Wednesday, May 13, 2015

A Visit from Uncle Greg

Jon's younger brother, Greg, is going to be moving to Columbus this summer to go to PA (Physician Assistant) school here. We are SOOOO excited! In preparation for the big move, Greg stayed with us for about a week to get to know the different areas a little bit, and start looking for apartments. We had so much fun with him while he was here. 

We had front row seats at an OSU Baseball game.

We tried a new restaurant that the foodies are raving about called Hot Chicken Take Over.
It's apparently based out of Nashville, and it's been a big hit in Columbus too!

We went to Goodale Park in the Short North.


Jon and Greg had lots of brotherly bonding time.

Uncle Greg made several elaborate forts!

We went to the zoo!

And rode the train. 

The giraffes are very friendly and come right up to you.

But apparently you aren't supposed to pet them, as Greg found out when he was scolded.

The gorillas like to get up close and personal too.
(Ignore the terrible reflection off the glass.)

And my brave boy even petted a snake!


It's Getting Hot in Here!

We have been blessed with some very nice and warm weather the last couple of weeks. Because of that we have been able to enjoy a lot of fun outdoor activities, and we are loving it! Here is an update:


Lots of fun times at the park.

It did rain one weekend while Jon was away at a conference so we went to COSI (the science museum) for a couple of hours.

Kylie said, "Do I look like a rock star?"

Kylie's drawing of a dinosaur foot.

Preschool is wrapping up for the year, so they had their end of the year "VIP Night."
They started out by singing a few songs all together.
Can you spot Kylie?

Then they had their artwork displayed gallery style in the fellowship hall of the church.
Kylie's is the black and white masterpiece.

Here is her other one.
It's the top one with red, yellow, and green.

Brooks wanted in on the picture taking action.

Jon captioned this one, "Just a boy and his appropriately sized walking stick."

My sweet Kylie is a snuggler!

Woohoo!

Can you tell it was hot?
Look at those red cheeks.

Yum!


My sweeties with their Mother's Day gifts to me.
Kylie's was a coffee mug for "drinking hot chocolate."

I just had to capture Kylie's outfit.
Princess sunglasses, leotard, Elsa socks pulled up to her knees, and pink tennis shoes!

Another quilt with matching burp cloth for another friend's baby!

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Life.

Our life is fun and crazy and messy and so good right now. We are having a blast enjoying our favorite outdoor activities and sports. We have been to the zoo, played at the park, gone jogging, enjoyed an OSU baseball game and a Columbus Clippers (AAA) baseball game. We have been riding bikes, going for walks, and coloring with chalk on a regular basis. We are keeping ourselves busy and feeling crazy with all of the end of year school festivities. We are getting ready for summer, and starting new activities like swimming (and maybe soccer or dance soon--that's still up for debate). Because of all these things, the house, the car, the yard, my mind, and my phone have all been neglected and are messy! In fact, I dropped my phone last week and damaged it beyond repair. Who knew that was even possible?! I am not up for an upgrade yet, so my best option was to buy a used phone. The bummer is that I lost about a month's worth of pictures and videos. Thankfully, I was able to steal some of those photos from Jon's phone and my Instagram account (hence the Instagram photos below), and most of the past month is still accounted for! :) Anyway, life is so good right now! Here's the proof:

Elsa, Anna, and Olaf made an appearance at Chick-Fil-A.
We waited in line for an hour to get our picture taken with them.
Kylie and Brooks were both starstruck and it was so worth it!

We have enjoyed the nice weather.

Kylie loves to play dress up.
When she wears her mermaid costume, this is how she insists on getting around.

Jon and I got to go see the Badgers play basketball in the National Championship game in Indy.
Even though the end result was sad, it was the coolest sports experience of my life!

We discovered Firehouse subs when we were in Jacksonville, FL for Jon's away rotation 4 years ago.
We fell in love with them, and whenever we see one we stop and reminisce about Florida.
For better or worse, we discovered a Firehouse in Columbus!
I see a lot of eating and a lot of reminiscing in our future!

This was taken about 5 minutes after the above picture.
Brooks became very naughty and was taken to the car for the rest of the meal as punishment.
Needless to say, it wasn't the best family outing we've had, but I'm sure the first of many meals in the car.

Brooks found Jon's hat, put it on, and said, "Me daddy."

Jon's parents stopped by for a couple of days to see us on their way to Florida.
We didn't take enough pictures of our time together, but we did get a few of our morning at the zoo.



I love her smile.

Father and son.

Brooks refuses to pedal on any bike-like thing that has pedals.
Because of that, we figured he'd do well with a balance bike.
We picked this one up for him, and he is cautiously optimistic about it.
He'll ride it for a few minutes, and then switch to his trike where he feels more secure.
I predict he'll get the hang of it by the end of the summer!

Jon gets to do some coverage of the AAA baseball team in town, the Columbus Clippers.
He covered his first game last weekend, so I tagged along with him.
It was a great night for baseball, and a fun way to spend an evening, and the Clippers won!

Brooks does gymnastics now too!
He and I are in a parent-child class at the same as Kylie's big kid class.
He loves it, and I love watching both of my kids do something I love!

Another preschool chart.
Kylie said, "If I were King or Queen I would wear jewels."

Monday, April 6, 2015

Happy Easter 2015!

Happy Easter from the Barlows!
"Christ has risen indeed!"

We had a wonderful Easter with many events and lots of memories made with friends! We are so grateful for our sweet friends here who invite us over for holidays because they know we are far from family! Anyway, we started Easter weekend off with an Easter candy hunt at a local park on Saturday morning. It was actually pretty cold, as Jon said, "A Minnesota style Easter." Brooks was not happy and wanted nothing to do with the candy hunt. I thought it was just because he was cold, but it turns out he actually has a double ear infection. At least there's an explanation! 

On Sunday, we began the morning with our Easter baskets. Then we had a nice family breakfast. I made a frittata that turned out pretty well with the exception of the smoke and burning smell from the remnants of the previous days breakfast. :) Then we went to church, and enjoyed a fun service! In the evening, we headed over to the Flores' house for Easter dinner with them and the Hart family. There was a little Easter egg hunt for the kids, delicious food (both Emily F and Kerri are amazing cooks), and great company! It was a great day!

At the Easter candy hunt.
One happy. The other one, not so much.

Checking out their Easter baskets on Easter morning.

Making a game plan for the Easter egg hunt at the Flores' house.

Brooks found 4 eggs...Not bad.

Kylie and Annie worked together...They each had 12 or 13 eggs.

The big kids and Brooks trying to keep up.

My sweet boy.

The weather was beautiful, and we were able to enjoy some biking and other outdoor activities!
Yay for another wonderful Easter, and many many blessings!