July Little Things

We kicked off July by getting serious about swim lessons.

I enrolled all the boys in lessons at the same time, but since Blake was already practicing with the swim team and didn't need lessons, he took a diving course so he would have something to do too.

He absolutely loved it. So much that he ended up switching from swimming to diving six months later.

On the last day of lessons, Nash and Crew were invited to jump off the high dive, which they did with no fear.

We made lots of trips to the beach.

Tuesday is ward beach day and we never miss it. The boys love to hit the waves surrounded by friends.

I took Blake and Nash on a bike trail I heard about that leads from our house to the ocean. We only got turned around once and were pleasantly surprised to find out that the entire trip was only 9 miles and could be done in around an hour.

We did stop along the way, of course, for some scenic views and for Nash to relax.

When we made it to the beach, Troy and the other boys joined us so we could load up our bikes. No way were we going to bike entirely uphill back home.

Before we turned around, we made sure to put in a few beach hours.

The sight of an exhausted, sand-covered napper never gets old.

We were sad to miss out on the annual Nash family reunion in Michigan, so we drowned our sorrows in a 500 piece Mackinac Island puzzle.

It is well known that Amazon Prime Day is Troy's favorite holiday. He either takes the day off work or works from home so he can make sure to snag all the best deals. We get a kick out of all the boxes arriving on our front porch two days later.

More beach time...

...and pool time.

We went to a Pioneer Day carnival where Crew won a goldfish. It lasted for several weeks in our backyard fountain, which I call a win.

The balloon swords, however, only lasted minutes.

Blake and Nash learned how to make pom pom balls and adorned their bunk bed with their creations.

This snapshot captures Nash perfectly; sweatpants, no shirt, favorite hat, relaxing in his own corner and getting all of his comic drawing ideas out on paper.

Crew picked out a ladybug for his cute preschool friend, Ava. He knew she loved ladybugs and he saved it for weeks until it was her birthday. 

When the big day finally arrived, we wrapped it up and delivered it to the birthday girl.

We went to another carnival thrown by our orthodontist. The kids walked away with balloon animals, face paint, raffle prizes and bellies full of tacos and sno cones.

I've talked about it before, but I can never get over the golden light that streams across our cul-de-sac every night, illuminating every leaf and flower and casting long shadows.

My laundry room drying hooks overflowing with boys' swimsuits was a pretty good representation of how we spent July.