I wrote about our trip to Chicago in my last post, and this one will cover everything else we were up to in July. It consisted of a lot of time spent with friends and family, swimming, and getting ready to go back to school. Here’s the recap:
We met some friends at the neighborhood pool (the Smiths and Johnsons) on July 1st. Their girls didn’t really know each other that well, but I was glad to see that everyone got along and played well together.
Savannah and Abigail played in the backyard together on July 2nd…
We met up with the Dyess girls at the pool on July 3rd. We are thankful to have so many friends in our neighborhood to spend time with during the summer.
We drove down to the lake on July 4th in time for lunch. The girls packed bags to spend a couple of extra days for Paw and Rae Rae camp. We had fun swimming and playing in the water that afternoon. I even did my first cannonball in probably 15 or 20 years…haha. The girls weren’t sure I knew how to do it, but I told them it had just been a while 😉 We ate watermelon on the dock and enjoyed BBQ for supper. Abigail and Paw also played several rounds of Hoot Owl Hoot, a fun board game that she likes. We had homemade Butterfinger ice cream for dessert. It was our first time mixing Butterfingers into our homemade vanilla recipe, and it turned out yummy! Travis and I drove home that evening, and we saw lots of fireworks along the way after it got dark. We even watched several from our backyard!
The big news from Paw and Rae Rae camp was that Brooklyn and Savannah BOTH jumped off the top of the neighbors’ dock into the lake for the first time ever. I did it several times as a teenager/college student, but I’m not sure I would have been brave enough to do it when I was 9 or 11 years old. Brooklyn apparently jumped more than once! The girls stayed until July 6th before coming home, which allowed Travis and I to get some stuff done in preparation for our trip to Chicago. It worked out well, and we were thankful for Paw and Rae Rae letting them stay an extra couple of days.
Fast forward to our drive home from Chicago….we went into a gas station in Indiana to use the bathroom, and they had the coolest sinks with 3 touch-free dispensers–one for soap, one for water, and one for air to dry your hands. We’d never seen anything like that before!
Abigail finished another chapter book on July 14th!
Savannah’s Hot Wheels track and cars are always a big hit when the cousins come over for Sunday lunch :)
On July 15th, we met up with MJ, Gabriella, and Mia again at the neighborhood pool. This time, Brooklyn brought a friend named Audrey so that all 3 girls would have someone their age to play with. They had a fun time and figured out that they could create a wave pool by jumping up and down in the water ;) It is also nice now that they are getting older and can tote more of the stuff back and forth!
On July 16th, the girls got their hair cut with Mikayla, and it was so great to see her. Abigail decided to get several inches–probably at least 6!–cut off her hair, and she couldn’t wait to show Daddy. We had to go to Walmart after the haircuts to get groceries and school supplies, so it took a while to get home. The traffic was bad on the way home as well, and Abigail asked at one point, “How much longer will it take to get home? I want to show Daddy my hair before it grows back!” 😊
Big news – I made appointments at Rowan at the Summit on July 17th for Brooklyn and Abigail to get their ears pierced. Abigail had been asking for at least a year when she could get her ears pierced. I kept thinking she would forget but she had regularly kept asking over the last several months. She even got stick-on earrings for Christmas, but that didn’t satisfy her interest…haha. Brooklyn had also started asking recently, so I figured we should go ahead over the summer. It’s tricky to get the timing right between soccer seasons and all the swimming in the lake that we do, but I decided we would just go for it this particular week. Rather than go to Claire’s or a tattoo parlor, we decided to try Rowan, which is a store that only does ear piercing and only by licensed nurses.
We got there at 11 am, and Rae Rae met us there. It was a very quick process! The girls all brought a stuffed animal with them, and Savannah brought one too so that if she changed her mind, she would have one with her. The girls picked out their earrings, and Abigail chose some really cute stars and Brooklyn picked some simple pink studs. Abigail volunteered to go first, which fits her personality so well. She said she just wanted to get it over with. I’m not sure she really understood what it would be like. When the nurse made the dots on her ears with a pen, she said, “I didn’t even feel it!” Haha. We were the only ones there when we first arrived, so they were able to do both of her ears at the same time which was a good thing. She did cry just a little right after it was over, but it didn’t last long. Her earrings looked so good, and she instantly looked older. Brooklyn got more nervous after seeing Abigail cry, and she said she almost changed her mind, but she did go through with it. She took some deep breaths and did well with me holding her hand. She had tears in her eyes afterward and felt a little faint, but she felt better pretty quickly. I was very proud of them for both being so brave! Savannah decided she wanted to wait and get her ears pierced another time, and I told her I was proud of her for not being pressured into something she wasn’t ready to do. We did a little shopping at Belk before meeting Paw and Aunt Jenn at Freddy’s for lunch. The girls always love eating at Freddy’s and it was a special treat to see Jenn and Paw too. We did a little more shopping after lunch for back-to-school clothes, but didn’t find anything else. We drove back home that afternoon. It was a good day, and the girls were so excited about their new earrings!!
Tyler and Alisha hosted a cousin sleepover at their house on July 18th. It included backyard baseball, bowling, milkshakes, and a cooked breakfast the next morning. This was the girls’ first time to spend the night at their house, and they loved it. Tyler and Alisha definitely earned some “fun aunt and uncle points” for all of that!!
On July 19th, we delivered the Millstone News with Emily and her girls :)
That evening, we played a family game of H-O-R-S-E. By the time we were finishing up, the sunset was especially beautiful!
On July 20th, the girls all set up their own “spa” in separate bathrooms around the house. They had fun visiting each others spas and being pampered ;)
We met Alisha and her boys at our neighborhood pool on July 22nd for some swim time. She brought Teagan along too, and he had a great time. We went back to our house to let the kids play outside for a little while longer after that.
On July 23rd, we met Gena at Sunny Street Cafe for brunch and then went over to Kohl’s to do a little back-to-school shopping. She calls the girls her “Pancake Princesses”, and we enjoy meeting her for pancakes when we get the chance.
That evening, we were able to log into Power School and see Brooklyn’s 6th grade schedule for the first time. At first glance, it looked very confusing and overwhelming. I am thankful to have Sarah as a friend and fellow mom who has girls a little bit older and could explain the schedule to us. She also gave me a tip to flip the schedule and color code it to make it a little easier to read. Brooklyn has had several changes to her teachers since the beginning of the year, but the classes are still the same. It felt surreal that she was about to start middle school in a few days time! Other than STEM and Public Speaking, she was excited about the classes she got into and feeling nervous and excited for the year to begin.
More fun with Hot Wheels cars :)
On July 26th, we spent some time in the morning making cookies and fresh squeezed lemonade for our upcoming lemonade stand with Emily and her girls. We enjoy making fresh squeezed lemonade, but it does take a lot of effort to squeeze the juice out. Abigail got a squirt of lemon juice in her eye at one point and decided to wear sunglasses after that ;)
The girls spent the night with Cici that night and made cake pops using a recipe from Savannah’s cookbook. They turned out really yummy! They also had a tea party the next morning with all kinds of delicious treats :)
We went to Brittney’s baby shower later in the morning and enjoyed celebrating baby Jude who was soon to arrive. It was sweet to see how interested Abigail, Ella, and Adelyn were in watching Brittney open her gifts.
Later that day, we had the Millstone Newspaper Lemonade Stand :) The weather was not looking good and had been raining, but thankfully it cleared up right before we needed to start setting everything up. Brooklyn and Elaina worked really hard on the big sign, and I thought it turned out great. The girls were raising money to go toward printing costs for their neighborhood newspaper and made a lot of money due to some very generous customers!
The cousins enjoy playing “fairy gardens” at Cici’s house when we go for Sunday lunch :)
We met MJ, Gabriella, and Mia at the pool on July 29th for one last swim before school started back…
July 30th was a busy day, starting with touring Journey Middle School to find Brooklyn’s classrooms. It was a tour for new students, not an open house where we could meet the teachers. This was the first time any of us had been in the building other than Brooklyn, who visited on a school field trip during 5th grade. It was fairly crowded when we got there and a little intimidating at first to figure out where we were going. It definitely helps that the hallways are painted purple on one side of the building and yellow on the other. This makes it easier for the kids to find their classrooms. We were impressed that Brooklyn caught on pretty quickly, and we let her lead us around to the different classrooms on her schedule. There are 3 floors at Journey and then a wing in the back with the cafeteria, library, gym, band and choir rooms, etc. It is a beautiful school! It was just hard to believe that Brooklyn is old enough to go there. The tour at Journey started at 2:30 pm, so we had a little time before we needed to head to Mill Creek at 5 pm for Savannah and Abigail’s open house.
When we got to Mill Creek, we went to see Abigail’s teacher, Mrs. Pride, first. She was SO excited to have Mrs. Pride, and Savannah seemed equally excited for Abigail because she had Mrs. Pride in 1st grade too and knows how wonderful she is. It was so great to see her and for Abigail to find her desk and get to see the camping theme in the room. Abigail helped put her supplies away and we filled out some forms before we needed to head to Mrs. Davidson’s room. Savannah was very excited to have Mrs. Davidson for homeroom, and Mrs. Davidson already knew Savannah from being one of the teachers who escorted the “walker kids” out a few years ago. Savannah was excited to see who else is in her class and recognized a few names besides Lillian that she already knew about. We also went to see her other teachers, Mrs. Dixon and Ms. Taylor. It will be nice for Savannah to have the same team of teachers that Brooklyn had in 4th grade. We also visited several former teachers while we were in the building, and it was so good to see them.
As crazy as it sounds, July 31st was the last day of summer. School started on August 1st. We tried to cram as much fun stuff as we could into our last day of the break. We kicked off the day with a visit to the pool with Emily and her girls. This is the only picture I took, but we had a fun time!
Abigail made this carrier for her baby doll out of paper. I thought that was pretty creative!
That afternoon, Brooklyn was invited to go with Lucy and her mom to the Lanier Tea Room for afternoon tea. She had fun, although she said she didn’t love the food. I’m sure it’s hard to compete with Cici’s tea room ;) I’m glad she was able to go though and try something new.
While Brooklyn was at the tea room, I took Savannah and Abigail to Jeremiah’s Italian Ice for a back-to-school treat. It’s hard to beat Jeremiah’s…it’s one of our family favorites for sure.
We were looking ahead to the forecast for the next day and saw that the heat index at afternoon pickup time was going to be around 111. Whew! Nothing like getting back into the school groove with a HOT walk home…haha. More to come on the first day of school in my August post coming up next.
July 2024 Notes and Quotes:
- 7/1/24 – I was painting Abigail’s toenails this afternoon, and she said, “This looks like a color that Rae Rae had on her toes!” We started talking about Rae Rae, and I said something about her toes being over 70 years old. Abigail exclaimed, “Wow! I didn’t know Rae Rae was 70 years old! That’s almost 100!!” :)
- 7/1/24 – This summer, the girls and I have been using chore calendars that I made, and they’ve been learning how to do some new tasks around this house. This afternoon, I was showing Brooklyn how to wash certain dishes in the sink, and Abigail said, “I want to do that! When can I wash the dishes?” I told her, “I think you need to be a little taller first so you can reach into the sink better.” Disappointed, she replied, “Will you still be alive when I’m tall enough to wash the dishes??” Apparently she thinks I’m pretty old too!
- Summer Recap: This summer flew by faster than ever. I felt like it had just gotten started by the time it was over. We tried using chore calendars this summer, and it helped the girls’ rooms stay much neater than normal. They also got used to helping with other things around the house, like cleaning the bathrooms, loading the dishwasher, wiping baseboards, dusting, etc. It was a good routine, and I hope to try to incorporate it into the school year in a manageable way. The girls got back into playing with their American Girl dolls this summer, even Brooklyn occasionally. They also played “Lion King” a few times in the playroom and created a new game called “Saber Ball” (kind of like baseball but with light sabers as the bat…haha). Savannah and Brooklyn taught themselves how to braid this summer, and Abigail learned how to do her own ponytail! The girls all spent a lot of time reading. We went to the pool more than we probably ever have before, and Abigail started swimming in the “deep end” by herself for the first time. Brooklyn (Ms. B) also held school for Abigail, and Savannah joined as a student for the last few days of the summer. Ms. S was the sub when Brooklyn was away at FC camp 😉 Abigail decided she wanted to be a teacher too, and so I went to her school a couple of times. Brooklyn also created her own library/book store, and Savannah and Abigail enjoyed shopping and checking out books! Between camps and our trip to Chicago, it felt like the rest of the summer went by in a snap. I love being able to witness their creativity and see all the fun things they come up with. Summer isn’t without its moments of grumpiness and bickering, but it’s such a treasure overall to live at a slower pace with less on the calendar.
Thanks for reading!
