sights of summer, part 2

Our July was filled with fun activities, too!  At the beginning of the month, Nick made us this yummy hash brown quiche for supper one night:

On the 4th of July, we had a special holiday meal (burgers, corn on the cob, chips, watermelon, and more):

Afterwards, we walked over to the park to watch the awesome fireworks:

When we got back home, we lit some sparklers:

and then had homemade ice cream with berries for a patriotic treat.  Yum!:

July 9th - 13th we had VBS at our church.  Ben was in the Feisty Foxes classroom.  Nick helped out with little ones in the nursery, and Emm and I helped out in the crafts room, as usual.  The theme this years was Sonrise National Park.  These photos were taken on the 10th:

Collecting non-perishable food to donate:

Ben's class in the craft room -- making little books out of paper bags:

After VBS that day, we met our friends Karen, David, and Timothy for lunch and then we all went for a nature hike at Volo Bog:

Frogs!:

Karen and Timothy:

Walking on the boardwalk:

Ribbit:

Ben and David:

July 11th is known as Seven11 Day at our house.  After VBS that day, we picked George up from work, then went to the nearest Seven11 to get free Slurpees to have with our lunch.  Mmmm...:

On the 13th, we adopted my friend Wendy's frog, Dot.  She and her family had raised Dot from a tadpole, and had had her for 5 years.  They were looking for a new home for her, and Nick was eager to volunteer!  What a silly frog, and so fun to watch!  We all loved her very much.  (Unfortunately, she passed away last week, after escaping from her tank and not being able to find her way back to water.  She is deeply missed.):

On the 21st, George's mom and brother Nathan came to visit us for a week.  Fran brought along a cool wooden puzzle that everyone (except me) worked on.  (Jigsaw puzzles hurt my head, LOL.)

We spent some time in the pool, to try and beat the heat.  (Note the brown, dead grass.  It has been a very hot, dry summer here.):

On the 22nd, we all went back to Volkening Heritage Farm and Spring Valley Nature Sanctuary.  Nathan had gone there with us a few years ago, but it was Fran's first visit.

The piglets we'd seen in June had really grown!:

Nice horsie!:

Now THAT'S a veggie garden!

Frogs:

Emm, Nick, Fran, Nathan, Ben, and George:

A frightened tree?:

Bunny!  Normally this area by the boardwalk would be filled with water, but because of the drought, there was hardly any water in sight:

On the 24th, while George was at work, the rest of us went mini golfing.  It was very hot that morning, but we still had a blast!:

That afternoon, we stayed inside, enjoying the air conditioning!  Ben read books to Grandma Fran:

Later that day Ben went outside again, and found a lucky 4-leaf clover!  He was quite excited!:

George was able to take the day off on July 27th, and we all went into the city to the Museum of Science and Industry.  We had a great day there!

Ben loved the trains, of course:

Awww... baby chicks!:

Emm tries out a giant hamster wheel, LOL:

Emm and Fran, in a contest to see who could relax the quickest.  Emm won!:

Nick and Ben in an airplane:

Astronaut Ben:

Up, periscope!:

Yet another train:

On the morning of the 28th, Emmalie and I joined other members of the SHS choir and community choir and rode in the Summer Celebration parade.  We rode on the float and sang patriotic songs:

Both Emm and I helped create the float, though Emmale did more work on it than anyone.  We made a water tower and two bobble heads (of the village president and the high school principal) -- our float won first place!

While I enjoyed being in the parade, I missed getting to actually SEE the parade.  I did take some photos of the parade entries that were around us:

George, Nick, Ben, Fran, and Nathan sat and watched the parade.  I took this photo of them as we went by -- notice Ben is trying to score some candy.  He didn't even see us go by!

Emm with "her" float:

Fran and Nathan headed home after lunch that day.  In the evening, the rest of us went to the Summer Celebration.  We stopped at the SHS Choral Society booth, and Ben played the fishing game there:

He won Blubba the fish:

Emm designed the logo for the SHS music department, shown here in this temporary tattoo:

Emm helped out at the booth for awhile:

Ben had a blast at the fire fighters' booth!  He got to dress up and learn to do all kinds of fire fighter things, like sliding down a pole:

Using a hose to put out a "fire":

And rescuing a baby:

He also loved going on the big slide:

Then we claimed a spot to sit and watch fireworks:

At the end of the month, Emm worked on a costume for a Fairy Fest she planned to attend in August.  She decided to go as a water fairy (you can't really them here, but she DID have wings):

Our veggie garden grew some more in July:

 We harvested (and ate!) this pepper:

and we had enough greens (arugula, lettuce, and swiss chard) to harvest several times a week for salads:

We also had some new flowers blooming in July, like this butterfly weed (a new addition to our garden this year):

 Some cosmos:

 White liatris:

 We had Queen Anne's Lace growing everywhere ~ it was the only thing growing in our yard (not counting the gardens, which we watered) during the drought, so it got really big with no mowing going on:

 And a zinnia:

Then we said goodbye to July and hello to August! :)