June 12-19

Last Sunday Bryan and I dropped the girls off with Grandma and Grandpa and then went to a Dayton Dragons game.  That's single A, which means the baseball was okay, the extra entertainment was every half inning, and the free hats did little to combat the amount of sun one gets sitting in the bleachers.  We had a good time, despite the spectacular sunburns.  We were a little torn in our allegiances: The home team (logical choice?) of Dayton is a farm team for the Reds...  We did get sweet orange hats with dragons on them, though.

We packed the girls into the car at bedtime, hoping they'd fall asleep on the way home.  Kaitlyn did, but Olivia and Gretchen did not.  We hustled them into bed anyway.  :)  In the morning, Kaitlyn was making noise before the other two were awake, so Bryan went to fetch her into our bed.  Five minutes later, Gretchen came sprinting through the kitchen.  "Mom!  Mommy!  MOOOM!"  With panic in her voice, she gasped out, "We forgot Kaitlyn!"  I assured her that Kaitlyn was, in fact, right next to me, and her relief was palpable as she also crawled into our bed and promptly fell back asleep.  Kaitlyn, should you ever doubt Gretchen's love for you, reread this paragraph.

The girls spent Monday visiting Elias and Simeon while I drove to Michigan to retrieve Mom, Jillian, and James for their last week in the midwest.  The rest of the week was busy with bowling, a visit to the zoo, gardening, chalk drawings, and more silhouettes.  Jacque arrived Thursday night and Jacob joined the madness on Friday evening.  On Saturday Jacob took Mom, Jillian, and James back to Michigan while Jacque came down to Sidney with us.  We attended the Holy Angels Parish Picnic.  Bryan was disappointed in the things that have changed since his childhood, but enjoyed himself nonetheless.  Gretchen was too short to go on most of the rides.  We also got to observe Gretchen's fear of heights first hand as she inched her way through a toddler obstacle course.  Grandma had half the dollar store in her purse for the girls to open and play with on a blanket in the brat tent.  Jacque spent $7 to "win" a cake, Bryan and Gretchen spent $4 to pick out some cupcakes, and Kaitlyn and I got a steal of a deal on a $1 pie.  :)

Gretchen had a fever on Friday.  Olivia got it for about half of Saturday (she perked up at the parish picnic), and Kaitlyn had it from Saturday afternoon through Sunday.  Kaitlyn was wonderfully behaved in church as a result, and we're wondering if perhaps she'd like to have a fever every Sunday morning.

Also of note this week, we got a cat.  A kitten, actually, and "got" is a loose term since it will be an outdoor cat, primarily relegated to controlling the mouse population in our shed.  Jacque got a cat, too, that she intends to take home with her to live in her apartment.  In keeping with the theme started by Bryan's brother, Brad, we intended to name our cat something along the lines of Rubbish or Debris (so far the Barhorst cats have been named Garbage, Trashcan, and Dumpster).  Olivia, however, wanted to name it Amber.  So our little black kitten is named Princess Amber Debris.  :)  Both cats are currently occupying the garage.  They've been contained by some strategically placed dressers and bookshelves to keep them from hiding all over the garage.  We did have some trial and error in that department, and Jacque and Jillian got quite good at finding and recapturing the cats.

Pictures:

My (month old) Mothers' Day gifts from the girls and their accompanying notes:

Playing with Elias and Simeon:

I can't remember what I was trying to show in this picture:

Bowling with Aunt Jillian (and Uncle James):

Kaitlyn drinks from a big cup... and gets wet:

Standing in the dishwasher:

Bathtime:

Zoo pictures from Oma:

Three generations in braids.  Also Kaitlyn-the-Menace.  Taken by Bryan on Jacque's phone:

More Kaitlyn:

"Aunt Jacque, the Pirate Elsa Kitty Cat." --Gretchen

Cranky Kaitlyn fell asleep:

Bryan enjoys his Fathers' Day gift from the girls:

Selfies with the babies: