Anybody else feel like the summer flew by? I felt like March and April were three years long–each. And then somehow June and July are already over and I haven’t even had time to process them yet!
July ended up being a fairly busy month for our family- we got away for a weekend as a family, we completed our 2nd rental property, and we attended a family reunion!
We started July off with the 4th of July. This has always been a confusing holiday for me, especially since I’ve never felt overly patriotic (the third culture kid in me). This year, it felt especially complicated with all of the hardships and insults that have flown around the past few months. On top of that, Theo had to work the entire 4th and I was just feeling down in the dumps. So I reached out to my friends and Christine and I decided to get our families together for a low key 4th of July.
Parades and Fireworks are two of my favorite things in the world, and I was really bummed that they were all cancelled this year. (Theo was delighted). However, I found out that a nearby town was doing a socially distant parking lot fireworks show and I reallllly wanted to take the kids. Only problem? Solo Mom. Fireworks don’t start until TWO hours past the kids bedtime. Well, by golly….I made it happen. And, Theo got off work just in time to see the fireworks with us!! This is the only night of the year that I let my kids stay up so late (midnight, if you must know).
The week after the 4th, Theo was F I N A L L Y able to take some time off work and we took a little family vacation to northern MI for a long weekend. We really, really needed the rest and family time together. It’s been a long few months and Theo has worked a lot of hours. We needed fresh air, no wifi, and the ability to just think and process some of the experiences we have had the past few months.
After getting home from our family vacation, we hit the ground running. Theo went back to work and we spent almost all of our free time/days off fixing up our second rental property. A few weeks in, we were asked if there was any possibility a missionary family could move into it at the end of July. This meant that were now on a time crunch and had to spend almost every waking minute working to get the house finished!
Working on flipping a house with kids around is not…ideal. We learned a lot in the process, we taught the kids a lot in the process, and in the end we were about ready to pull out our hair. It was a stressful situation and the kids were BORED out of their minds on the 30th straight day of working in an empty house. Don’t worry…Ezra found ways to entertain himself. That screwdriver was inserted into a light socket. Somehow, even though there were sparks and pops and smoke, Ezra was not hurt. Sigh. He also took it upon himself to paint the wall, the floor and himself. Thankfully he at least had the grace to choose the correct color.
Don’t worry, I did treat the kids to ice cream on what felt like the billionth day working at the rental.
I’ll share complete before and after pictures in a separate post, but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out!
In between working, we managed to make some fun memories
Theo took the kids on their annual backpacking trip! He was brave enough to take all three kids this year, and even though he had to carry Ezra a lot of the time, they managed to hike 3 miles round trip!
We have done ZERO educational things this summer. I mean, I’ve read them a couple books every day. But I have led exactly zero educational activities. I am hoping that they won’t feel too far “behind” when school starts next week! And, hey…here is some proof that my kiddos know how to hold a writing utensil still.
We also attempted to make a cake roll. Here is the thing…as perfect as these pictures may seem, the truth behind them is that being in the kitchen with my kids is not my strong suit. I would really like to work on this.
We discovered a new favorite hobby in our family…creeking! We have found several shallow creeks in our area, and I have found that the kids can explore them for HOURS. They love to find animals and just walk around in the shallow water. Turns out Theo loves it just as much as the kids!
We’ve also spent a lot of time outside in our backyard – usually we do something with water to keep ourselves cool!
Theo found me a treadmill in the trash and this has been a total game changer for me in my running life and therefore my mental health. Now I don’t have to arrange all my runs around when Theo is home. I can run during nap time, I can run after the kids go to bed and I can even run while the kids are awake and playing in the garage! One day Ezra put on my socks and shoes and hopped up on the treadmill. I guess they really are watching!
One day I took the kids to school to pick up some things. Ezra was having a terrible day and was crying the entire drive there. Even as I got them out of the van and took them inside, Ezra was still crying. There was a therapy dog there who is in his final phase of training before he is matched with a child (probably an autistic child or one who has epilepsy). As soon as he heard Ezra crying, he came IMMEDIATELY to Ezra and wouldn’t leave his side. It was the sweetest thing, and it really did calm Ezra down!
We finished off the month of July with a trip to Northern Michigan for a family reunion! I know the notion of traveling to be with family right now is a controversial subject, so I am hesitant to share too much about that trip. It was a wonderful and encouraging time with family, although it did have it’s pieces of drama. I’m so thankful that we were able to spend that time together.
Now we are kissing summer goodbye and jumping straight into the rigors of August- back to school we go!