We've continued to soak in the summer fun in July.
The kids finished our library's summer reading program and earned their prizes. They're still working on another reading list this summer to earn a "yes day" at the end of the summer.
We spent a weekend celebrating Matt's 40th birthday (a few weeks late). That's what happens when trying to coordinate three families' busy summer schedules.
The guys went shooting Saturday morning and out to lunch while the girls and kids had some fun decorating for the big birthday.
Good thing Daddy is a good sport.
We're raising up the next generation to be board game lovers too.
These girls were happy to spend the weekend together.
While the guys were out playing, we also took the kids to the pool for a couple of hours.
We love our 40 year old!
We spent the rest of the weekend playing games.
And eating birthday desserts.
A late night (goofy) game of Rook required a picture of the score.
We all went to church together on Sunday. The boys dressed alike.
It was flip flops and freezee pops day. Can you tell by their smiles that the girls loved it?
We've all been friends for 13 years this August. Love all these people so much! What a gift!
We rested for a bit on Sunday afternoon before heading out to Elisabeth's basketball game. Katherine couldn't hang for the game. Interesting story, while she was napping on Matt's lap, he spotted a tick in her ear!! We woke her up and went on a search for something to remove it with at the gym.
After successfully removing the tick, she was rewarded by a staff member with snacks and entered into a deep discussion about something with Keaton.
Hannah deserves some blog love. Earlier this Spring, Matt built her an outdoor pen, so she can spend some time outside when it's not too hot.
We've hosted a few pool play dates in July. We invited some CHEER friends over for an afternoon swim.
We miss seeing these friends every week at co-op!
Then a couple of days later, the Overtons and Newcombs came for a swim. The kids played so well together. We had to drag them away after almost four hours of swimming.
The boys were trying to make a double decker float. It was mostly unsuccessful.
They couldn't have lasted so long without snacks- except I didn't pack a lunch, because I hadn't expected them to want to swim for so long that morning.
These two are inseparable when they're together. Love how they're just floating and chatting.
At the end of the month we planned a dinner/sleepover with the Shondelmyers. The boys stayed with Keaton and Wyatt, and we brought Kaydence home with us. Those girls play so well together. They have very similar personalities, but somehow manage to still get along, ha! Their latest favorite thing to do is play Calico Critters.
We traded back kids at the girls' last basketball game of the summer. They played in the championship, and it was a tough, aggressive game! They ended up losing by one point. Whoo! It was emotional. Elisabeth learned and grew a lot and is ready to play again soon.
The boys spent the last week of July at Camp Siloam with our church. They had both been previously and were very excited for the week. Nathan really likes the drama that the camp does each day, and Samuel loves all the activities especially the bottle rocket competition.
While they were off living their best camp life, the girls and I took advantage of our girls' week.
The Sunday before they left, Elisabeth wore this adorable jumpsuit to church. She recently received some hand me downs from a friend, and we both couldn't get enough of this cute outfit.
On Monday after we dropped off the boys at camp, we headed to the nail salon for some pampering. Manicures and pedicures for everyone!
The girls have both matured and have a longer stamina to sit while they nails are getting done and drying.
They turned out really cute. It was the perfect activity for our first girls' day.
We came home and snuggled up to watch the Barbie Dreamhouse Design Challenge.
We also watched A Cinderella Story on Monday night. All the girly movies and shows! We made a list before the boys left.
The girls also wanted to have some play dates with all girl families, since it was easier with the boys gone. Kamryn and Addisyn spent Tuesday afternoon with us.
We watched another movie on Tuesday night- The Lizzie Mcguire Movie, and the soundtrack was continually playing all week long.
We did some shopping for new clothes and school supplies and ate lunch together after our shopping trip.
Katherine is in love with this new jumpsuit she found.
They also had another playdate with Kamryn and Addisyn at their house on Wednesday.
For our last full girls' day we visited a local coffee shop for treats and shopped at Sams.
Meanwhile the boys were having a blast at camp. I received a few pictures from sweet friends who were sponsors.
Apparently, Samuel ate three bowls of Fruit Loops for lunch one day, ha!
On Thursday, Samuel built our church's bottle rocket for the annual competition.
Usually, I'd be worried when I'm getting texts from camp at 10:00 at night, but these texts were the best. Samuel's rocket won the competition and set a record for the entire summer of camp! So cool! I'm proud of Samuel and excited for him to get a moment in the spotlight. He is a shy kid and always content to stay in the background, and I'm just so happy for him that he used his brain and talents to win this for the church.
We also found out on Friday, that FBCBA won the church of the week, and Samuel's first place trophy helped them earn it. Just so cool!
Samuel doesn't give up smiles easily, so I almost teared up when a friend sent me this picture of him with that giant, genuine smile.
He even got to go up on stage and receive the trophy in front of the whole camp at the closing ceremony on Friday morning.
Although we thoroughly enjoyed our girls' week, by Friday we were missing our boys. The girls made a welcome home sign to welcome them back.
Love, love, love these girls. Having daughters brings such joy to my life.
Nothing compares to having our boys home.
Having all my babies back together is the best feeling!
Samuel showing off the fruits of his labor. I know that week at camp will be a memory he keeps with him forever.
The boys are also so sweet to use their spending money from camp to buy treats for their sisters. Samuel bought them both frisbees, and Nathan bought Katherine a stuffed dog, and Elisabeth some candy.
