Where did July go?

July has been such a fun and crazy month. We started off the month with a visit from Aaron's mom, Grammy Carol, and my sweet niece Hailey. We haven't seen them in almost a year, so it was so great for them to come and visit us. The kids adore their Grammy and they were able to play so much. I think trains and swimming sums up the several days that we had together. Carol was great to let me rest as much as I needed as she played endlessly with the kids. Camden loved having Hailey around to play with, and he especially loved Hailey's little dog, Heather. Poor Heather took about as much abuse as possible. Camden was just thrilled to have a little dog that he could actually pick up and carry around. We went to the mountains for a fun picnic, Carol and the kids went swimming nearly every day, and Camden introduced Hailey to trains galore. We were sad to see them go. I am even sadder to say that I don't have a single picture. There always seemed to be a camera going, but it wasn't until later that I realized that it was always Carol's camera and not mine. So, Carol, if you're reading this, I would love to have any photos emailed to me!

The Fourth of July was so much fun. We had a little party at our neighbors house where we grilled and did some fireworks out in the front yard. The kids had a water fight and got soaked and were so cold, but had so much fun. We went to see the fireworks at the Air Force Base and Camden thoroughly enjoyed that. Audrey was too tired to care.

The following week the kids took swimming lessons. Camden really enjoyed it and is now so much more confident in the water. He loves jumping in and going under now and doing the "monkey walk" along the wall. Audrey learned how to do submersions, which she didn't like very much. She also did back floats and blew bubbles. She didn't love it as much as Camden, but I think she had fun too.

July happens to be birthday month for us as well. Aaron's birthday was on the 18Th and mine was the 24Th. We had fun celebrating those by having good food, desserts, sharing with friends, and going out to eat at The Melting Pot - a first for us.

Perhaps the biggest event of July is Camden starting preschool. He is in his second week now and seems to be enjoying it. He just goes on Tues. and Thurs. mornings and seems to be enjoying it so far. It's just a little hard on mom to see her first go to preschool. You should see him though. He is so excited to take his little backpack and lunchbox every day. Usually his backpack is empty, but he insists on taking it anyway. It's so cute. I'll have to post some pictures soon of as many of these July events that I have, but for now, I just wanted to get the writing up. :)