July 2017

Dear July, Where have you gone?  That's how this month has felt.  The weather hasn't been particularly hot for the summer months, we've had tons of rain, but the weeks have flown by and we've been having lots of fun!  Here's some of our summer so far:

 Playground fun!  Daddy has golf league on Wednesday nights so us girls usually visit a playground and get icecream.  So far we've visited Potsdam Elementary, and Norfolk community playground.











Our friends at Victory Baptist hosted Hero Central VBS and it was a terrific way to kick off our summer!

Do Good. Seek Peace. And Go After It.

God's Hero's: Have Heart, Have Courage, Have Wisdom, Have Hope, Have Power!

Decorating their room the week of VBS

 We visited the Massena Mall on a rainy Saturday for a community wide festival (that was moved indoors) and the girls bounced around a bit!

Gifts from Katy and Joey

 We have season tickets to Calypso and headed over to Canada on the 4th of July to enjoy the summer sunshine.  We had a terrific time and are looking forward to another visit.  On the way home we stopped for some mini golf and a meal at Shoeless Joe's.  It was not a traditional way to enjoy the holiday but it was Super Fun!

Reading with Papa

Shanta's birthday party

 A walk on campus and more playground fun on a Wednesday night!




The Hooley's were home for a weekend to celebrate Aunt Sissa's 15th high school reunion.  We went to Grammie and Pa's and hung out with them while they were in NY.  The girls had lots of fun!


We hosted Caroline, Caleb, Esme, and Eli for an overnight this month.  While we didn't capture any of the fun, the kids had a nice time together playing and swimming in the pool.



On a Sunday afternoon we decided to take a trip over to the Nature Center at Barnhardt Island.  Claire visited on her kindergarten field trip and was excited to show us around!  We had a nice time browsing through the exhibit and walking along some of the trails.

 After the Nature Center we headed over to TimeQuest for some Mini Golf and to feed the goats and ducks!

Silly Face!

Patti, Haley, and Skye made a trip to New York for a few days and we were excited to spend some time with them.  We spent two nights at Grammie and Pa's, and then they had a sleepover at our house during the Tri-Town Summer Festival.  Great fun was had by all!

At my mom and dad's I always use Noxema and Gel Toothpaste.  These are things I don't buy or use anymore, but there is something special about the nostalgia they represent from childhood.

During our time with the Perrin's we made slime, Haley and Papa built and tested out a boat, the girls played games, sang songs, caught frogs, swam in the hot tub, relaxed a bit, and celebrated Haley's upcoming birthday with cake and icecream at Aunt MJ's.  We also went to the fireworks, met Smokey the Bear, splashed around in our cold swimming pool, watched the "Wild and Woodsy" parade, went to the carnival of fun, and had steak dinner in Brasher to support our local Fire Department.  It was hard to see them go on Saturday evening and we heard a dozen or so times after they left "I miss my cousins already", but we were so appreciative to have some time with them!

Among all of the business with the Perrin's visiting and our community-wide Summer Festival, Daddy visited Brushton to attend the BMC hall of fame ceremony and introduce one of this years inductees, BJ Fairchild, who played on the Basketball team during the first season of coaching Varsity Boys.  That was 10 years ago, and the time has certainly gone by fast!  Congratulations to BJ who is well deserving of this honor!










Today the girls and I were very busy while daddy was at a golf tournament.  We went to the Victory Baptist festival breakfast in support of Operation Christmas Child and saw some of the VBS characters.  Then we went to church, came home and did some cleaning, cut the grass, swam in the pool with Miss Katy, then went grocery shopping.  It was a long but productive day. 

The girls were so patient waiting to go swimming in the pool today while I mowed the lawn.  Claire posed for Stella while she painted her portrait!  The wait was worth it because it was a warm summer day and the pool temperature has risen a bit to 78 degrees, which felt really refreshing today!

A pic from daddy (at the Malone Member Guest Shoot-Out)

Next week enters August and we plan to savor every moment of summer over the next few weeks!