I feel immense gratitude for my very generous friend who has a pool and who always responds with, "Anytime" or "Of course" or "Yes!" every time I've asked if we could swim in her pool. It's been a bright spot in our summer!

One lovely July day, we ventured north to Loon Lake. We hadn't been there before, but we sure enjoyed our first trip! The water was beautiful and warm. Having a dock and rocks to play on, plus sand - that was awesome! The girls got to fish... It was kind of a perfect day and we didn't want to leave. Just what this summer needed a splash of... a normal feeling, fun summer day!

Our Holly Bear celebrated her 11th birthday on July 17th! Part of me could hardly believe she's already 11, but Holly has been telling us "I'm basically 11," for at least 4 months leading up to her birthday, so also not a shocker that now she's "literally" 11. Holly wanted a Worms and Dirt cake (just like her 2nd birthday!). It was overall a pretty lowkey day. She had a small pizza and movie party with 2 friends (and sisters). Holly chose to watch, "Kubo and the two strings," one of her all time favorites. We love our Holly!

This is summertime - Popsicles on the porch!

We had originally planned to be in Yahk with my family for 4th of July. This summer kind of hurts. I hate being separated. It's been really hard to accept. We had a really lovely 4th of July despite the change in plans. We decorated bikes with neighbors and then had a little parade around the local park. We played some fun games. I took a nap ;) The girls decorated a very pinterest worthy (HA) flag cake. Oh gosh, it was comical and that cake is going to be remembered for all time. They were a little choked it didn't turn out exactly how they wanted it, but I don't know that I could love it more. We ate dinner and played with friends and then I took Holly and Greta to see the fireworks while Conor took care of the littles. I'm really grateful we were able to have a good day.