July Phone Dump

My overweight parrot died today.

I was upset, but it's a huge weight off my shoulder.

(This dad joke brought to you by Tyler, of course.)

Usually Tyler's dad jokes make me groan, but some make me chuckle, and that one stayed in my mind and it reminded me of how I feel about being finished with blogging 2017. I have a reward for myself if I ever get caught up on blogging. (It could happen.) I am now only two months behind. Today will finish off July and it is still September. That is pretty stellar. Now, I just need everyone to not do anything interesting for a couple weeks. Is that too much to ask. June is going to have a birthday and ruin it all, but I will allow it...this time.

Let's take a peek back at July. Summer is always busier than I think it will be. After all, with school out, we should just be chilling, but that is never quite how it goes.

We had 9 square set up on our lawn for a week or so. It was really fun. Random families would walk by and join in. This set is pretty tall so we let the littles catch it and toss it back up. It is a fun game. (Can't beat Spikeball though.)

Ivory cleaned out her room and got rid of some of her blankets. This is a big deal since she has been hoarding them since she was little. We took pictures and then she let them go. She still has her favorite blankets, and honestly, no one would want those. They are loved to shreds.

The Macbean's stopped by the day before the 4th. It was great to catch up with them. I wish they lived closer.

I was released from Activity Days. Swimming was the last activity I went to. Daisy was not happy that I left right when she was joining the older girls. I brought June and Ivory because it is more fun to play with older girls than leaders.

I'll warn you in advance that there are a lot of pictures of Pip this month, and I didn't include them all. Here are a few. She likes to sleep on people, she does NOT like to ride on people, and she enjoys basking in the sun.

We had a game night with the SYCLs from camp. Almost all the girls came and several leaders. It was a great night. I was released from my Girls Camp calling shortly after this, so this photo tugs at my heart. Such amazing girls.

It was very hard for me to lose my Girls Camp calling. There were many tears and I took several long walks so the kids didn't have to listen to me sniffle (and sob). In my neighbors yard there were some beautiful sunflowers. It is amazing what a little beauty can do to lift the heart.

We aren't very good about keeping the bird feeder filled, but it is fun to see the colorful birds that visit.

The littles filled some water balloons and then they filled their swimsuits. I would think that it would be cold, but maybe that is just the ticket in the summer.

Three guys on a scooter. (Two of them are girls.) This reminds me of a Studio C sketch. (Don't tell Tyler I called his motorcycle a scooter.)

Robyn did the window one day. I didn't even know she was going to paint it and she did it so quickly. I really liked it. Although we decided the unicorn reminded us of Littlefoot from the Land Before Time.

I curled Robyn's hair one day. She has a LOT of hair. It looked so pretty figured I should take a picture.

One of my favorite things is finding random pictures on my phone that Robyn has edited. They usually make me laugh. This one is no exception.

We love snails. Probably because I can't grow a garden. I'm assuming gardeners loves snails much less.

Tyler had us listen to an inspirational talk one Sunday. Put Pearl out like a light. If I had only known this would work before...

How many things can you fit in your toes? See if you can beat Robyn.

Nate and Camie did a roll playing campaign for us. It was really fun. We chose from characters they  brought. Most of us were orcs, but Ivory was a band of goblins. (So her character was really a group of creatures.) She colored her character page and I thought it looked really cool. We met a witch, got a potion, climbed a wall, disguised ourselves, frightened some kids, watched Kevin win a drinking contest, spoke with a priest, plotted with religious fanatics, tricked guards, killed guards, found a bald prince, captured him, blew up a bridge, burned boats, killed a wizard magician and made it back safely. All in a nights work.

Finally, one more of the pampered princess. She really likes to have her tummy rubbed.