July!

Well, our exciting month is behind us, and what fun it was!  Let's see...July 1st seems like a long time ago.  We started out the month with my last-ever day of watching Saywer on Monday the 2nd.  I had watched him 3 days a week on the 9-week year-round school rotation since July 2015.  I am so happy to have been able to help his family out and am also looking forward to some newfound freedom for me (once the girls start school, that is)!  We went to swim at Enzo's house on the 3rd and did some trip work on the 4th, as well as a trip to our pool and then a fun neighbor party at Ms. Karen's that afternoon/evening...until storms broke up the party.  The kids yet again missed seeing fireworks due to storms and trips. 

We left Friday morning the 6th for our weekend in Indiana!  We drove to Columbus, Ohio, that day and spent the night in a cute suburb northwest of Columbus called Dublin.  We swam in the Residence Inn pool, had pizza in the room for dinner, and then walked around the historic downtown/riverfront area of Dublin. 



Saturday morning, we drove the remaining 3 hours to the Big Barbee area, including a stop at the ol' Meijer by our old house.  We helped set up for Grandpa's 90th birthday party, which started at 1pm.  The party was so much fun and we had perfect weather.  The girls enjoyed swimming off the dock, riding in pontoon boats, and also on the jet ski.  Bob enjoyed playing volleyball all day and I enjoyed seeing everyone and just being at the lake.  We stayed at an Airbnb cottage at nearby Lake Webster which was large and nicely furnished.  Sunday morning, we all met at Jellystone Campground for 7:30am Mass and then had a great day at Barbee, swimming and riding on the boat.  We had a terrific time and loved seeing everyone!  We got up bright and early on Monday and drove the whole way back...5 stops later, we were door-to-door in about 12 hours.  Not too bad!





The following week was our down time between trips.  The girls and I took in "Sing" at Crossroads theater on Wednesday morning, hit the Y a few times, met some friends at their pool on Thursday, and had Enzo and Luke over on Friday.  Saturday, we made a day trip to Concord for Elliott's first birthday, which was so much fun!  On Sunday, we had church, Anna partied at Lifetime Fitness with for Gabi's birthday, and we went to a nice dinner at Enrigo in Cary with the Knights of Columbus.  Monday and Tuesday, we had Sarah here while her parents worked, and Erin went to see a movie with Enzo and his family.  We went to the YMCA pool on Monday and painted some pottery on Tuesday.  Wednesday, I got my windshield replaced after an incident driving home from Indiana, and we made our final preparations for the big trip to Europe (FULL RECAP HERE)! 



After getting back on Sunday the 29th, we worked on laundry, unpacking, and setting back in.  It took us a few days to completely adjust to the jet lag (or at least me), but now we are settled back in and are back to normal.  Bob left for Boston on Monday for the week.  I went to the dentist on Monday and the girls had a blast with new babysitter Kate.  Otherwise, we are just hanging out and enjoying the final stretch of summer!