We’re now in the full swing of summer during July. We celebrated the 4th of July, took a family camping trip, celebrated Lydia’s 5th birthday, and shared lot of fun family time together this month. Lydia and Cordelia both had their Grandparent “camp” weeks this month. Tim started work on the outdoor kitchen area we’re adding to the backyard. The heat picked up this month, so we blew up the pool for the kids. They’ve been spending evenings and weekends splashing around and having fun with that. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, when the kids aren’t in camps or school, they have been enjoying fun times with Aunt Kelly. Aunt Kelly has helped the girls sew dresses for themselves and now she’s working on helping Anthony make a shirt.
Cordelia did some more camps this month. She also started a new ice-skating session with an off-ice conditioning class as well. She had a fun week with Grandparents Powers learning how to boogie board and doing art projects. While she’s enjoying summer, she’s also really missing school and the chance to see her friends. We’ve been trying to encourage her through that sorrow and help her know that she’s loved and valued. It’s a hard transition for her since several of her friends are not coming back to school next year.
Anthony also did several more camps this month. The last week of the month he did an archery camp, which was by far his favorite camp of the summer. He did really well, too, and earned eight toy spiders by hitting them with his arrows from a distance of about 20 paces. Anthony is also continuing in soccer and is starting to feel more comfortable in his level 2 Skills class. It’s still hard work, especially in the summer heat. Anthony had a short meeting with the teacher at Legacy for the school year. It was a good opportunity for her to get to know him better and see where he’s at academically.
It was a big month for Lydia! She’s now 5 years old. She had a great birthday party at the Poway pool with a water bounce house and princess-themed decorations, complete with a princess ice cream cake. She then had a full week of birthday celebration with Grandparents Powers. Lydia had her first piano lessons this month. She’s still getting the idea of how to hold her hands and keep a beat. We’ll see how she progresses. She also started ice skating lessons. She had some trouble the first session or two but is starting to gain confidence and fall less. She also transitioned to sharing a room with Natalie. That has going ok, but not perfectly. They have a tendency to wake each other up, and there have been some early mornings. Lydia’s doing her best to be a good big sister and example.
Natalie continues her summer daycare three times a week at Legacy. She’s finally getting used to being dropped off without crying. She seems to be having a great time in her class. She’s also continuing her swim class and is getting comfortable in the water. She’s been in a twin bed for a month now, sharing a room with Lydia. The weeks Lydia was gone, she was doing better, but the added stimulation of sharing a room is making the transition a bit tricky. We took a family trip to the ice rink for an open skate time and Natalie got her first experience on the ice. She did pretty well, considering she still falls down on normal ground without skates!
Alicia is continuing to balance the work load with the camp drop-off and pick-up needs. She hasn’t always reached the goal of 75% work, but that’s ok. She’s been making sure to enjoy these special times with the kids, knowing they won’t be this age for long. Work has been going well and she’s been able to support her program well. On the home front we’ve been able to spend some nice times together and also work on cleaning up the office area. We purged a lot of school books and other things in preparation for the upcoming start of school. While AWANA is on summer break, Alicia still connected with her fellow directors and commander. Preparations for the next club year will shift into full gear mid-August.
One of Tim’s projects at work had a design review at the beginning of July. That seemed to go well and the customer continues to be happy with the product progress. He’s started working on a second program as well as some other side items. At home, the main focus has been on the outdoor kitchen. He’s been laying cement block and has learned a lot over the course of the month. It’s been challenging but rewarding. He’s moved from the heavy lifting to the detailed leveling and wiring portion of the build. The goal is to have the grill completed by Labor Day weekend and potentially have some of his work friends over to inaugurate the new kitchen area. Tim is continuing to volunteer with the kids at church on Sunday mornings. However, he’s been contemplating if he should continue volunteering or take a step back for a time. With summer closing and AWANA beginning, Sunday morning family time will become more valuable.
We had a fun month with lots of family time. We tried out a camping trailer and found out that Natalie is still too young to go camping. We’re looking forward to the last three weeks of summer to enjoy together before the school year starts. Once the school year begins, we’ll be transitioning again and figuring out our new “normal”.
