July wrap-up

July is the month our summer heated up both literally and figuratively. We spent the weekend of the 4th up with family to celebrate a birthday, headed to Rhode Island for our anniversary, took a trip up to Leesburg to visit more family, Chris was gone for a week for a work conference, and had several visitors over a couple weeks to help us watch Eleanor while I picked up a couple shifts and daycare was closed for vacation. In the midst of that, Red Thunder (Chris' car) finally gave out after many years of loyal service and we obtained a new vehicle. Still, we had a lot of normalcy in our day to day operations.

Eleanor is registered for a summer reading program at the library this summer, where she gets prizes for reading books and "discussing" them with library employees. She got a bag to carry her books in (her favorite part) and sometimes coupons for ice cream! It has been fun for both of us. They also have craft activities once a week and Eleanor has made a jellyfish cloud animal and a superhero mask.

The local movie theater also offers $1 movies for kids on Tuesday mornings, which we have gone to once or twice. So far it turns into Eleanor watching for a few minutes and then running around the theater for the rest of the time, but she still has fun with her friends!

Eleanor got to go to the National Zoo in D.C. with her grandparents and aunts when we were in Rhode Island. She apparently loved it, particularly the sea lions. She also got up to lots of other fun activities, including riding the train at Burke Lake Park. 

Friends invited us over one evening to grill out and despite some rain, it was a great and relaxing evening. 

Auntie Erika was one of the people who came down to watch Eleanor this month and they had a great outing to CW. They saw sheep, horses, and watched a speech (the Declaration of Independence), which Eleanor has continued to talk about weeks after the fact: "Peech wit Eh-kah!"

My mom also came down to help watch Eleanor for a couple days the following week and they took walks around the neighborhood, trips to the park and Target, made new friends, and (my favorite) did some cleaning!

VBS happened at church in July and we were too busy to go, but I did take Eleanor to their social event the night that happened. She got to sing and dance with her friends to songs and eat ice cream. Basically every morning she has started shouting "V-B-S!!!" to me (it was initially "B-S!!" so I had to correct her). I will have to work on getting that week off next year so she can go. 

Goodbye, July! Hello, August!