July!

Whew, we survived July!  It was hot...but not too hot...and full of lots of fun!  Bob was off work through the 6th for the company shut down, and he stayed busy selling the Mustang, completing our wills/etc., installing our spiffy new TV antenna and Roku box and subsequently getting rid of cable (oh, the freedom!  and the money saved!), and lots of other odd jobs around the house.  We ladies hit the pool a couple of times and supported his endeavors whenever possible.  Erin and I went to neighbor friends Ella's house for a fun cookout on the 4th of July, but poor Anna was home with a fever and a cold.  We have circulated a couple of viruses in our house over the past month - nothing too bad, but it's never fun to be under the weather.

The week of the 7th was the long-awaited, much-anticipated Disney princess dance camp week!  The girls and I learned that dance camp is not all fun and games!  They worked really hard learning lots of ballet positions and a cute little choreographed dance to (of course) a song from Frozen.  This was Erin's first time in a regular dance class, and she really did great...even better than Anna who was too tired from working so hard!



Erin's gymnastics career has temporarily (or maybe permanently) ended after listening to her complain about going for the past couple of months.  They ended their year at the end of July, so we wanted her to finish out the year.  Of course, now she says she wants to go back!  We were really proud of her for sticking with it for a whole 12 months.  She worked very hard and really got stronger!



Bella decided to get an eye infection, so we ladies took her to the vet on the 14th, which ended up being quite entertaining for the girls.  I love that it is so much easier to take them places now!  We also got Bella's nails trimmed another day, which made the little doggie mommies quite nervous.  Bob went to Germany from the 16th-22nd, and he really enjoyed the time he got to sightsee this pretty area of the world.  Grandma A. came up for a few days while he was gone, and we had lots of fun together!  We finally tried out Playnation, an indoor play area, while Grandma was here, and it was a big hit!

We got to meet a few of Erin's new kindergarten classmates on the 19th, which really seemed to put her at ease regarding the big change in her life.  She had lots of fun!  Otherwise, we stayed busy with library trips, church, the Y, pool, playing with friends, OT, and swim lessons while Daddy was gone.

Then, the big finale for July, was our big Mystery Trip, as named by Bob...he wouldn't tell me anything about where we were going until after we took the kids to Grandma and Grandpa A.'s in Concord on the 23rd, stayed the night, and got to the Charlotte airport on the 24th.  We went to Jamaica!  It was crazy and definitely a big surprise, but it was so nice of him, and was so much fun!  We stayed at a Couples resort in Negril, and it was all-inclusive and really, really nice.  It was quiet and laid-back, and just beautiful!  We had lots of fun snorkeling, paddleboarding, kayaking, and floating in the beautiful ocean and pools.  It was awesome!



We got back on the 27th and all came back home on the 28th.  Erin had her first day of staggered-entry kindergarten on the 29th and seemed to have mixed reviews, though the teachers said that she did great!  Tomorrow is her first regular day/week in her class, so we'll see how the week goes.  Our big girl is growing up!