Anything and everything Barnhart.
If you're a Barnhart, know a Barnhart, knew a Barnhart, heard of a Barnhart, married a Barnhart, or smelt a Barnhart this is the place for you.
It's time for the pumpkins to again let us scare ourselves into thinking they're people. People with ridiculously big mouths & strange eyes, that is.
Here's my Halloween Jack 'o Lantern. Let's see some others.
In light of the fact that I don't carve pumpkins, and make Jack 'o Lanterns, this picture is courtesy of Natalie (with permission). She texted it to me for Halloween, accompanied with, "Booooo!" Mom
I visited Janell and Andy this weekend. I think it was the first time that I didn't completely frighten Hazel. I suspect that taking her on a walk to go visit the ducks was the key strategic move in catapulting me out of the "scary monster" category and into the "buddy" category. Anyway, we had a fun time, replete with some homemade pizzas and the first backyard fire of the year, where we discovered that smores taste even better if you nix the chocolate completely and substitute peanut butter. Janell said that Hazel is pretty shy about having her picture taken, so here are some stealth photos of Hazel somberly eating her bagels:
I was recently looking through some older pictures and was struck by how many pictures I had of Daniel. Or rather, "selfies" of Daniel. I forgot that he went through a phase in which he could take no less than 58 pictures of himself at a time. I give you: exhibit A. And B. And C....
A standard Daniel smirk
Big Head
Not technically a selfie, but still typical Daniel
Woops, how did Dad get in this post?
It seems no one in our family is exempt (sorry Janell)
Half-human, half-pterodactyl
Another non-selfie, but still disturbing nonetheless. I believe Daniel was singing "If I Were a Rich Man" and dancing around Ben's house while wearing my skirt in this photo
Enjoying the "Nemo" clownfish at the Como Zoo and Conservatory
Walking on the icy bridge by Minnehaha falls.
(Dad, we didn't think it was all that funny either. Thanks for the warning)
A rare (possibly only) good picture of Hazel actually smiling for the camera.
James was our photographer for this one!
We talked some strangers into taking a family picture for us by the falls.
Minutes later we saw them walking around behind the frozen water in the falls.
James looked incredibly jealous and tried to talk us into letting him do it. (no luck)
Before and after this photo, Hazel threw and ate many chunks of ice and snow.
This was the best picture we could get. No one wanted to pick her up because she was all muddy.
Not pictured:
The amazing aquarium in the Mall of America where we got to touch live starfish and walk hundreds and hundreds of feet under water watching sharks, manta rays, and a bunch of other fish that made me glad there was a thick wall of glass separating us.
The pizza we ate at Pizzeria Lola, including a potato/gruyere pizza and a Korean BBQ pizza. And the vanilla ice cream with olive oil and sea salt - surprisingly good!
James spending 98% of the week with headphones in his ears. I might start saying random things about giving away money before I say anything important, just to see whether he can hear me.
Visiting the Minnesota Twins stadium and watching James take pictures of/with every single statue they have placed around it.
Ben being a gracious host and letting the McCann's invade his house for the week. Thanks Ben! We hope you've at least partially recovered by now. :)
Thursday, March 07, 2013
Illinois finally decided to participate in winter this year, so we've been fitting in a few winter activities this past week. So far Hazel's favorite snow activity is to just eat it, but this snowman is a close second. She hugged him for a long time. (read: I had to carry her into the house as she shouted "I wuv you snowman! I be right back! I see you later!) She also ate part of his nose, but he didn't seem to mind.
It's a snow day in the Keweenaw! The girls still had school today, but we made sure there was time to play outside after lunch. They shoveled snow and made a snow cave "in case there's a tornado".
Our snow banks have been building steadily since mid-January but we haven't had a good blizzard until yesterday. The snow was heavy and with strong winds the drifts built quickly. More than once, we had to clear a four foot drift next to the garage so we could get out.
"I liked to play. If you look at the picture you can see the Snow Cave. Yay! I love you all." ~Ella
"I liked sliding down the snow bank into the path. It was freezing fun!" ~Elisabeth
Peter and Andrew would have had liked to play outside but they were getting ready for nap time.
This is Uncle Pat, along with Uncle Len. Though I don't think this is the picture Dad had in mind, I do see resemblence between Uncle Pat and David. Anybody else think so?
On the side of the blog is a list of all our names (well, almost all our names*). If you click on each of these, they will take you to a document that you have all been allowed to view and edit (well, almost all of you). The exception is that you aren't able to see your own list. This, of course, would spoil all the surprise. I am sure that Dad will immediately begin trying to hack into his own list, but I am confident that my AES-256 cryptographic algorithm can withstand his technical cunning.
It's often the case that I'll think of a gift idea for someone at a random moment. It's not really close to their birthday or Christmas. Of course, I forget about it by the time said birthday rolls around. That, ahem, is why many of you have failed to get presents from me. Ever. Now that all changes. Please feel free to use these lists when inspiration strikes.
If you don't want others stealing your gift idea, then maybe note that. Otherwise, we can use this to share ideas. We can note other stuff, like probability that they want such-and-such a gift, or estimate of price. As this is the future of gifting, there truly are no limits whatsoever. You can do anything. Yes, Daniel, that means that you can go back in time and appear within Star Wars. Yes, Lisa, that means that you can turn Karl into a penguin. Yes, Janell, that means that Shelley can really, truly talk to you.
* The name missing from the list is me. I can't set up a list and then deny myself access to it. So if someone wants to create a new document for me and share it with the remainder of the family, then I can add a link for that to the list too.
Back in September Olivia brought me a pumpkin to carve for Halloween, and I promptly set it on my front porch and forgot about it. It was way too early to start carving pumpkins after all.
The girls (Cecilia and Raina) pointed out to me that the squirrels had been nibbling on it, and sometimes they'd ask me why I was letting the squirrels eat my Jack o' Lantern. "Because I'm lazy," was usually my response.
Then a few weeks ago I went to Seattle for the weekend, and when I returned I saw that the squirrels had inflicted heavy casualties on the pumpkin, opening several mortal wounds and completely eviscerating the innards. Being the savvy homeowner that I am, I realized it was better to join the squirrels, having previously acknowledged that I could not beat them.
So what you're looking at is an entirely untouched pumpkin (well, untouched by human hands, that is), into which I've simply placed a candle. I've been told by several trick-or-treaters that this was the single most terrifying thing they saw all night, and that it's scared them away from a life of petty pranks and misdemeanor crime.
I can't wait to see what the squirrels carve next year. Happy Halloween, everyone!
A few weeks back we took a drive just to enjoy the colors. We wanted to take advantage of a beautiful, if windy, fall day. Though our destination was on the sheltered side of the peninsula, we found that the cold wind was almost too much to bear. But, to our delight, two freighters were bunkered down just off-shore waiting out the gale.
Rachel snapped a few photos and the kids swung for about a minute and a half before the wind forced us back to the shelter of our minivan for a quiet ride home.
This is the lighthouse at Portage Lake's south entry in White City. Usually the rough water is on the Superior side, but here it's on the Portage side.
Ella says, "It was a cold day. It felt like it was freezing. I loved swinging, though."
Elisabeth says, "I was cold. I look like I was sad."
Peter was not available for comment at the time of this publication.
