Day Five

Day Five of the Great Bicycle Journey to the New York City: Phenomenal day. Reece and I trekked some 101.42 miles all over Ontario, pounding the pavement into submission with our tires. We started in Marine City Michigan and crossed by ferry for $1 apiece, and while doing so happened to meet a lady and her husband who kindly paid for us. On the ferry, she shared that her dad had played football with Vince Lombardi at Fordham University back in the late 30's and was one of the "Seven Blocks of Granite". His name is James Hayes, class of '39. Really cool. Anyway-we covered a lot of miles through Canada, I mooed at a lot of cows we passed, and at one point we got chased down by two giant dogs that we barely outpaced on our bikes at 30 mph. It's been an incredible, awesome, memorable day. Buffalo, we're coming for you.

Make Way for Ducklings!

We added four to the Barnhart family this week when we picked up some suckling ducklings. 

We picked two Rouen, which look similar to Mallards, and two Khaki Campbell
which are supposed to be good for egg production.  Our plan is to take them to the Rowe's where we'll have them run around eating all the bugs and create a fun diversion for the kids.

 The ducklings are set up in the basement where they have had a lot of attention from the kids since we picked them up on Thursday.  They were probably 2-3 days old then and are around 4 days old in this photo.

And no, they're not under a red light to prepare them for broasting, it's just their heat lamp.

Make way for ducklings!

Day Four

No picture for today. Long day, tough day. Started out by Ypslanti and biked north through parts of Detroit up about ten miles outside of a town called Marine City, where we'll cross by ferry over into Canada. Hopefully I'll have access to some WiFi in Canada, but I won't be able to use my phone internet for regular updates for a few days. Trip is going well though.

And it comes to an end...

I was in a bit of a somber mood this morning, and decided to take a walk through a lovely cemetery near my apartment here in Seattle. The sun was rising, birds were singing quietly in the trees, and here and there people were reverently visiting the resting places of people they love. I'm sure you can imagine my surprise when I came upon this grave and tombstone.

Happy retirement, Dad!

Day Three

Day Three of the Great Bike Trip to NYC: A long, good, hard day. Only one flat today, and it was mine. A patch later, we were good to go. Also, a slight correction on yesterday's post: we only rode 90 miles and got to Bronson, Michigan. So today, we made up the ten miles and then road another 90 to get to Ypslanti. We traversed many rolling hills in southern Michigan and couldn't have been more grateful to see the view from inside our hosts garage looking out onto a beautiful evening over the neighborhood. It's good to feel/be at a home, at least for one night.

Day Two

Day Two of The Great Bike Trip to NYC: a really great day. Despite overcoming the overwhelming odds of two flat tires on the road, Reece and I made great time from Laporte, Indiana to Bronson, Michigan, tallying up 98 miles for the day. Entering into God's country (Michigan) was particularly meaningful for me, while Reece was merely quoted saying "it's nice". Truly a great day for the Buffalo Riders. Look out New York, we're coming!!

Day One of the Great Bike Trip

Day One of the Great Bike Trip to NYC: a good deal of a learning curve. Heavy winds and rain riding down Lake Michigan from Chicago, followed by three flats at different various places, a broken spoke and bent rim, compliments of Gary, Indiana, and a ton of lasagna and great food, from the kindness of the Buresh family in LaPorte, Indiana. Day One; 77 miles: complete.

Powerkiting at the Beach

Powerkiting at the Beach

To all those that think I'm only working hard, slaving away on the Subaru project with dad in my newfound, post college graduation freedom while I'm at home--I'm not. I'm also finding a little time for recreation, or in this case some powerkiting at the state park. My friend Alex and I hadn't gotten out there with our kites in a couple summers, but yesterday we decided to go again. I still only weigh just a little under 300 lbs, and this is how much it was tossing me around. Wind is powerful.

Also, I'm heading out on my cycling trip from Chicago to the east coast next week. Prayers are appreciated, as are Tour dé France style roadside concession stands set up ever forty kilometers or so. If you all take shifts, I think we can have evenly distributed stands all the way from Wheaton to Newark. Anyway, I'll be posted a picture or something everyday to keep everyone in the loop and let them know I haven't eaten poison berries or went crazy. 

Siblings Rule(s)

For quite some time now I've wanted to snap a picture and post this sign that showed up on the girls' bedroom door.  Ella and Elisabeth (E1 and E2) are determined to keep their brothers in line in regards to room use. 

I assume they have lectured their siblings about it and remind them regularly of the rules since Peter is only now starting to read and the other two boys aren't even that good at listening.  Plus it's not posted low enough for them to read it.

No doubt the girls want to keep their room tidy so they can do their school-work without being distracted by clothes and toys on the floor, fighting brothers, etc. 

I'll be sure to post any updates to the rules here (subject to change at any time) and any spectacular breaking of the rules in the mean time.

Wheaton gets in it's last licks but I'm still standing!

Yahoo!  here is the last payment envelope for Wheaton College forever!!!!!!.  What else would a 59 and one half year old guy do early Sunday morning but wake up and pay bills?  This one was a welcome bill to pay.  Sorry it is sideways but thats just the way it is and I don't want to fix it.

A Tobogganing We Go

The kids wait eagerly for their first ride on the toboggan

While it's getting warm enough to go to the park in warmer climes, we are celebrating no longer being in a deep freeze.  In fact, it was one of the first times this winter that snow, temperature, and daylight have made an evening outing to the sledding hill a reality.

The kids were intrigued to try out the toboggan we got from Grandpa Mike last year.  To be honest, I was looking forward to it just as much (maybe more).  I put a coat of wax on the bottom before we left just in case it decided to stick in the soft snow.

Not only was it our first time sledding this year (in March!), and our first time to use the toboggan, but it was also Philip's first time sledding ever.  We loaded everyone up and headed to our nearest hill in downtown Hancock - the front lawn of the old middle school.  The hill is great because it's big enough for sledding, but not too big for the kids - and it's got a bit of a jump halfway down.

Sitting at the bottom of the sledding hill.  From the top (next to the building) we made it to the snowbank shown here and almost over it with the toboggan.

We were pleased to find the toboggan fast and fun.  Peter and I went down together several times and I went down with various combinations of three or four of the others (including Philip).  Rachel and I even got to enjoy a ride by ourselves. I don't think I had ever ridden a toboggan and was surprised at how flexible it was, yet it tracked well and was much more comfortable than the plastic sleds.  We got air on the jump more than once and everyone decided it was the best of the sleds.

As we returned home Peter echoed the sentiment of all the kids when he asked "When can we ride the toboggan again?  Can we do it now?"

"Honey, do you want to go to the park?"

The temperature just climbed into the lower 50s today and the sun was out. Amber asked Honey if she wanted to go to the park. A visual recollection:

Staying Warm

"It's not that cold out there if you wear the right winter gear - you've just got to be prepared"    - Philip

Dig this

For the discriminating Barnhart child, the DOS game Digger provided hours upon hours of entertainment back in the good ol' days of CGA. And the game's soundtrack was burned into my memory . . . I mean, that discriminating child's memory. So imagine my surprise when I learned that this song was not just the soundtrack to Digger, but actually a song called "Popcorn" by a band named Hot Butter.

Does it get any better than that? Well, it does if you want to play Digger online. Enjoy the decline of your productivity.

For the Non-Facebookers...

We have finally escaped from under Dad's oppressive thumb...errr...I mean...it is with great heaviness in our hearts that we announce that our days of living with Dad are over. Here's our new house in pictures!

Breakfast nook. Does this mean I can only eat breakfast here?

I think this stove can probably cook better than I can

The view from our front door

Front porch. Anyone have some porch furniture they're looking to get rid of? : )

Upstairs living room. Eventually the piano will go in the far corner where the floor lamp is

Staying true to both family traditions, we have already made several fires since moving in

Our bedroom

Office/Guest bedroom

The cats made us buy this house because of this bathroom. They claimed they're tired of cleaning themselves and demanded a jacuzzi tub to get the job done

So much room for activities! 

Gas fireplace in the basement

Pool anyone?

Lots o' storage and workspace

Don't Try This At Home

 This is how you look after shoveling/snowblowing snow for about 5-6 hours. Snow and ice literally froze to the hairy stubble on my face. Crazy stuff.

Throwback Tuesday

Remember those years before everyone had families and responsibilities and we posted on the blog UP TO 100+ TIMES PER YEAR? Those were good days. I strongly recommend reflecting on the nostalgia of days past, from which to draw inspiration for yourselves to start being interesting and writing posts again! What's scary is that I'm now the same age as David when he originally created this family blog back in 2006, and James is even OLDER than I was. Chew on that for awhile. In the meantime, enjoy this great post I stumbled across in my perusings:

http://barnhartcentral.blogspot.com/2007/06/grand-end-of-dynasty.html?m=0

The Boy Likes Chocolate

I think the photo speaks for itself.  In case you couldn't recognize him in disguise, this is Philip enjoying Rachel's birthday cake last October.  I think he was looking for more.

Wheaton College Finals Week 2014!

This is what I've done today to avoid studying.