Things We Did In July

We purchased some fireworks from the stand that Sarah volunteered at this season and shot fireworks off at our house a couple nights in a row.

We took a trip to Colorado. We spent five days in the beautiful mountains and had a great time at our family cabin near Divide, Colorado.

We went to the new movie Despicable Me 4. It was funny. We all enjoyed it!

Silas found a little toad who had fallen into our window well with his big toads. I decided when he rescued it from the window well that he could keep it in a small glass aquarium in his room for an undetermined amount of time. He was SO EXCITED! He named it Naveen and set up a great little home for it in his bedroom. He has been taking great care of it so far, catching live bugs for it, cleaning it's cage, and showing concern and care for it.

I went out to get the eggs mid-morning one weekday. As I opened the nesting box doors to reach in and grab the eggs out, like we normally do, I was met with this.... A SNAKE IN THE COOP! EATING the EGGS! YUCK! I dropped the door down and stood there in gross disbelief. Seriously grossed out. I do NOT do snakes. I called Eric, but he could not leave work to get this bad boy out of the coop, so next in line was Justin. Justin likes snakes. Sarah called him and he came right over to remove and relocate the snake. He got it right out, placed it in a container with a blue lid, and he and Sarah took it to let it go in a local park. But, on the way there something happened..... At some point, on the way to the park unbeknownst to Sarah and Justin, the lid came off the container and the snake escaped into Justin's car. When they parked, and got out, and opened the trunk, they realized the snake was somewhere....somewhere in the car....and they couldn't find it. (This is an awful scenario to me. I would not have been able to get back into that car. Seriously, this is stuff of my nightmares. Well, that AND bears...bears attacking me or people that I love. Man, my dreams are weird and scary sometimes.) They drove back to our house and we searched Justin's car. We DID NOT find the snake. Even our dogs helped search for the snake. Later that day, as Justin was driving along on a busy road, the snake slithered out from underneath the passenger seat... He quickly tried to pull over so that he could recapture it, but before he could come to a safe stop, the snake slithered back into a hiding place in his car. Alas, there is no good ending to this nightmarish story. The snake has not been seen again. No one knows if it found a way out, or if it made its home in there somewhere, or maybe it died in there. Maybe we will never know. But, what I do know is the snake got removed from my coop and Justin is not scared of snakes what-so-ever. ***The lesson that Justin and Sarah learned...make sure that the lid is secure when transporting things in the future. *** YUCK! Thank you, Justin!

Phoebe and I discovered that Hobby Lobby has their Christmas decorations out now, including their Grinch decorations. Phoebe has always been a huge Grinch fan so she and I were excited to see this in the store and we can't wait for Christmas and all that it brings.

I found Phoebe one day with both of our dogs on her bed as she was reading a book.

Sarah and her friends, Ava, Aleigha, and Addie had a wonderful time one evening going out to dinner together and then going to Ava's house to eat dessert and play games together.

Sarah got to go to the lake with Ava and her family and some friends for a day. They had a fantastic time jet skiing, swimming, tubing, and paddle boarding.

The kids and I went to Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard one morning in July. It was a crowded day at the Park, but we got to see most of the animals, and the kids did a few animal feedings.

Silas found another small toad in our window well, so I let him add it to his indoor aquarium, so that Naveen would have a friend. Of course, he named this one Tiana. They became fast friends.

Sarah invited some of her friends (Phoebe, Sarah, Addie, Aleigha, Ava, and Jax) over for dessert and game night. 

Lindsee and Will came to town to go to the Exploration Place and Rock River Rapids with us. It was a big day full of fun for all. Exploration Place had a special Super Heros exhibit.

Silas went with some of his good friends from church to the pool. Pictured below, Trapper, Silas, Landon, Levi, and Nayte.

Lindsee planned and pulled off a surprise 75th birthday party for Dad the evening before his actual birthday. The kids and I had one job... to bring Dad to her house by 7:15 pm. We got him to her house and he had no clue. He wanted to unhook the carrier off the back of his vehicle and unload some things out of his vehicle before we went into the house for "game night". You can see in a few of the pictures I quickly took outside before going in, by the kids faces, they couldn't believe we were still in the driveway, and couldn't get Popee to just go in the house.... But, when we did Dad was SO SURPRISED! (He even whispered into Lindsee's ear, as he hugged her with a big smile on his face, and everyone was yelling "SURPRISE", "What the hell?")

SURPRISE!!! Happy birthday, Dad! You are so loved by so many friends and family!

Guests at Dad's surprise party included, Gary and Charlotte, Jordan and Kendra and their kids, John and Jackie, Mitch and Karen, Corky and Vicki, the kids and I, and Lindsee's family.

The next day, on Dad's actual birthday, we did some shopping, ate at Applebee's, and then headed to the lake.

Dad, Lindsee, Will, the kids and I took a day trip to Topeka and Holton at the end of July. We shared a LOT of LAUGHS as we drove to and from all of our stops that day. (I love to laugh with my sister.) We went to the capitol building for a historic tour. We went to the Discovery Science Center in Topeka, and then we traveled north to Holton to see our friends Gary and Connie. Gary and Connie have a traveling petting zoo with lots of different animals. We got to see, pet, and help feed most of their animals. It was a GREAT day!

Silas attended String Camp at Emporia State University. He started playing the violin about a year ago, and he really enjoys it. This was a three day camp that helped him learn more and become a better musician. On the last day there was a concert performed for family and friends. I was AMAZED! These kids all worked super hard for three days and learned their songs and played them so well. I was impressed!