Getting home from our trip out west, we only had two weeks left of summer, and even less time before Lily was going to be set apart as a missionary. Because the school year is looming, we tried to make sure and squeeze in some fun. Lily was especially impressed with our new swim spa and loved getting to play with the boys in it.
On Tuesday, Lily and I were able to attend the San Antonio Temple, which was wonderful. It really is amazing going to the temple with my sweet girl.
Tuesday night, I was able to sneak out with my friends Erica and Jana (Rice) to go see the movie "Where the Crawdads Sing," which was so good!! I loved the book, and the movie was super well done. It was also just really nice to take a moment to recline in the fancy movie theater chairs and relax.
Wednesday was our activity that we had in July for our primary girls.(Summer is crazy with people out of town, and so we only had one activity in each June and July.) We had a movie night and watched the remake of "The Parent Trap" - you know, the remake that was made 24 years ago - ha ha! I borrowed a screen and Kevin hooked up our projector, and then I made tons of popcorn and the girls brought treats to share. they had a blast, loved the movie, and ate their weight in popcorn. The only snafu was that the movie was over two hours longs, so even starting early, we went way late. Oh well. That's why we did it in the summer ;).
Thursday morning found me back at the temple, but this time I was there to take portraits of a little girl who is going to be baptized. She was adorable, and the lighting was fantastic, and so I stayed longer so I could get some great shots of the temple.
When I got home, the kids and I loaded into the car to head to the church parking lot. I had Lily help Derek practice parking, while Arthur and I worked on his bike riding skills. Between some pretty hefty fears he is trying to overcome, as well as moving and such, he had forgotten most of what he knew about riding a bike. He was getting pretty good, he just needs to stop panicking, and he will be fine.
Friday had some special plans that included Derek getting in some "night" driving hours, so the kids and I were in the car and on the dark road by 6am. We drove the back way to Bourne, giving Derek a good chunk of time in the car, and stopped for breakfast tacos at Mary's - so good!! (And since they were bigger than I remembered and I bought two for each of us, including Kevin, we had leftovers for dinner. Nice!)From Bourne, we drove back down to San Antonio, and went to Eisenhower Park to go on a hike. We were starting early to try and beat the hottest part of the day, and we succeeded. It was still hot, it is Texas in the summer for goodness sakes, but it was comfortable and we had a fabulous time.
Arthur was especially happy once we got off of the paved trail and were on the dirt trails. And his favorite thing of all were the "natural stairways" made of rocks, and not made by men. He went on and on about it, and really did love them. It was so great to be out in nature and playing with my kids again. We have really missed our weekly Go York hikes back in Pennsylvania.
What really made Arthur's day, however, was the fact that there was a playground and climbing wall right next tot the parking lot. Lily and I happily took it easy on a bench while they played before we headed home.
Saturday was a busy day, but the biggest thing we got accomplished was emptying out our storage unit. We had rented a storage unit back in October when the movers brought all our stuff. We couldn't even move because of all the boxes and things, and so we just threw a bunch of it in storage just to get it out of the way while we finished renovating. Then a lot of it was still there, and although we have been making progress on moving it back to the house and organizing it (and finding things we were missing), Kevin and I took three last trips with the van to get it all out. It was so freeing to have that gone, and not have to worry about it anymore.
For our Saturday night date, we went to BBQ at Smoke Shack BBQ, which was very yummy. But then we followed it up with the best part - gelato at Paciugo. I had the Stracciatella (divine chocolate chip) and Fondente (a fudgy chocolate) and they were so very good!! The only problem was when we walked back to the car in the 105 degree heat, and it immediately started melting. I ended up a chocolatey mess of melted ice cream as I tried to eat it faster than it melted, all while still trying savor the deliciousness. It was pretty darn hilarious. But still delicious ;).
We finished off July with a super fun family game night, that actually stretched into a second night, as we had to go to bed before we finished it on Sunday night. We were playing Wonder Woman, this really awesome cooperative game where everyone works together to defeat the enemy. It was pretty fabulous, and it was so great to have a super fun, thinking game, where we all had each others' back, and were trying to win together. So glad my friend, Becky, gave it to us :). It was the perfect way to end our July.