July Wrap Up

We’ve done some other random summer fun stuff.  So, this is about that. 

We made slime – twice.  The first time was a fail; the second was better, but not the best.  I am open to slime lessons for my kids!

We did our annual lemonade and cookie stand at Laura’s garage sale in Ashland.  This year we made snickerdoodles and rainbow sugar cookies.  It was super hot and our profit margin was much lower than in years past.  But they had fun, so it was worth it.

The girls were able to get together with a few friends.  There are three other moms who I’ve gotten together with on a semi-regular basis.  Between our four families we have 11 girls!!! (and no boys)  This day at the park we were one family short, but this is 7 of the 9 that were there that day.  

At the end of the few hours together, the rain started coming down in sheets.  The girls had a blast being kids.  (And I overrode my no-fun-mom mode and let them do it…)

    

They had a bonus play date with Avery, a friend of Ellie’s that is a year younger than her.  I enjoy spending time with her mom as well.  So, it was a great way to spend one morning.

The girls love VBS at Stanwood Community Church.  The church does an amazing job making the week special for the kids.  The music leaders always blow me away, too.  So, we signed up again this year.  And they had fun.  The last night, they put on a “concert” of their songs for parents and others that want to come.  Then serve brownie sundaes; yum!

One day, we were reading our Ranger Rick magazine at breakfast.  It talked about making scavenger hunts.  The girls jumped on board right away.  It worked out well because I could go shopping for vacation surprises and they had a mission while at home.  So, they made clues for each other and hid a treasure (aka piece of candy) at the end.  It was fun.

        

And they have been begging to camp in our backyard all summer.  Finally, we had a free night AND it was a cooler night.  In fact, it was perfect camping weather.  So, we did it.  And then we got suckered in to doing it a second night too!

Grandma Yoh took the girls first day of school clothes shopping which has become an annual tradition the last 2-3 years now.  They always have so much fun and are so proud of the outfits they pick out.  The hard part is getting them to wait until school starts to actually wear them.  Maybe it doesn’t matter in the end, but it feels like if they don’t save it for the first day, then it is just another piece of clothing.  So glad Gloria makes the day special for them.  (While they did that, Sandy and I went clothes shopping and to the Indian buffet at Bombay Sitar… our annual tradition, too.)

    

July has flown by.  I am not ready for August, for school, or for the shift in our lives.  But it will work.  And I am thankful for a job that allows me the summers free to create memories and breathe a bit.  Teaching is hard sometimes, but summer is a perk always.