Last barn post for a while

We have been in the barn now for about a month. These pictures were taken exactly one month ago. The barn has a wreath on it and a LOT more manure but otherwise, it looks about the same. I really love it. He did a wonderful job. You don't have to crouch down when you walk anymore (except for the new part and I did my annual banging of the head on a pipe today. But at least I won't do it for the rest of the year.) There's a lot of space in the front. And the barn cleaner works beautifully. He needs to go in the barn building business I tell him. Maybe I'll post a picture in the spring when it's painted and looks a little better. Then we'll be on to phase two which isn't as intensive.

Lincoln Logs

A friend said to me once that she was watching a comedy show about toys once and they were talking about Lincoln Logs. I guess the comedian said something like, "I built a log cabin, and then I built another log cabin... and that's about all you can do with Lincoln Logs." But I beg to differ. Just ask Van W. Furman and he'll tell you a different story. Here are some things that his Lincoln Logs become:

-manure

-snow

-sand

-dirt

-logs

-salt that the snow plow spreads

-and today it was egg shells. Daddy's out spreading egg shells on the fields hence the egg shells.

-silage

-seed corn

Licon Logs-an investment well spent!

One month later

Wow, I can't believe it has been one month since I posted! Here's the latest. I was thinking, I know that by Thanksgiving we have the cows in the barn for sure. And that is right around the corner. I won't be telling Chip that though because I am sure he knows. He has electric in there and sometimes works on it when he comes home. I can't wait to see how it looks when he gets it done. Pretty darn awesome I'm sure. :)

We're up

The part in the front with the fence stuff on the ground now has concrete on it as of yesterday. And I think there are 5 or maybe more of the tresses up for the barn. We need 15 for this section.

Big Girl Bed

We decided it was time for Anna to get a real bed. I am not sure if it is was because the boys were in real beds at this time or what our reason was behind it. She has slept in beds before and can climb in and out of her crib. She wasn't too big for the crib either, but I guess it was time. The boys were in beds by around 2 because there was another baby that needed the crib (or would need one soon). With Anna she could have stayed in the crib until she went to college I guess, but here she is sitting in it.

I have had a baby in that crib for the past six and a half years. It has moved to different rooms, it has had different babies in it, blankets in it, stuffed animals in it, but still, six and a half years. I remember picking it out, going to stores far and wide looking for the perfect crib, pregnant with Adam. I remember playing hookie one day and painting the nursery with Chip. I remember when the men came to set it up and how beautiful it looked in the room. I always enjoyed hearing the kicks the kids would make that would rattle the one side too. They were moving around in their sleep and it was a little reminder of them up in their crib. We had a 'mobile' on the side of the crib too and that would go off in the middle of the night when a baby would roll into it by accident.

One reason we got this crib is because the back of the crib would turn into a headboard for a full bed eventually. You can see the headboard on the bed now. I can't get rid of the rest of it. It is too near and dear to me. So it will sit in my garage until I can part with it, or maybe use it for a grandchild some day. A dear friend told me once that life is about chapters. I guess this is an end to one of those chapters. But I bet the next one will be just as good.

backwards post

Are you surprised though? This last one is before the wall was poured. And the first one is obviously the wall. Where the black metal poles are sticking up is where the barn cleaner is going. It has to be poured in stages like this because the barn cleaner goes under the ground. I think more cement will be coming on Tuesday, I can't remember. We're moving along though.

Sesame Place

We got a season pass to Sesame this year. We went once when we went to Ocean City NJ and then we were supposed to go a few times this past week but the weather was questionable. We ended up going one day which made me sad but I am not going to dwell on that. I am going to talk about what I loved about the day. We may go back again in the fall.

This park is known for 'being for the younger kids'. And that is what I really love about it. It keeps the kids young because honestly, you can't do any bigger kid stuff, there is just stuff for the little ones. So the night before we go Adam and Van are super excited. Adam gets into hysterics though because he can't bring all three Elmos with him. The morning when he wakes up, same deal, crying because he can't bring his three stuffed Elmo's (even though he has stayed at both grandparents' without them) so Chip lets him bring the entire bag of Elmo's as we fit 7 people and luggage and a stroller into my van. This though honestly makes me again remember, my 6 1/2 year old, isn't so old after all. So we end up bringing my nephew with us who just turned 8 and is going into the third grade. I honestly thought he would think the park was a little lame, especially since he has two older siblings which I am sure would think Sesame Street is NOT cool. BUT, he loved it! He loved the water rides, the roller coaster and even the characters. I didn't hear that this park was a baby park once. And what got me at the end of the night there was a parade as you can see. And you should have seen Adam waving to those characters. My big 6 1/2 year old I think still thinks Elmo is his friend and got SUPER excited to see them in the parade. You can see Eric and Adam standing next to Zoe in the one picture. Maybe we'll keep going for a few more years....