots of great time with my brother and his boys too this time around. I just love this picture of Andy. He's such a fun and funny little guy.

Walk a mile in my shoes...

Christopher!

Some day, he'll hate me for this, but hey--when you pose so perfectly in front of an aunt with the camera, can you really blame the photographer?

Christopher turned 10 while the boys were there. Where do the years go? I remember the excitement of being there for his birth. "It's a boy!"

Fun at Grammy and Grandpa Barton's

I drove up to retrieve my boys and we stayed an extra 6 days enjoying some much needed "family time". I'm so happy to see my parents in their lovely new home. The campus they live on is beautiful, complete with nice areas to walk, gorgeous old trees, and even a playground. Mom is doing well after successfully battling lymphoma and is sporting some new "peach fuzz" on her beautiful bald head. I'm so thankful for the love and support of my parents.

Cousin Camp

My sister came up with a way to get her Ian and Isaac fix: kidnap my boys for 2 whole weeks! They had a blast, nothing but cousin fun for 14 straight days. No parents in sight (except for that mean Aunt Susan who occasionally made them change their undies, eat their veggies, and take baths). Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of the fun, cuz I wasn't there. Nor have I seen any pictures--hint, hint, Susan... You'll have to use your imaginations this time.

Bon Voyage, Olsons!

I was blessed to be able to spend a few days with my dear friend Shauna and her family up in Richmond in June. They have now moved to Vancouver where her husband is working for the 2010 Olympics. It was great to meet her new little princess, Elyse, and to hug her two handsome boys again. We miss them so much! "Summer Fun Wednesdays" just aren't the same without Ben and Nick. Shauna let us have some good girl chats in between painting shutters, trimming weeds, feeding kids, and cleaning up their house in preparation for renting it out. : ) I'm so thankful God allowed our paths to cross for a short time in Virginia.

Lake Joccasee Campout

Who: Calvary Chapel of Greenville (at least, all the really fun people) : )
What: 3 days of camping out together
Where: along the shore of Lake Joccasee at Devil's Fork State Park near the NC border
When: June 22-24, 2008
Why: why not? gorgeous lake, great friends, beautiful weather

What a wonderful time we had with our church family! Singing, playing, eating, swimming, kayaking, tubing, swimming, eating, swimming, playing, singing, and swimming some more! God blessed us with nice weather, good fellowship, and safety. We had a baptism in the lake on Saturday and church on the shore Sunday. The best part was having the entire tent campground area to ourselves. One big, happy family!

Bye-bye Tonsils!

With the help of a flashlight and mirror, Isaac waved goodbye to these nasty old tonsils last night. Surgery early this morning went very well, and he now has an airway! He was such a little trooper and isn't complaining at all. We appreciate everyone's prayers for a quick and complication-free recovery. The hardest part will be getting him to be still for the next two weeks. Yea, right!!!

We have another READER!

Isaac has been working hard all year at learning to read. He's really done well and completed his 100 lessons last Friday evening. As is our tradition, the new reader gets to pick out his own "Big Boy" Bible, so we made it to the bookstore just in time before it closed. Ian was so proud of Isaac's hard work--it was cute to see him encourage him through the lessons. We finished off the celebrating on Sunday with our "I Can Read" party--complete with grape koolaid, cheetos, ice cream and cake. Way to go Isaac!

All evidence points to Isaac

I found this "sculpture" stuck in the door frame one day. You've gotta admit it's creative. Scissors, plastic spoon, and the rubber piece from a syringe. Huh?!?

Hiking at Jones Gap (more like Fishing at...)

Early in May we decided to take the day off school and go for a family hike in the Mountains at Jones Gap. Or at least, that's what I had in mind. Once Christian and the boys got near that mountain stream, they were itching to get their lines in the water. Thankfully, I know enough by now to take along a good book! With a ratio of one hour of hiking to 5 hours of fishing, we enjoyed a wonderful day out in God's creation. Isaac even caught a small rainbow trout! Plus we saw gorgeous butterflies, a couple snakes, caught a crawfish, and soaked up the spring air of the mountains. We love living in Greenville!

Goofy Guys!

You just never know what they'll come up with next! Here I found Ian "directing" with the broken off stem of my Mother's Day carnation as Isaac played the "lightsaber violin". Where do they come up with this stuff?!?