Joy in our Journey........: July Recap

Now to see what I remember from July! We said goodbye to school at the end of June.

And we said Hello to summer with the annual kick off to summer party at the beach.

We raced home from the party to say a quick goodbye to our piggies who had hitched a ride back to the Mac with some kind strangers.

We said Hello to our gorgeous great niece! The title of Great Uncle and Aunt makes us feel old but she's worth it.

We said goodbye to our favorite cowboy. T's Grandpa passed away after 96 amazing years so we headed up north for a quick trip for the funeral over Canada Day.

We found some festivities to enjoy when we arrived.

And the next day we remembered a great man and his legacy.

The kids discovered just how fun the jetted tub is

We got in lots of baby snuggles over the month trying to give the new parents a little rest here and there. As it turns out, being a great aunt is the best. All the new born snuggles with zero exhaustion!

We spent our entire summer deep in the routine of school work (an hour or so) plus a list of josb/chores to complete before play time. Some days it was really easy. Most days it was a battle but I was determined to ensure this boy didn't slide academically from where he ended the school year. I feel confident we may have even gained some strides!

We got in a lot of playtime which is kind of what it's all about! These boys loved setting up "race tracks" on the street.

This kid thought it was okay to grow up on me and hit the 4 year mark

On the 10th we had a combined party for T who turned 44 years old that day and WR who turned 4 yrs old on the 18th.

Hard to tell from the visuals but T's deluxe carrot cake took way more work than WR's cake. It was a great day to celebrate two of my favorite guys!

JA has a very soft spot for his new cousin. He holds her any chance he gets.

We kept busy on the rainy days with random crafts and games and forts

AL and I got in a very special girls date to go see the off broadway performance of Newsies. AMAZING! This girl is so patient and kind with her brothers so it is extra fun to be able to spoil her with little girly days.

We of course got in a lot of beach days. Hard to beat the relaxation of the beach!

We discovered a new gymnastics club by our house one day with the neighbors and we had fun visiting their open gym time a few different times over the summer!

We drove south of the city one day and went on a strawberry picking adventure. Nothing in the world can compare to the taste of these sweet organic berries.

We braved paper mache for the first time and worked together to build a pretty sweet volcanoe.

T and JA went on several bike ride dates. JA discovered a new love

We completed a round of swim lessons with huge success. This was WR's first time unparented and he loved every minute. AL got over her fear of the deep end and became a solid swimmer. And the best part was that their lessons all over lapped at the same time which never happens.

AL fell head over heels in even deeper love with horses. She managed to convince me to sign her up for a week long horse camp in August and so my horse loving sister had her out to the ranch to spend time with her horse Spade and learn more about tacking up a horse etc. She was in horse heaven.