Our July: The Marathon Post

Where has summer gone?  I can't believe it is almost over.  It goes by too quickly.  I thought I'd do a little recap of July.  I've tried to blog several times.  My lists of drafts is quite long.  We have had some challenging things this summer.  I am trusting that God is trying to teach us and grow us.  That being said, here are a few of our fun moments in July.

Swim team ended. I loved watching the kids. What a great sport!  Kathryn and Jack really loved it.  I think it really gave each of them confidence in what they could achieve.  It was a huge blessing to get to know other gals in our neighborhood.  It was so fun to visit every morning and just do life with my other swim team mom friends.  I can't wait until next summer!  
We were unable to go away on an extended vacation this summer.  It was so obvious to us that we needed to be home.  Jerry took a week off and we just did fun things around town.  It was actually a very relaxing vacation.  Since we were home, I was able to to attend a funeral and visit with extended family.  Jerry loves to fish, and he has really passed that to Kathryn and Jack.  They will take the fish off the hook too.  A month of lots of rain meant fun stuff indoors.  Only Henry could get this much cookie dough on his face and in his hair!
I was able to take the kids up to my parents' house for a week.  We took Kathryn to camp for the first time.  The rest of us went to the zoo that week.  I just love the Children's Zoo.  The kids can do so many fun activities, the animals are closer together, more rides, and the kids can interact with more animals too. 
Jack and Henry had their first pony rides.  Henry loved the fact that he picked the smallest pony there.  Jack picked the largest.  

This part of the zoo is always amazing to me.  The kangaroos can hop right in your path.  It is so fun for the kids to be this close to the animals.  Jack loves the game Zoo Tycoon, so he had fun getting ideas for "his zoo."
Mom and I took Kathryn to camp.  She was so excited.  I was so proud of her. She went by herself.  She was there for two nights.  She introduced herself to her new friends and sat with them at the opening program.  When it was time to go with her counselor, she goes, "Bye Mom!" and just waved.  It was fun to see how the camp has changed since I went.  One of my high school and grade school friends had a daughter in Kathryn's cabin too!  What fun!  She loved camp so much.  It was fun to hear all the details over the next several weeks. She would just tell stories whenever they came to her.  So fun!
Jerry built five chairs while he was on vacation.  He even let Jack build one chair. It was great bonding for them, and Jack was thrilled to get to use all the tools.  He was very proud of his accomplishment too.

Baseball ended in July too.  My parents were able to come down for Jack's last game.  

Kathryn continued with piano in the summer.  Jack starts next week.  She can play a lot by ear, which is always amazing to me.  There are many moments of, "Mom, guess what this is."  "This is Me" from Camp Rock is her newest favorite. 
My parents have visited several times to see the kids in all their activities.  Bridget is all about my mom right now. She is just squeezing her so tightly. Bridget has also become a full-on toddler.  She is exploring and into everything. 
Enjoy the rest of the summer--for us that is less than a week!  Sorry for the marathon post.  I'll try to do better when school starts--more structure is always good for me.