Meet "Ugly" the rooster

Joshua, Andrew, and I went to a children's rodeo with my friend, Andrea and her family on Saturday Night. It's a great little rodeo complete with sheep riding for the 4-7 year olds, calf riding for the older kids, and stick horse racing for the tots. Only in Wellsville. Anyhow, They also have a critter chase. Most rodeos do this -- let all the young kids of a certain age go in the arena and chase down a few (5) chickens and bunnies -- and the reward is you get to keep whatever critter you catch. Of course I let Joshua do it, because the chances of him catching anything are 1 in a million. In Wellsville it went a little differently. They had about 50 critters out for the chase (including one goat) and probably only 55 kids showed up to run. They also let all children 6 and under participate, which meant Joshua was actually one of the odlder kids. Amidst the melee of children and critters running and squaking I looked over at Joshua and he had this huge rooster by the feet and the biggest smile you'd ever seen on his face. I really never thought he would catch anything, but the odds were just too good! At least he didn't catch the goat.

We've named the retched creature "Ugly" for obvious reasons (check out the solo tail feather) and it is residing in our backyard much to Michael's shagrin. Jeri loves the thing and considers it her personal toy. She likes to rustle it out of it's hiding spot, bet then leaves it alone. We'll see how long that lasts. So if anyone out there in blogosphere is just desperate to take home a gimpy rooster, give me a call and you can have it! Otherwise, prepare to wear earplugs when you come to visit the Barlows or you may be awakened by the shrill cock-a-doodle-doo's of the world's ugliest rooster.

Like Father, Like Son

It's amazing what a little chocolate icecream and daddy-idolization can do....

Lagoon Adventure

I have an exceptional group of friends. There is a group of us that all met here in the 12th ward a few years back. We quickly became fast friend through all the things that we have in common including motherhood (we're all others Shanna even if we don't have kids), music, love of movies and books, and most recently heartache over a lost loved one. Lately two of my friends have moved away, and another has just sold her house. We've kept in touch though, and have been fairly consistent in having a monthly "girls night." Usually this consists of a lot of junk food and an exceptionally sappy chick-flick in the Barlow Blue Box Theater, but this last one was a step up from the norm. On Saturday we left our families at home and went to Lagoon. Victoria wasn't with us because of the minor fact that she lives in Ohio, but she did go to an amusement park on the same day with her sister in law, so we counted her as part of the activity. So Cindy, Shanna, Emily, and I spent the whole day baking in the sun and getting exceptionally wet while we had a great time at Lagoon. It was just about perfect. The lines were short, the wether was beautiful,and noone threw up. (Shanna got a little green, but after a little dramamine she was fine). We did have one odd adventure. On the first ride of the day, Cindy dropped her bag. Now, this may sound like a not-so-bad kind of thing to do, but when you consider that she dropped her bag just as our train car reached the highest point of the highest roller coaster in the entire park, it gives the event a new light. The thing must have dropped 150 feet. Her cell phone, glasses, and camera were all smashed. You can tell from the pictures that she can't see a thing. she was a good sport though, and by the end of they day the techno destruction was a running joke.
We stopped at Denny's for a quick dinner on the way home. It was very fun and I look forward to more girl days in the future.

Carousel

We took the kids to the S&S center a few Saturdays ago for a little old-fashioned fun. We let the boys ride the carousel, then we all enjoyed a round of mini-golf (Andrew got the lowest score because he used the "pick the ball up and drop it in the cup" method), and then drove the go carts. All in all, a fun Barlow adventure with some colorful photos to go with it.

A Cute Moment

Andrew and I were enjoying a few books this afternoon while Joshua was at school. We were reading a book about night creatures, which includes a few pages about bats. We came to a page that had a full-page picture of hundreds of bats hanging upside down with one quite large one in the foreground. Andrew looked at it, then very methodically took the book out of my hands, turned it upside-down, and put it back in my hands. He was sure the book was the wrong way because the bats were upside down! I laughed for a good while over it, and then explained to him that bats like to be that way. He thought that was cool and now he keeps saying "bats, upside-down!"

More random pictures to fit in somewhere...

Joshua had a bad reaction to a wasp sting - see if you can pick out the foot in this picture that is swollen and red...it stayed that way for three days then bruised for another. No fun.




Heather came out for a week to visit. It was so nice to spend time with my sis! We went to visit my grandma and grandpa Peterson while she was here. Joshua loves Grandpa Gene. He thinks he's the coolest because he flew a bomber in WW2. Heather makes the most beautiful beaded jewelry. She gave me a set while she was here. I love it and will think of her everytime I wear it.


A few weeks back in primary the president brough in a miniature of the Christus. She asked if any of the children had seen the large one i n SLC. Joshua has been begging to go see it since. Lst weekend we had the chance, and I snaped this lovely picture. I thought this was a nice shot in an inocent kind of way.

Joshua's first day of school

Make a Smilebox postcard

Well, it is official. Joshua is now a school kid. I might have gotten teary -eyed, but Joshua just seems so ready for this phase of his life, it was not such a big deal as it maybe aught to have been.
We went to bach to school night on tuesday and met his teacher, Mrs. Kendrick. She reminds us all very much of Karen. Energetic, fun, enthusiastic, and hardly 100 lbs! Joshua instantly loved her, and we've heard nothing but the highest praise of her teaching skills. The classroom was so stimulating! Both Mike and I don't remember our kindergarten class being nearly so fun.
The first day of school I planned 20 minutes to walk, but it took a little longer. As a result we were almost late. Rather than have Joshua late for his first day, I had him go in by himself while I parked his bike. He ran straight in without a backward glance! I parked the bike and decided to sneak in just to make sure he'd made it to the right class. Of course, there was Joshua in his classroom, holding his teachers hand as happy as a clam, and completely indiferent to my being there. I walked home with Andrew, and that was that. I find it funny that the iconic image of a mother crying as she puts her oldest child on the school bus was the farthest thing from our reality. I hope that's not a reflection of my parenting skills. We're just having a great time with it.
Already Joshua has learned some fun things. His teacher uses sign language a lot, and Joshua has to come home and teach it to us. It's been really fun.