Looking Back at July

July is my favorite month of the year, partially because it's my birthday month and partially because it's the Saturday of Summer (I don't know where I originally saw July classified like that but it is 100% true).  We had summer temps all month, school is still a bit off (although not that far off by the time this posts) and we were in full summer mode.  Even with mostly being home (and at the lake), it still felt like summer.  The boys swam and did the slip n slide in the backyard, we read lots of picture books, went back to the zoo (with masks and social distancing), and ate gobs of ice cream and fresh produce.  It was less busy than past Julys but it was still pretty great!


Looking back:
1 year ago: {5} Times I Got the America Feeling
2 years ago: On Fridays I Wear Blue

3 years ago: Book Love: The Shark Club
4 years ago: Travel: Weekend in Holland, Michigan
5 years ago: Blueberry Crisp
6 years ago: Reasons Why The Drive-In is Awesome and You Should Go

7 years ago: From Being an Accountant to a Stay-at-Home MOM

1) Canoeing down a "river" near the lake.  There is a scene in Jurassic World where people are floating down a river next to dinosaurs and this looked like that, minus the dinosaurs.  Sam even napped for part of it!
2) The boys were handed down some power wheels from Matt's brother and sister-in-law and drove them ALL OVER the neighborhood (with parents close behind).  They love these.
3) Blueberry picking!  Luke actually did pretty well, Sam ate whatever he managed to pick.
4) Ice cream in the backyard, we did this a lot!
5) Back at the zoo.  It was SO NICE to be back, even with masks. 
6) Sunset up at my sister's, beautiful!
7) Fireworks at the lake, beautiful!
8) Sam loves coloring with chalk on the tiny bit of cement at the lake!
9) At the zoo, again, the giraffes were definitely the most crowded part but we did get to see them up close.  Extra exciting for Sam to see all the animals this year because I don't think he remembers much about them from last year!
10) My morning glories are blooming!  It's always so exciting.
11) Home from a library run and Luke was checking out our haul.
12) Birthday margarita sunset cruise.  It was lovely.
13) Another sunset cruise!  They are beautiful.
14) An afternoon on the pontoon, that's rain, not a good thing to see.
15) We hung string lights at the lake too since we like our ones at home so much.  Only these were free but more dangerous to hang.
16) String lights and sunset at home to close out the month!



Books finished: 13, hit 100 for the year!
Miles ran: 60.2!  My goal was 60 and the weather (95° the first half of the month) and Matt's early schedule made it tough but I ran A LOT the second half of the month!
Currently watching: Matt and I are occasionally watching Space Force and season 7 of Agents of SHIELD but it also just took us 3 nights to get through a movie.  His early mornings aren't real conducive to tv watching in the evenings!
Most read post this month: Stripping: Laundry Style is still going strong.  It's, BY FAR, my most read post ever and July I had the most blog hits ever, thanks to it.  Glad so many people are interested in laundry stripping!
Luke's current favorite song: Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd, I never realized how many Ys were in that name before right now.

August is bringing us school (I am MUCH more sad than I expected about Luke going back, I've liked having him home the last 5 months!) and, sadly, the end of summer.  Really, school is the dominating thing.  It's weird/normal to think about it starting up again!