July

I felt like the summer just started. We rolled through June and I was so excited about all we had planned for July. Then I blinked...and it was over!

I guess it's no surprise, given our schedule.

31 days in July

20 of them we were out of town

5 of them the kids were in camp

2 of them we had out-of-town guests

2 of them we worked in our church's kids program

You do the math...that schedule left very few free days! But, of course, we wouldn't have it any other way!

In no particular order, here are all the pictures that didn't make it into another post:

 Lily Kate's birthday party at Bounce U

 Sweet little friends!

 Harper's birthday at the pool

 First Day of Camp
Phonics in the AM for Miller
Math in the AM and Art in the PM for Mary Grace

 Looks like our deer family had another baby! We love watching them walk through our yard (or our neighbors which is in this photograph) almost every day!

 Date Night with Miller- he even opened my door!

 Last day of camp at Charlotte Country Day-
these kids are already looking forward to going back next year. They loved it!

 One of Mary Grace's paintings from art camp

 This picture might technically be from June, but I forgot to post...
Mary Grace won the putting contest at golf camp one day. She got a club golf ball and a massive candy treat as a prize!

 Mary Grace's eyes were bothering her after a long day at the pool. Not having any better ideas, I suggested that we put some cold cucumber on her eyes. Now she wants this treatment every night! I have created a monster!

Our family vacations are always so funny! We've gotten into such a good groove where we can travel and work well together. Here is Brent on a conference call/meeting while I have the kids out at a food stop.

Play-doh Elephant by Mary Grace

 Free Tea day at McAlister's

Miller has a love/hate relationship with hats. He always begs to wear one, but then after about an hour he gets tired of it. Because his hair is so curly and crazy, our rule of thumb is that if he wears a hat out of the house, he has to keep it on until we get home.
He's taken to turning the hat backwards when it starts bugging him. I love how cool he looks!

 This is how we rolled through July-
literally unpacking, doing laundry, and repacking simultaneously!

 Baby Tate arrived!!
I was so thankful Amy let me come to the hospital to snuggle him for a few minutes. He's absolutely the sweetest!

 NASCAR Hall of Fame
Mary Grace drove the simulator with Nathan and Brent. There were 14 cars in the race, and Mary Grace ended up coming in 6th (she was the only child driver!) which beat both Brent and Nathan. So proud of her slow and steady- and totally calm under pressure- driving skills!

 We loved having Nathan and Rachel in town for a couple days!
Fun time at NASCAR Hall of Fame

 A rooftop view of Charlotte

 Amazing dinner at Cowfish

 My kids love Nathan and Rachel so much! It was so special to see their bond return immediately as if no time had passed since we left Lexington.
Rachel was Miller's first babysitter- and watched MG a TON too.

 We all completed a 500 piece puzzle in a few hours. Mary Grace loved having all the enthusiastic and obsessive helpers!

Such a fun, but exhausting month!! Looking forward to life slowing down a little in August!