I still have a vacation with my best friend’s family to look forward to.  Otherwise, I might feel like our summer is practically over.  I can’t believe how quickly my kids will return to academia.  So before it gets away from me, I’m thinking back on our July.

 

A wedding in Austin, Texas kicked off the festivities.  A dear friend married off her last kiddo at a beautiful resort with a scrumptious dinner and fun DJ.  I enjoyed getting all dressed up with the hubs.  It’s been a while.  The next morning we stopped at a hole in the wall donut shop on our way back home.  We met Vanilla Ice there.  And no, we did not stop, collaborate, or listen!  We also saw this homespun motorcycle  (below) at a gas station.

 

On Independence Day, we went to church with Chuck’s brother and family to witness my niece’s baptism.  Then spent the afternoon eating and visiting.  No fireworks or cookouts, but I got to stay in air conditioned comfort the entire time.  That’s how this avid indoorsman prefers to celebrate.

 

Shelby went to her 2nd summer camp while her sister stayed with my parents and served in their church for the week.  So proud of Allie giving away 3 weeks of her summer (between my parents’ church and ours) to serve children and tell them about Jesus.

 

While the kids were away, the adults did a lazy version of play.  We treated ourselves to a couples massage and two trips to the movie theater.  We saw 12 Mighty Orphans and Black Widow – both of which we really enjoyed!  The biggest splurge of all?  We ate every meal out.  I didn’t cook or do dishes one single time.

 

For my Shelby girl’s 21st birthday, we took her and a few of her fans to a Texas Ranger baseball game.  The Rangers aren’t any good, but I still enjoyed my first visit to their new indoor ballpark.  It was 72 degrees the entire time.  (See above avid indoorsman comment).

 

As a newly coerced (I mean recruited) member of the school choir booster board, we got invited to meet Allie’s soon-to-be new choir director at one of my fave Mexican restaurants.  As much as I resisted volunteering in this way, I think I may enjoy it after all.  Kudos to all of you parents that jump at the chance to bless your local school.

 

The last big hoorah of July was a little camping trip with my husband’s side of the family.  The campsite had swimming, a water park, petting zoo, crafts and a fire truck ride for the kids and grandkids.  And plenty of Texas heat.

 

With an empty house for several days, we watched quite a bit of TV.  Mike Tyson:  The Knockout documentary series was more interesting than I imagined as was the movie The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise.  The Summer of Soul (…or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) and The Legacy of Black Wall Street immersed us in two very different time periods of black American history.  We revisited some old favorites with Back in Scrubs:  Reunion Road Trip (I loved that quirky show.) and Field of Dreams:  25 Years Later -which is already a few years old.  Golden:  The Journey of USA’s Elite Gymnasts fed our anticipation for the summer Olympics and we restarted season one of The Chosen.  Not sure why we abandoned it the first time, as we are now firmly into season 2.

 

I read The Masterpiece by one of my faves – Francine Rivers and Home Fire:  A Novel by Kamila Shamsie.  I can’t remember where the recommendation for the later came from, but I would recommend the former.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up!

 

As a voracious reader, Linda Stoll gave me a lot to think about with What’s Your Bookish Life Looking Like?  She stated that our reading life is a vital component of who we are ANd who we hope to be.  I have honestly never given my reading choices that much thought before.  But this year more than ever, I have been very intentional.  I feel the needs to do some reading and studying on a topic that’s very hard for me.  I know it’s important, but because it’s so emotionally hard, I intersperse it with books that are just for fun.  My mental health demands it.  Read Linda’s post and see what you learn about yourself.

 

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