July!

Well, July was a really eventful month, even though we didn't plan for it to be!  It started out on a very sad note with our wonderful neighbor friend of almost 9 years, Tom Tierney, passing away suddenly the night of the 1st.  He had been sick, but this was still not expected.  We spent a lot of the month of July helping to entertain kids, hosting visitors for them, organizing a meal train and making food, setting up an Amazon wish list for household items, dog sitting, etc.  The funeral was on the 8th at the new Holy Name Cathedral, and was truly beautiful.  The luncheon was at our very own StMM, and we helped to arrange, set up, and clean up for that.  It still doesn't seem real and we are all so sad, but we are trying to help Kate and the kids keep going as much as we can.

Other than that, we had Olivia over on the 1st for a sleepover and playing, Anna enjoyed reading to a therapy dog at the library, we had a subdued but nice July 4th cookout after some time at the pool with 2 neighbor families and then enjoyed some small (but numerous!) fireworks at a house in the neighborhood.  Friday, Anna went to a craft class at Michaels with Caitlin.  Sunday was the visitation at the funeral home, and Liz and David were so nice to come hang out with the girls and Finley during that time...even after David had gotten bitten by a squirrel earlier in the day!





After the funeral, it was more back to normal for us...we had the usual summer activities of dog walking Murphy, dance classes, and reading tutoring. 



We had a fun pool day on Thursday the 11th and met Anna's friend Kacey at the library later that day for a really fun ice cream making event!  The next day found us at another library for an owl/birds of prey presentation which included a hawk, a falcon (I forgot they were so small), and 3 owls (great horned, barred, and screech) who visited as a part of a rescue organization.  Erin endured all of the younger kids who did not respect these grand creatures as much as she does ;)  Bob had a successful trip to Boston Tuesday-Friday of this week.



Saturday the 13th, Anna had a tennis lesson with some school friends and we went to church that evening.  Sunday was a fun party day in Concord for Elliott and Grandpa's birthdays!  We even got to go to Elliott's pool and had such a great time!  On the 15th, I stained the new deck walkway that Bob had done a great job replacing over the week of the funeral.  We also met Kate's friend at the pool and helped watch some of her kids for a few hours there.  That afternoon, the girls tried a new 4-week dance class through the parks and rec department.  We didn't realize (bad mom move) that it was a segment of a year-long class, so the other kids had been in the class all year and were preparing for a summer performance.  Whoops!  The teacher let them stay and they have enjoyed trying something new for these 4 weeks.

We had a fun time on Tuesday the 16th swimming at the Lorenzetti's and weighing in on their new house paint color decision (she had a lady there putting samples on the siding).  We had a fun outing to the dance store and craft store on Thursday and Anna played at Mitchell's house for a couple of hours while Erin and I worked on making the teacher birthday cards for this coming year.  The piano got tuned on the 19th in preparation for a fun year of making music (as Margaret says) ahead!  Saturday the 20th we cleaned out the dining room to prep for painting it, and got our weeklong guinea pig houseguest from Ella.  We also had a fun family dinner at the Hickory Tavern and enjoyed lower humidity after some rain earlier that week.

Monday the 22nd, Anna had her 3-year checkup with the cardiologist, her best buddy Dr. Robinson.  They did an ekg and echo and all looked good!  He has moved to WakeMed and we got to see his new office in the Apex Healthplex, which is super nice.  Erin was under the weather that day with some kind of unknown issue (headache?), but she was able to lay low and felt better that evening.  Starting Tuesday, Anna tried something new - the morning camp at Sonshine Gymnastics with Laney!  She had a blast 4 mornings this week, plus 3 the next week...and also got to see Sarah and Mitchell each twice as well.  The camp sounds super fun and they had tons of activities.  Other than that, it was the usual events this week...Bob was in Boston 3 days, and we got the dining room painted on Friday.  It looks soooo much brighter and nicer!  We tried a new furniture arrangement and will see how it goes.

Saturday the 27th was a busy day - more tennis, but just Anna and Kacey this week, then I got to meet friends Whitney and Melanie for a late lunch and had a great time while Bob and the girls set up for the Knights installation dinner...then we all plus Finely went to the Black Dog Bottle Shop here in Holly Springs where Finley's rescue group was hosting an event.  We saw some adorable puppies for adoption, but the wounds are too fresh there! 



After all that, Bob had the installation and dinner.  Sunday the 28th was Erin's first time as an altar server, and she did wonderfully!  We were really proud of her and all celebrated with donuts after. 



We went to a fun neighborhood night at the Salamanders game that evening and sat by some friends. 



Monday we swam again at Enzo and Luke's, Tuesday was a mostly quiet day at home, and Wednesday we had a fun play day with Sarah here between camp and dance class.

So, that was July!  It had many happy times and some sad times, but overall it was a good month.  Finley behaved himself fairly well...he is still growing and has his crazy time in the evening, but he is a very sweet boy and is slowly becoming more trustworthy and seems to be learning the rules (somewhat).  Most notable for him this month was the gradual ending of him sleeping in the crate at night.  He definitely still goes in it when we leave during the day, though.

We are looking forward to some excitement in August - a super fun trip and school starting!  Yay!