Looking back at July

Well July went fast.  Looking back though, we packed A LOT into those 31 days.  4th of July, 6 zoo trips into 15 days, two baseball games, had a godson spend two nights here, Luke spent two nights at my parents' with some cousins, he spent another night with other cousins, Matt & I did a kid-free overnight without kids, we all stayed with one of my sister's and her family overnight, celebrated Luke's adoption day, we picked blueberries, watched the garden explode, visited ANOTHER zoo, watched a lot of Olympics, AND did a vacation to Alabama.  

It's no wonder I spent a lot of the month tired (besides our Alabama trip, I got blissfully caught up on sleep there).  

July always feels like peak summer and it's my favorite month of the year (my birthday probably has something to do with it).  It was so fun to do so many summer things, many of which we missed last year.  We got to spend time with a lot of people and I even saw all my sisters over a 4 day period (I've seen the two out of town so sporadically since COVID!).  We really packed it into our last full month of summer!

Looking back:
1 year ago: Backyard String Lights - A How-To & Shopping List
2 years ago: {7} Books About Space Travel
3 years ago: On Fridays I Wear Blue (I still do this!)
4 years ago: Book Love: The Shark Club
5 years ago: The No Nap Conundrum (we are fighting this now with Sam!)
6 years ago: Homemade Eye Make-Up Remover (I still use this twice a day!)
7 years ago: Our Michigan Vacation (we just stayed in another cabin like this!)
8 years ago: The Adoption Process

1) The boys touching stingrays at the zoo, this is the first summer either of them actually got to touch one (we've spent a lot of time trying in the past with no luck!).
2) Firework show #1 of the 4th weekend at my BFF's house.
3) Spending a wonderful 4th in our backyard, OF COURSE I have a koozie for the day (which I use all weekend and no other time during the year).
4) Fire show #2 of the weekend downtown!
5) In case you are wondering, a gallon of milk falling out of my trunk in the July heat did NOT make me a happy person.
6) Back at a baseball game!  We took our godson for a much delayed and overdue birthday or Christmas outing (I really don't remember which gift he was due). (We took our boys too.)
7) Sam's crib finally came down!  He was very excited to help Matt with this.
8) The sunflowers got taller than me in July!
9) The boys cruising the neighborhood in a Powerwheels Matt pulled from the trash.  He's the fun parent because he actually takes them around in this.  I literally never do. 
10) Biking Matt's college campus on Luke's adoption day.
11) The zinnias are so pretty (and as tall as me now!).
12) Matt decided, a week before our zoo pass expired, that we should buy a ride pass which means we did 3 rides each in our last 4 trips.  It was pretty exciting for the boys.
13) Sam & my blueberry haul while Luke was at an overnight. 
14) Matt & I did a kid-free night downtown to celebrate (belatedly) our 15th wedding anniversary.  It was SO FUN to be downtown and see so many people out and about.  I never thought I'd be so excited to pay money to stay just a few miles from home.
15) So close that we biked there and back instead of paying $14 to park 2 blocks away.  We are a very specific kind of frugal.
16) The exploding garden.  Anyone want some tomatoes???

Books finished: 18!  It was a very good reading month!
Miles ran: 69.2, also a good running month!
Currently watching: The Olympics! A lot of Olympics.  Also Matt & I are keeping up on Making It! and I am finally finishing Take Two which has sat on our DVR for 3 years...(I watched half of it last summer and then never got around to finishing it.)
Most read post this month: Always Stripping: Laundry Style and then Mixed Drink Monday: The Fizzy Flamingo.
Luke's current favorite song: I'm just going to assume it's "Shut Up and Dance"by Walk the Moon.
Sam's current favorite song: "Victory in Jesus" as sung by Carrie Underwood.

The big thing in August is back to school, a day I am mostly dreading.  I've really enjoyed my lazy mornings with time to read before the boys are awake and not having to deal with homework for the past 2½ months!  But a little more routine to our days might be nice, I'm so grateful life has seasons.