Summer Bucket List!

 It's one of my favorite posts of every summer.....our SUMMER BUCKET LIST!!! 

This year's list is much smaller than normal as I knew that May and June would be extremely busy, so I wanted to be sure we would have an abundance of down time also! With this list, I feel like we had a really great balance of adventure/fun and relaxation!

Strawberry Picking

Pretty much as soon as Mellany and I got back from South Carolina, it was time to pick strawberries. It was a whirlwind, but we got it done! Charlie decided he didn't want to pick this year....for him it was "boring", so he stayed at home while John worked. (Just another perk of John working from home!) I'm not gonna lie...cutting the berries and making jam wasn't as enjoyable of a process this year. I was under quite a time crunch with VBS and baseball and it just wasn't my favorite activity. Nevertheless, we have about 21 quarts of jam in our freezer for the year!

VBS

Another year of VBS is in the books! The theme this year was "Twists and Turns" (aka games). Charlie got to be in my classroom as did Mellany because she ended up being our classroom helper! Johnny was in a classroom with our neighbor and all his buddies but that class also rotated with my group; so I basically got to be with my own kiddos all morning long! It was wonderful!

We changed up the decorating guidelines this year and everyone only decorated doors....it was SO MUCH BETTER!!

The 3 of us have been able to have 7 out of our 9 kids in our classroom. 

Year 7 of teaching together in the books! 

Texas

See Post: "Texas Vacation"

McCords

Always a favorite for lunch with our friends!

4H County Fair

We spent a lot more time at the fair this year, studying up for next year's fair and what projects the kids would like to take part in, as well as supporting as many friends as we could. 

We even took Grandpa to the fair!

And we ended up with some pretty great swag from the Rural King table!!

Aviators Game

Johnny's team got tickets for the game and got to stand with the players during the national anthem and even got to walk out on the field with them! 

Library

We always love a library visit in the summer! I didn't get any pictures, but it was fun!

Swimming

We've swam a ton this summer, but I haven't gotten a single picture

Movies

We saw the movie "Elemental" and it was fantastic....the boys were just as excited about the new transformer movie! 

Camp Tecumseh

The kids had another amazing week at camp this year! Johnny and Charlie went to day camp while Mellany went to overnight equestrian camp! 

Children's Museum & Fair Oaks & Tea Party

Due to our last minute trip to Kansas City at the end of July, we didn't get to check these things off this summer. We are hoping to "complete" them this fall!

July!

It's been a hard week here at the Barrett house, so I'm gonna keep this a bit short and sweet! I will say it a thousand times over, summer is my favorite time of year and knowing that school is just around the corner makes me incredibly sad! But for now, we will enjoy every bit of the freedom while we can! 

Nothing better than Casey's pizza on a friday night! 

Out checking chickens one night and this sunset was stunning!

Another day, another kiddo selfie on my phone :)

And another picture of Winston

A bunch of us friends got to celebrate a 40th birthday!

While Mellany was rafting with our church youth group, the boys and I ventured to Sam's club and they had so much fun.....ice cream and an icee before lunch time was a HIT! Summer time = FUN mom! 

I found these Circus Roses at Sam's club and they were a steal of a deal and absolutely beautiful! Our anniversary was the day I bought them and these flowers are special to us and used in our wedding....so purchasing them was a no-brainer!

Charlie was in bed one night with me while John was out of town and when I got up it was so cute to see Winston so close to him and snuggling with his tiger stuffed animal.

Checking chickens while John was gone....the rooster keeping guard of the hens and another stunning sunset

The kids spotted deer in the pasture one morning

After swimming snack....Gibson's shaved ice!

Going on my morning walk and a couple of cute boys joined me

Taking the 4-wheeler for a spin...the kids thought it was so funny to see us on it together so Mellany took a picture....and I think it actually turned out pretty good. 

We've got a new baby in the family!!!!! My brother and sister-in-law added their 4th kiddo to the crew and we cannot wait to get our hands on him soon!!

Johnny and a buddy got to go mini-golfing and to eat ice cream with our children's pastors and had a great time! 

One of our most favorite college kiddos came back into town and told John and I to go on a date so she could spend time with our boys (Mellany was at camp) and then we could all visit after. The boys took her out to see the chickens and even got her to put one on her head....Johnny gave her his hat for "protection"

It's been a sad, hard week here because my Uncle Brian passed away Monday morning after a long, hard fought battle with cancer. He was pretty influential in my life and I'm so sad to say "until next time", but knowing that he's no longer in pain definitely gives me peace. 

I'm so thankful that the weekend is near, as is a trip to KC to be with our family!