I already wrote about our July beach trip, so this post will cover everything else that happened that month before and after our vacation:
The Hesters came over for a backyard dinner on July 2nd, and our girls had fun racing the big kids after we ate ;)
Run, Savannah!!
The Hesters had just been to Navarre Beach a few weeks earlier, so we were excited to hear all about their trip. It was a fun evening!
Brooklyn is looking so tall these days!
Of course, Abigail wanted to be included in a picture too :)
July 4th was on a Saturday this year, and we drove down to the lake to spend the day with Paw and Rae Rae. First things first…a snack before we went swimming.
Brooklyn is always a big fan of the slide!
Helping Rae Rae make a “flag pie” is always a fun and yummy tradition. The girls enjoy eating the extra Cool Whip and berries.
After lunch it was time for more swimming!
Abigail rode the jet ski with Rae Rae for the first time ever that afternoon! She was excited about it, but by the time they got back (after about 10 minutes), she had her head down on the handlebar…she was completely asleep! Haha! It was late afternoon, and I guess the vibration of the engine just put her right to sleep ;)
That evening after dinner, we got the girls in their PJs and got ready to watch the fireworks from the boat. It’s always fun to take an evening boat ride.
Abigail had her American flag ready ;)
The girls had trouble staying awake for the fireworks that night also! Abigail fell asleep right at the beginning, Savannah fell asleep before the grand finale, and Brooklyn kept asking when it would ever be over…haha. I think we were all just tired from a fun day!
Cousin time is so special!
Savannah is usually a very patient big sister :)
July 7th – Today, Brooklyn made a house out of a box for her lobster stuffed animal “Lobstery” :) It had a roof, an island with a Christmas tree, and a picnic spot with food…haha. Brooklyn and Savannah also made “learning books” for Abigail to teach her all about tracing letters, colors, shapes, etc. It was sweet!
Despite her expression, Gabby really does love Brooklyn!
Yummy ice cream cone…
On July 9th, we met Alisha and her boys at the playground at Phillips Park. We got there a few minutes before they did, so I snapped a few pictures of the girls having fun.
Brooklyn helped Abigail go down the big green slide :)
We had a fun morning!
Brooklyn is our girl that loves to turn trash into treasures, and she has taught Savannah to love it too ;)
I mentioned in my last post that Abigail threw up in her car seat when we were almost home from our beach trip. The same thing had also happened a couple of weeks before the trip where she threw up in the car. Her car seat was still rear facing, and we wondered if turning it around to forward facing would help (Sidenote: It has! She hasn’t thrown up in the car since).
So, on July 19th, Abigail got to ride forward facing for the first time ever. She was so thrilled. “I see trees!! And houses!!” She just giggled and laughed the whole way to church. And she told Cici “I sat in a big girl car seat today!” :)
Another creation of Brooklyn’s – this time out of a toilet paper roll
Brooklyn had really been missing her good friend Avery from 1st grade over the summer, so she was really excited when Avery’s mom messaged me to ask whether Brooklyn would be interested in doing a week-long soccer camp with Avery in July. When we were first considering it, I wasn’t really sure whether it was a good idea with the pandemic going on, but because the kids would be outside the whole time, we decided it was safe enough for her to participate. She couldn’t wait to get out there on the first day (July 20th).
When I asked her later whether she had fun on the first day, she said, “Yes, except for when I got so hot I thought my stomach would burst.” Haha! It was definitely hot out there all week long. They took lots of water breaks throughout each morning. Camp was from 9 AM to 12 PM Monday-Friday.
Brooklyn was so happy to get to spend some time with Avery that week!
One perk of Travis working from home is that I could leave the other girls at home when I dropped Brooklyn off and picked her up. One day, I stayed for a few minutes after camp started to watch and get some pictures :)
The coaches gave out certificates and goody bags on the last day. Brooklyn had a great week! She looked forward to going every day even though it was hot outside. The kids were divided up into teams named after different countries, and Brooklyn was on Iceland’s team. Each day she had “homework” to do…drawing Iceland’s flag, looking up facts about Iceland, drawing a picture of a soccer field, etc. She was disappointed that Iceland didn’t win the World Cup, but I think they came in second. She had a lot of fun and enjoyed being with Avery. It was good for her to be able to do a normal activity in the middle of such a crazy time with the pandemic.
All of the kids and coaches :) The kids were split into two age groups for all the activities, and Brooklyn was in the younger group. One of the girls she met that week, Sydney, actually ended up being in her 2nd grade class this year!
Brooklyn had also been saying for MONTHS that she wanted a 2 wheeled scooter. (I guess her 3 wheeled scooter wasn’t cool anymore). So, we told her if she saved up her money, she could buy a 2 wheeled scooter all by herself. So she saved her money for months (weekly allowance, homemade book fair, lemonade stands, etc.) and finally had enough money to order the new scooter in July. She was so excited when it finally came. I was really proud of her for having the patience to save up that much money and wait to buy it (it was about $100!).
Worn out!!
We went down to the neighborhood playground so Brooklyn could test out her new scooter…
My sweet Savannah :)
On the way home, I noticed how terrible our crape myrtle was looking in the front yard. It has so many dead branches!! We definitely need to prune it before the next growing season starts in the spring.
Abigail graduated from the toddler bible class in July, so this was one of her last Zoom classes before moving up to the preschool class…
Brooklyn was dying to go swimming during the week of soccer camp, so I told her I would take Savannah and her during Abigail’s nap one afternoon. We always go to the neighborhood pool in the morning, so this was a first going after lunch. We had it all to ourselves for a little while!
Looking stylish in her Rapunzel dress and sunglasses ;)
Abigail got Brooklyn’s old pink scooter as a hand-me-down, and she was so excited to official join the Grant family scooter brigade!
On July 25th, I helped out with a graduation party for Elliott Adams, who was our only high school graduate this year at church. It was a very different party than normal because of COVID. Instead of a big indoor gathering, we instead had a drive-thru party where everyone dropped off cards/gifts and got plates of appetizers/cupcakes to go. We had a tent set up where Elliott and his family sat. It was a hot morning, but everything went well!
A picture of a few of the hostesses :)
Travis came and drove through with the girls. They were excited about the cupcakes, of course!
This month, Brooklyn submitted this donut “recipe” for the Dvorak family cookbook :)
I found some notes from a notebook that Brooklyn keeps in our bag at church and writes/draws in during the worship service. I loved this summary she did of the story of Ruth:
“Ruth came to a field, the field of Boaz, and she asked, “May I get the lefted over grain?” And they said “yes,” so she picked it up. Then Boaz saw her and was delighted, and told the farmers to leave even more grain the next day. Ruth came and saw that there was even more grain, so she had even more. And then she saw Boaz and asked, “Can I marry you?” “I would love to, but someone is already in my place…but I will try to.” So he went and asked, and they had a deal. So they traded sandals, and Ruth and Boaz married. And they had a son, and his name was Obed, and he and his wife married, and it came all the way up to Jesus as God’s son.” :)
What is hell? About hell: horrible, bad, worst
“Keep your heart healthy. You could do that by eating fruits and vegetables. You can also get sleep and exercise. You only have one heart, so try and get good sleep. Heart cancer isn’t fun. Help other people!”
On July 29th, Cici had a “Starting School” party for Savannah and Carter…who were both about to start KINDERGARTEN. She did a similar party for Brooklyn the summer before she started school, and I love the tradition.
Sweet cousins :) I have a feeling this picture will resurface one day when they are both high school seniors…
Cici made some delicious chocolate cupcakes for us to eat after we finished lunch.
Abigail loved her cupcake! :)
After lunch, Savannah and Carter got to open a few gifts – school supplies for the upcoming year. This year’s party was kind of bittersweet just knowing it wasn’t going to be a normal kindergarten year, but the kids still enjoyed it at least!
If I took a nap like this, I don’t think I’d be able to move my neck for days…haha
Another big event looming on the horizon besides the start of school was Melissa and Alex’s wedding! (They technically got married at the courthouse in March, but planned to have the ceremony and reception in August). We had coordinated with Mikayla to do the girls’ hair since they were going to the be flower girls in the wedding, so we went over to the Hesters’ house for a hair trial on July 27th :)
Mikayla wants to be a hair stylist for a living eventually, and she is already learning how to cut and fix hair even though she hasn’t been to cosmetology school yet.
I thought their hair turned out so cute! I didn’t bring Abigail along that afternoon since she doesn’t really have enough hair to do much with and already has natural curls anyway ;)
On July 28th, Danielle, Hannah, and Anna all came over to swim with us at the pool…
Hannah loved the water squirters, and it was fun for Abigail to have a friend close to her age there.
Brooklyn enjoyed hanging out with Anna in the deep end!
We had fun!
The next day, we went back to the pool with our neighbor, Emily, and her girls. Lots of swimming that week!
The girls worked up an appetite with all that swimming before lunch.
Abigail officially moved up to the preschool bible class at church, so it was her turn to watch Mrs. Gina’s YouTube videos. (We still weren’t meeting for bible class in person at this point).
Savannah moved up to the K-1 bible class, and Mrs. Bev was making videos for that class. She had the kids draw a picture of the lesson after each video, and this was Savannah’s drawing of the birth of Jesus :)
Family walk/scooter ride over to the greenway on July 30th…
The water in the creek was pretty shallow that day.
We call Brooklyn our little raccoon because she is always digging through the recycling bin and finding cardboard boxes to use for her creations :)
We met the Lovelesses at the pool on July 31st for some swimming in the morning. Savannah conquered her fears by jumping into the 5 foot area for the first time!
Carter practiced swimming back and forth from the steps to Alisha :)
Everyone loved jumping in from the side and making big splashes…
We ate lunch at one of the picnic tables before it was time to head home. We always enjoy pool time with cousins!
Notes and Quotes from July:
- 7/3/20 – Cici took the girls blueberry picking this morning. They had fun (although Abigail apparently threw up in the car on the way there). There were animals at the farm, and Savannah told me they saw a “pot-berry pig!” :)
- 7/5/20 – Savannah: “Why do people start out so small like babies and keep getting bigger and bigger?” Me: “Well, I don’t think you’d fit in my tummy right now, do you? You’d be too tall!” Savannah: “Could you eat food while I was in your tummy?” Me: “Yes…” Savannah: “Did the food spill all over me in there?” Haha!
- I’ve started telling the girls “Good night…sleep tight…don’t let the bed bugs bite!” and they all think the bed bug part is funny. Abigail likes to tell me “Don’t let the bugs bite bite!”
- 7/21/20 – Abigail: “Is the thunder outside?” Mommy: “Yes, you’re safe inside.” Abigail: “What if it opens the door and gets me?”
- 7/27/20 – Abigail: “Why do cheetahs live in the African Abigail??” (She’s heard the big girls talk about the African “savanna” before, so I guess calling it the African Abigail was a natural next step ;) She’s a hoot! Always trying to crack jokes and make us laugh.
Thanks for reading!!
