And just like that, July is over. Actually, this past week has felt a little long as everyone in the house has been sick to some degree, except for me. Graham even had a trip to the ER by ambulance but thankfully he didn't need to stay and is almost better. I think everyone is finished taking fever medication. Lily-Anna still has a cough and Kohen is dealing with an allergic skin reaction. Isaac is nearly better.
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| Strawberry picking on a beautiful morning |
Other than that, it's been a great month. We started the month by taking our new tent to Graham's parents' home. It was our first time setting it up and it didn't take very long. The kids and I enjoyed sleeping outside for two nights. The kids saw some fireworks from the tent when I was trying to get them to sleep so we ended up looking at them from the lawn and then driving around trying to get a closer view. We didn't find them but we made a new memory driving around in our PJs.
At some point this month, Lily-Anna's fish Sunny died. It lived the longest of the three guppies that we bought as a Christmas present in early 2021. (I think they opened the tank on Christmas Eve.) Lily-Anna took it in stride. Our time with fish is now over. It definitely took more time than I had anticipated to regularly clean the fish tank. I did enjoy singing goodnight to them.
We remembered Josiah on the 9th anniversary of his death. We took flowers to the grave and the kids went for a bike ride. Actually, that was the day that Lily-Anna learned to ride her bike! Graham is an excellent teacher.
The kids have enjoyed a few different activities including VBS, swimming, gymnastics, and soccer. Isaac has aged out of VBS and is too young to volunteer with kids but he was able to help in the kitchen and he really enjoyed it. I helped out with the youngest group and enjoyed getting to know the kids better. I already knew some of them as I help out in the Sunday School class for that age group. Kohen and Lily-Anna had fun in their groups.
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| Bowling with Kohen |
Lily-Anna missed the first two days of VBS as she was on the Annual Daddy-Daughter Camping Trip. She and Graham joined my two brothers and their four daughters for the first time. It took them three hours to canoe and portage to their campsite. Lily-Anna loved it and was well taken care of by her cousins as she is younger than them by six to ten years.
Thankfully my aunt asked me what I was going to do with the boys while Graham and Lily-Anna were away. I tired them out at Funvilla on the Saturday and we enjoyed some favourite foods and treats with a movie. We also found time to play minigolf.
We are a little new to summer day camps. I like that both the soccer and gymnastics camps offered half days. Kohen called it "Fake Gymnastics Camp" as the emphasis was not on learning new skills or necessarily doing gymnastics. That was disappointing as he was so excited when he found out about it. Isaac really enjoyed soccer camp but again there didn't seem to be much skill training happening. Kohen had to miss out on soccer this week but the organization very kindly let me switch him to a later week in August, even though I didn't request this until Wednesday. Lily-Anna missed the final two mornings of soccer but she was happy to get her medal and the staff wrote nice notes to the kids.
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| Nerf war - bring it on! |
We enjoyed staying at Raybeth a couple of weekends ago. That is Graham's parents' old property whose new owners (friends) invited them to stay while they were away. The highlight this year was the laser tag that the kids found in the basement. It was fun running around and trying to shoot each other.
Lily-Anna decided that she was willing to give up the recliner in her room in order to have space for a desk. My childhood desk and hutch (that matches my old bed and dresser in her room) has been stored in my parents' basement so we brought that over as well as the bedside table and now she has her own private place to make some art. I did enjoy our cuddles on the recliner as we read the Bible and stories before bed but now we read on her bed. The recliner is in the basement. It's also a great 'sick chair' for those times when Lily-Anna just needed to be on me and/or inclined while sick and trying sleep. Perhaps she has outgrown needing that as well. We have a couple of albums of Scripture Lullabies that we always put on if she wakes up sick in the middle of the night. They help calm her and get her back to sleep.
I'll say goodnight and head to bed.
Blessings,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth
Psalm 24:1-2
The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
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| Enjoying some cookie dough |
