I think this post will *finally* wrap up the month of July for our family…haha. Besides our trips and camps, we had quite a few other things on the calendar as well. Here’s the recap:
The girls were doing silly hair styles and discovered their hair was long enough to make a “beard”…haha!
We met Mary Jane and her girls, Gabriella and Mia, at the neighborhood pool on July 11th. We pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was nice!
Brooklyn took some really cute pictures of Gabby that afternoon. Gabby was one very loved cat :)
Another day, another morning spent at the pool. On July 12th, Alisha and the boys came over to swim with us!
That evening, Brooklyn and Savannah were in the mood to match. They put on matching bathrobes after their shower and then wanted to wear the same dress and hairstyle to church. Of course, Abigail wanted to be in the picture too! ;)
I had a doctor’s appointment on July 13th, and Marilyn was so sweet to come over to stay with the girls while I was gone. She always brings fun craft activities with her, and this time they made bead necklaces and butterfly rings out of pipe cleaners.
The library is another place we enjoy visiting in the summer when we have more free time!
Abigail was so excited to be part of the back-to-school supply shopping for the first time!!
It doesn’t get much cuter than this :)
The Millstone Newspaper girls set up a lemonade stand on Friday, July 14th to raise money for printer ink ;) We made fresh squeezed lemonade and cookies to sell, and the girls even set out some toys for a small yard sale. It was a pretty humid morning, so it didn’t take long before we were all hot and sweaty. Elaina and Brooklyn rode their bikes around the neighborhood to drum up business while the other girls manned the table. It was a big success, thanks to some generous customers. The girls made $78 total!!
We met up with the Hood family at the Athens Kiddie Carnival that evening. It had been several years since it had worked out for us to go at the same time due to sickness/weather, so we were excited to bring this tradition back! The kids had a great time and rode almost every ride. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset, yummy snacks, and we all had a fun time. I know Brooklyn and Nathan are probably getting close to “aging out”, so I’m glad it worked out for us to go together this summer!
As if that wasn’t enough fun for one weekend, we also had the Dvorak family reunion on Saturday, July 15th. Jon and Katie offered to host again this year, and we all had a great time. The kids enjoyed playing in the inflatable pools and running around in the backyard, and the adults mostly enjoyed the A/C ;) We missed the last reunion, so we were especially glad to make it this time!
We met up with Sarah and Alisha and their crews at our neighborhood pool on July 17th. Between the 3 of us, we have 10 kids! I always look forward to spending time with them.
Savannah had her first visit with an orthodontist that afternoon. It worked out so nicely that we knew a dad from school who is an orthodontist (and he actually volunteers on the PTA board too). I struck up a conversation with him about Savannah’s missing permanent teeth back in the spring, and he told me that one of his sons has the exact same missing permanent teeth! I felt really good about Savannah seeing him for that reason, so I made her an appointment to get some scans done and just let him look at her teeth. Long story short, she will likely need braces at some point in the future, but for now he is just going to keep an eye on her teeth every 6-9 months. Adam’s office is so much fun–they have a slushy machine and a really cool screen in the waiting room that brings your artwork to life. Savannah loved it!
We did more shopping this month for shoes and new shirts for the first day of school. All the girls needed new tennis shoes, and Savannah and Abigail needed new soccer cleats for the fall season. It was definitely a lot trying to shop for 5 pairs of shoes at one time…haha. The shirt shopping was easier, for sure.
Apparently we went to the pool a lot this month…haha. We met more neighborhood friends at there on July 20th. It’s always a treat when the moms and kids are all friends.
Sweet moments like this make me smile :)
I had some helpers when it was time to make cookies for our family beach trip. They always like stirring and licking the bowl ;)
Abigail had her “kindergarten assessment” at school on July 21st, the day before we left for the beach. Kindergarten assessment is a way for the teachers to see what the kids know before they start kindergarten so that they can make sure the classes are balanced. We were able to coordinate and be there when Mrs. Curry could do Abigail’s assessment, which we were thrilled about. Brooklyn and Savannah sat with me in the rotunda while we waited for them to finish. It was hard to believe my little girl was about to be a student at this big school!
Another big milestone this month – Abigail moved up to the K-1 class at church on July 30th. There are 13 kids in her class this year!!
It’s always fun to see what Abigail looks like after she uses her play makeup :) She usually looks very sparkly!
School started SO early this year (on August 3rd), which meant that the back-to-school teacher luncheon and Open House actually fell in July. It didn’t seem right to be back inside the school in July! Because I am serving on the PTA board this year, I helped set up and serve at the teacher luncheon before open house started. It went well, and the teachers and staff seemed to really appreciate the lunch.
I needed to work the PTA table at Open House, so Travis and the girls met me at school when it was time for their time slot to meet their teachers. We went to Mrs. Curry’s classroom first. Abigail was nervous to go in at first, but she was excited to see that the picture she gave Mrs. Curry at her kindergarten assessment was hanging up in her classroom! We found her locker and put her school supplies away. I know Abigail will have a great year!! Mrs. Borys had let us know ahead of time that she wouldn’t be able to be at Open House because she and her family were sick, but we still went by her classroom to find Savannah’s desk and put her supplies away. Savannah is so excited to have Mrs. Borys as her teacher and is also excited to already have some friends in her class (Gabriella and Anniston). We visited Mrs. Maynard’s classroom last. None of us had ever met her before, but Brooklyn loved how her classroom was decorated in an animal theme and that Mrs. Maynard is an Auburn fan too :) It was a successful open house!
Notes and Quotes from July 2023:
- 7/19/23 – Abigail’s gears had obviously been turning since she asked about the tooth fairy in June. Today she asked whether Santa was really just Daddy and me putting out presents. I explained to her about Santa and the Easter Bunny and she seemed to get it. It’s the end of an era! :( Brooklyn was adamant that she still wants to have Santa come and leave presents, so we will still do that, at least while everyone is still interested :)
- 7/28/23 – Rae Rae made a yummy dessert that has multiple names. Travis’s family calls them “Magic Cookie Bars”, but my family has always called them “Hello Dollies.” Abigail was hoping to eat one and asked, “Can I have a Helly Dollo for dessert?” :)
- 7/30/23 – We were talking about how Baugay will be 91 years old this year. Abigail said, “Whoa! We can’t let her be that old. That’s too old for her!”
- The summer absolutely flew by this year…I think partially because we traveled so much. The girls bickered a lot unfortunately, but there were also plenty of sweet moments. Brooklyn wanted to try a coconut (she put that on her summer bucket list), so we bought one and managed to finally crack it open. The girls spent a lot of time making bracelets and necklaces out of beads. They created their own Secret Sister Society and held meetings in the bathroom linen closet. Brooklyn also started her own massage business called Brooklyn’s Beautiful Back Rubs, and Savannah and Abigail started a competing back rub business too ;) We packed as much pool time and friend time in as we could. I also stayed busy getting up to speed on all the PTA secretary duties and attending several meetings as well as teaching the K-1 bible class. No wonder it went by so fast!
Thanks for reading!
