Looking Back at June

Happy July!  It's the best month of the year!  And it really feels like summer outside!  My only probably with our current string of 93° days is that it makes running very hard for me since my options are 5am (still dark) or when Matt gets home and the heat index is 100° (give or take a couple degrees).  Neither are great (although that hasn't stopped me from running in 100° before).  But, otherwise, I like that summer is feeling, literally feeling, like summer, since so much of the rest of this summer is...crazy. 

We haven't been to the zoo yet, we haven't been in a library building for 3.5 months.  The only public places the boys have been is church.  We're still limiting our in-store shopping although we are back to going to the grocery every week instead of the every other week we did for over 2 months (it's really hard to get milk that stays good for 2 weeks and freezing and then thawing it just doesn't taste the same).  BUT we're still going to the lake sometimes and going to Mass and I make a lot of ice cream and we eat a lot of ice cream and we're doing a lot of house projects.  Some of this feels like regular summer and some doesn't!  I haven't made a summer fun list like I have in past years because I really don't know what we'll do extra this year.  Most of the things I put on there every year have been canceled for this summer so...probably means I need to think a little harder about projects and fun things we can do!

Looking back:
1 year ago: {100} Picture Books for the Summer
2 years ago: Traveling with a Two Month Old (I miss traveling but not with a 2 month old)

3 years ago: {100} Picture Books to Read this Summer
4 years ago: Hawaii: Maui (I do miss this traveling)
5 years ago: Homemade Eye Make-Up Remover (I still use this!)
6 years ago: Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (we still make this occasionally!)

7 years ago: Food DIY - Taco Seasoning (we still use this all the time)
8 years ago: Doolin to Dingle

1) The very underappreciated method of stripping paint from wood called "having a baby gate abused by children".  But we did take down one of our two baby gates!  That's exciting!
2) Last December I took ornaments off the tree and then Sam threw this R2-D2 ornament back at the tree.  We couldn't find it again.  We took the (long dead) tree to the lake to burn at the beginning of the summer and couldn't find it before we set it on fire.  We go back to the lake 2 weeks after that trip, after the Christmas tree had been burned and another fire set on top of it, and sitting on top of the (long extinguished ashes) was R2-D2.  I was pretty excited he turned up after all!  Luke cleaned him up and he'll be back on our tree in November!
3) A beautiful lake sunset!
4) I eat one of these scones every Friday, even when we are at the lake.
5) A GORGEOUS lake sunset from the pontoon!
6) I LOVE that my boys LOVE books. 
7) Eating in the tiny bit of shade in our house around lunchtime.  I also love all the blue in this picture, that's what happens when I fill my life with blue!
8) A beautiful day at my sister's pond!
9) It might be summer but I still require my slippers and tea some morning!
10) This ice cream, it is amazing.
11) The flowerbox in the tree house.  We're doing much better about watering these this year!
12) Sam watching the lake sunset with me!
13) Not a bad way to spend a Monday! (When we were supposed to be on vacation, before COVID).
14) Backyard vacation week fun!  The boys playing in the pool, I was supervising with a book, Matt was working on the house.
15) Finally painting our picnic table with paint we bought over a year ago!  Yes, I needed more blue in my life!
16) Gorgeous daisies at church!


Books finished: 15!
Miles ran: 34 miles, I had to take a week off to tweak (increase) my RA meds so I didn't get as many miles in as I would have liked. This heat also isn't very conducive to running when Matt gets home.
Currently watching: I'm watching Take Two on the occasional morning I am working on a personal project and not working working in the morning before the boys are awake.  Matt & I have started rewatching summer action movies on weekends (as in we will watch one over Friday/Saturday night because we don't usually want to stay up late enough to watch a whole movie in one night.). Our last two were Transformers and Jurassic World.  It's been a lot of fun.
Most read post this month: Far and away, Stripping: Laundry Style.  It's gone a bit viral, getting almost more views in the past month alone than any other post on my blog has gotten ever.  June 2020 I also got the most views of any other single month .  The Amazon affiliate links in that post have also been good to me! (Meaning...I've made enough to buy a new hardcover book with my earnings from the past 3 months...not like making real crazy money).  It's funny and exciting to see those numbers.
Luke's current favorite song: He really likes Can't Stop the Feeling.

By the time I write the next one of these we should know something of what school will look like in the fall!  That will be nice to know but also sad that, potentially, school starts up in just ~6 weeks already!  How did that happen????