Looking Back at July

Oh man, July.  It was one heck of a busy month but also, mostly completely wonderful.  It might be because it's my birthday month but July is usually my favorite month of the year.  It's also the peak of summer and there's a lot going on, we're doing a lot of our favorite things and it is just wonderful.  In these 31 days we fit in 4 lake trips, 3 baseball games, 2 trips to the drive-in, 2 firework shows, 6 bike rides downtown, my birthday, 4th of July, a trip to the zoo, Luke and I went to Cincinnati (area) for the day, we visited my sister's (city) pool, raft race to see Matt's brother and some nieces and nephews dominate (two 1st places and a 3rd), and almost two solid weeks next to our (inflatable) pool.  It was a busy, busy month but absolutely wonderful.  Can we do it all again?

1) Luke's godfather gave him this inflatable jet ski for Christmas and we finally took it to the lake this month.  Luke talked it up for MONTHS about how fast he would go and then he got on it...and it was super slow.  Here he's standing up, trying to make it go faster.  It does squirt water though which really redeemed it.
2) Gorgeous sunset up at the lake.
3) Luke is pretty happy wherever the popcorn is.
4) Drive-in trip number one for the month and my newly engaged sister and her fiance joined us!  Luke was thrilled!
5) Luke and I downtown for the 4th of July fireworks!
6) A gorgeous day for going to the pool with my sister and her 5 kids.  Luke even did the big slides! (While wearing a life jacket and I caught him...but still!)
7) Baseball game #1 of the month.
8) Going to the Angola Balloons Aloft for the second year in a row.  It was a pretty windy night so there weren't as many balloons but still really cool to see!
9) Zoo trip one evening with my local family.  This was after we split from the rest of the group to go home...Luke was missing cousins already.
10) Part of Luke's adoption day present was a BB-8 Scooter which he loves.  He caught on to this a lot faster than his bike!
11) Baseball game #2!
12) We've gotten a picture with Luke next to this Johnny (as in Appleseed) every year of his life!  He's a little bigger than the first time. (2 months old then!)
13) Drive-in trip #2! This one at the "playground" drive-in which Luke much prefers.
14) Downtown for the raft race! 
15) Fireworks up at the lake a few weeks after the 4th.  Always cool to see them over the water.  Plus, we can just walk out from the cottage, very convenient!
16) We had two very hot weeks to finish the month and spent a lot of time around the pool.  A lot a lot.  It's wonderful.
17) On our trip to Cincinnati to visit some of my college friends and we made our first IKEA stop in awhile.  One of the only pictures I took the whole time was Luke and Lemur...in the bathroom (because of course Lemur had to go to IKEA with us).
18) Luke now wants to wear his super cape and dinosaur tail to the library every time which I think is adorable.  So do the librarians.
19) Part of our long bike ride on my birthday was getting ice cream downtown.  Good idea.
20) Birthday bike ride downtown! 
21) More pool time.  There was a lot of this!
22) Baseball game #3!
23) We were home at some point this month! 
24) You knew there was going to be a family jet ski picture at some point.
25) And a tired kid at the end of a very busy month!

Books finished: 10 (78 for the year)
Things added to the garage sale pile: I didn't count but it's starting to increase...this could be dangerous...
Things sewn:  Only three things!  My sewing machine went in for repairs so I didn't have one almost half the month.  I sewed a skirt that went...not great (things were thrown) but it was a good learning experience.  And then two other projects I really hope to share here...soonish.  Both more time intensive than my favorite burb cloths and pillow covers.  I'm branching out!
Miles ran: 48.38!  Last month it was only 26.91.  I increased my distance (partially thanks to running with two SILs once!) and only missed one run (my birthday!).  Also still shredding ~5 mornings a week.  I've been doing that close to 4 months and I'm still a sweaty mess at the end!
Currently watching:  I finally finished the first season of Hart of Dixie.  FINALLY.  And, of course, American Ninja Warrior.  That even was in my dream one night?!?  It was strange. 
Most read post this month: What I've Been Reading - July   Hum.  Turns out doing one of those link-ups does bring traffic...  Followed by Travel: Weekend in Holland, Michigan

I doubt August can top all this awesomeness (no birthday, for starters) but we can still enjoy another month of summer!