Silver Dollar City

This year's Barnett family vacation was a trip to Branson and Silver Dollar City. We had not been there in about 5 years, so we had so much fun looking forward to this trip. Avery was 4 the last time we went, so only remembered what she saw in pictures. Wil, being 1 on the last trip remembered nothing. We drove up on Friday afternoon, so that we would be ready to hit the park Saturday morning. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, but that didn't slow us down much. We started out by touring Marvel Cave. It is a 1 hour hike with about 600 stairs. I had not done a cave tour since we went to Blanchard Springs as a kid. Avery and I were a little slow to get going when we stepped into the HUGE Cathedral Room and saw how far down it went. After a few flights of stairs, we were loving it. Wil, on the other hand, had a great time. He decided that he was just like Indiana Jones!

We spent all of Saturday and Sunday at SDC. The rides, shows and food were great! Avery really enjoyed all the water rides and both kids loved walking through Grandfather's Mansion, which made me incredibly dizzy! Monday morning, we did a little back to school shopping and then headed home. It was a nice getaway!

CRYC 2009

For 5 years now, Avery has enjoyed spending a week at Crowley's Ridge Youth Camp each summer. It is the camp that Blake attended and served as a counselor at when he was growing up. One of Avery's ambitions is to be a counselor at CRYC when she is a teenager. This is her last year to attend day camp. Next year, we will drop her off and not see her for a week. I am sure she will handle that better than I will!

Birthday Party!

Avery turned 9 on June 27th. Wil's 6th birthday is July 2, so we had a joint party at Pump It Up. The kids (and a few adults!) had a great time jumping and sliding. Since it was Avery's actual birthday, she got to choose where we ate all day long. After the party, we headed to Wendy's for lunch and then to Target and Wal-Mart for the kids to spend the small fortune that was gifted to them. It is so funny to me that Avery had planned to spend any birthday money to help pay for a camp that she wanted to attend, UNTIL she saw the money! All of the sudden, she didn't want to go that badly! After the shopping trip, we came home for a few hours to open toys and eat a piece of leftover cake and then headed to Mazzio's for dinner. A wonderful day. Wil gets to pick where we eat tomorrow since it is his day. Needless to say, I have gained back the three pounds that I had managed to lose!!!