May's Vacation Travel Log

Dear Family,
I guess it is time for another update from our family. We have had a lot happen in the last month but this is the first time I am getting a chance to write it all down. It all started on the last day of April when we said goodbye to Garrett and he was off for a grand adventure to Europe for "school." We missed him so much and I didn't think I could make it one more day on quite a few of those days. We did have a lot of fun things to do that helped to pass the time.
I got to enjoy Women's Conference with my sisters for the first weekend while the kids played with their Aunts and Cousin Calder. It is so great to get together with my sisters (and Kylea). We are all looking forward to next year already because our Mom will be there to join us!
After that we had a few nights at home with out Dad and that was just not very fun. In fact Jenna commented that we really missed him fast this time! I think it was especially hard because we had about one week where he was done with school and home a lot so it was kind of a shock to the system. So on Tuesday the 6th of May we took off for our fun adventure to visit family and friends in the Northwest. I packed up the car with all the things we might need to survive and have a great time as well. I wrapped up all of our treats and some games so that the kids could unwrap them as we went.
This picture has about half of the presents and we had 26 presents in all to spread over the 2172 miles that we traveled. It was fun to watch them open and enjoy the things that I brought. Of course they didn't enjoy each present as long as I wanted them to.
Our first stop was in Burley for a short but fun stay. We got to see a lot of our cousins at their dance rehearsal for the upcoming clogging recital and we even got to see Papa Lynn and Grannie's new house. On Thursday afternoon we headed for Kuna so that we could stay with my grandparents for the night. They are so good to let us stay there and they enjoy getting to see and get better acquainted with their great-grand kids. Grandma and Grandpa are good to get out the regular toys that all of us kids played with and even served us breakfast in the morning.
This picture is to remind me of the night we all spent in the same bed. I don't think I have ever done that before. They wouldn't go to sleep without me and I was pretty tired so we all snuggled in together and went to sleep. I have to say that I kind of enjoyed it. Cooper did fall off part way through the night and that gave me a little bit more wiggle room but he joined us first thing in the morning again.
Friday was our long day in the car and the kids did really well. We read books on tape, watched movies, ate treats, looked at books, played with toys and Cooper even slept for a little bit. It was long though because as we were getting there Jenna commented that "we should have just flown to Vancougar." We made good time and Grandma B wasn't going to be home from work until about 5 o'clock so we made a stop at Multnomah Falls. We all enjoyed the beautiful falls and the walk around too.
It was really fun to be with Mom B and be back in her home. The kids loved being in familiar surroundings and playing with their favorite toys at Grandma's house. On Saturday Grandma took us all to the Portland Zoo. It was cooler than we thought it would be but it was great weather to see lots of animals. Jenna has so many questions and I had to convince her that I wasn't going to read every reader board along the path to her. Cooper loved all the animals and thought it was necessary to see everything at least twice.
I think one of our favorite animals this time had to the be the elephants. The were doing some sort of exam on one of the elephants and so he was really close and doing all kinds of tricks for us. It was amazing to see him lay down, use his truck to eat, and stand on two feet. We also spent Sunday with Mom B and it was fun to go to church with her for Mother's day.
On Monday morning we got up and going so that we could get down to Eugene! We made a quick stop at the Portland temple and took some fun pictures and then we were off. We were really excited to be going to see all of our friends. We had such a wonderful time. We stayed at "Brooke and Liam's house" (sorry Brady and Avery). The Cottle's were so good to let us stay there and it was so much fun. (We won't mention the crazy fighting that happened between the kids. Brooke and I decided that it was okay if we liked each other more than our kids like each other. We figure they will grow on each other over the years :) Jenna was a big helper because she watered all of the plants at Brooke's house.
The kids loved being so close to our favorite parks and visiting our favorite spots in Eugene. We shopped at Trader Joe's and ate at Cafe Yumm! Some of our friends came over for Family Home Evening on Monday night and then Tuesday evening I got a girls night out with some of my friends. Wednesday tons of our friends met us at the park for a park play date. It was so good to see so many of them. (Plus the weather was so nice we all got our first tan of the summer!)

Here is Jenna with Lexi. The always had so much fun together and this day was not different. Jenna was already missing her on our walk home from the park!

This picture of Cooper shows what a crazy monkey he really is. I'm not sure you can tell how high up he is but it was way too high! I know it is a little confusing because his mom still took time to take the picture before getting him down but don't let that fool you. I am a sucker for an action shot! It was hard to leave Eugene again. We loved living there so much and really miss our friends there. We hope it won't be too long before we get to go visit again. Next time we would love to take our Dad.
On Thursday afternoon we headed back toward home and made our first stop in Portland (King City) at Grandpa's house. Grandpa was a great host and with the hot weather he had the little pool set up for the kids. He had bought squirt guns at the dollar store and he even turned on the sprinklers for them to run through. They were in heaven. We stayed at his house for two night and it was great to have so much time with him.
Grandpa has Friday's off so we worked it to be there on Friday so that he could join us for the Children's Museum in Portland. The kids had be looking forward to this for a long time. Garrett took them over a year ago when I was at the scrapbook convention and they couldn't wait to take me to experience the whole thing. Here are some fun pictures of the kids at some of the wonderful activity centers they have there.

The Grocery Store

The Waterworks room
Face painting
Clay Room (This is Jenna's Triceratops!)

Train Room

After the Children's Museum we went into Vancouver to Ester Short park which has a fun little man-made creek and since it was close to 100 degrees it was nice to get wet. The kids loved being in the water and jumping off all of the rocks.

On Saturday morning we took off REALLY early. The kids woke-up at 3:00 am and Grandpa let me sleep in a little so when I woke up at 4:00 we decided to take quickly. It was a rough start to a day and it was our longest and probably hardest day in the car but.... we made it! We drove all the way to Burley. (11 hours in the car!) The kids did really well, considering.
We spent Saturday night, Sunday night and Monday night in Burley. (Thanks Lori for hosting us!) It was fun to be with family and the kids absolutely love spending time with their cousins. It is fun to watch them interact with them. It seems like my kids disappear the whole time we are there because they are play with the little kids or being taken care of by the older ones.
We got home to our house on Tuesday afternoon which made for a total of two weeks away from home. It was so fun and made the time Garrett was away so much faster. The last few days was hard but he made it home on Saturday night and it was SOOOO good to see him. Check out what Europe did to my husband.

He's crazy but I think he is still HOT!

Here is a personality update on my cute kiddos. Cooper is a fireball with lots of energy. He loves to do everything that his "Sissy" does and more. His new thing is turning anything and everything into a weapon. I don't even like weapons and haven't purchased any on purpose. Still he manages to find something almost everyday for a sword or a gun or whatever. He is also sweet and loves to snuggle with his mom. (I still remember when he called it "Fuggle") He also seems to be tender hearted at times and cried the other night at dinner because he thought I was sad. (I wasn't but even my laughing looked more like crying and made things worse).

Jenna is a fun girl with a lot of mental energy. I mean her body moves plenty but her mind works at least twice as fast. She has so many questions and the quick answers just don't seem to satisfy. This is of course a curse and a blessing. Sometime we wish she could sit there quietly for just a few minute but other times we are grateful for the noise that she brings. She remembers everything she learns and applies it to new situations all the time. She loves being outside with her brother and has been looking forward to warm weather for way too long. She loves flowers and it always picking me some that I can enjoy.

Well there you have it our family update! We did have our ultrasound on Tuesday and our new baby is healthy and active. We are anxious like the rest of you to know if this is a girl or boy but have decided that it's Birth day is going to be soon enough. We are always taking name suggestions so feel free to give us yours.
This will probably be my last post before my parents come home from their mission on the 10th so I want them to know how much we love them and appreciate all of their love and support even from thousands of miles away. We feel it and hope that you feel ours. We are anxious to share our love with you from a lot closer.
Love,
GKJC&? Barnum