July 2017
And just like that, summer break is coming to an
end. It sure has been fun and as you can
see below, we had a lot of things going on in July. We have enjoyed our first summer with the girls
staying at home and hope they adapt well going back to school in August.
The first weekend in July, we took off around 1PM on
Friday and drove to Rochester, NY to visit the Shafers. We arrived around 11PM and probably enjoyed a
few too many cocktails and stayed up until 2AM.
On Saturday, we went to Olivia’s birthday party at an indoor waterpark
and the girls had a blast swimming and enjoying the slides. On Sunday, we enjoyed their neighborhood pool
and the cousins had fun swimming together and they had a birthday party at the
house for Olivia. The weekend was a
blast and we enjoyed being able to watch the cousins play together. We left on Monday morning to head back to
Indy to have the 4th of July at home. Upon arriving home, we enjoyed a last minute
cookout with the Sniadecki’s and had a few fireworks in the cul-de-sac.
The 3rd weekend in July, we traveled to WV for
the annual McGonagle family reunion. We
spent the first night in Charleston and then drove to Bluefield on Friday
morning. As is our tradition, we met at
a Portabella for lunch and then went to a Bluefield Blue Jays baseball game
that evening. We stayed at a local bed
and breakfast that allowed us to walk to Chuck & Heather’s house. It also allowed for people to come to our
house to hang out while the kids were sleeping on Friday evening. Saturday morning, I went over and helped
Chuck and James set-up for the party and then everyone met at the Dairy Queen
for lunch. That afternoon, the fun
begins in the backyard where the kids are on the slip and slide and the adults
are playing cornhole and having some beers.
Chuck has a police officer he knew come and take pictures with the kids
and also handed out badges. Late
Saturday evening, Kyle, Anna and I went back over to Chuck’s house for some
late night drinks with the group and then we hit the road on Sunday
morning.
The last weekend in July, we had our 27th
annual Beachmo trip to St. Joseph, MI with my immediate family and Uncle Frank’s
family (along with friends of everyone).
This year, we went up on Thursday and went to downtown St. Joe for a
bike ride, dinner and ice cream. On Friday,
we enjoyed an extra day of hanging out in the sun at a new beach (Jean
Klock). We enjoyed some fun in the conference
room but Sarah a rough night sleeping which kept many of us up in our room on
Friday night. On Saturday, we went to
Warren Dunes state park and enjoyed another great day on the beach. Sarah climbed the dune all by herself, which
was a year earlier than Allison. Sarah
took a nap with me on the beach and Allison took a little nap with Claire &
Grace. As we usually do, we ordered
pizza and had another fun evening in the conference room playing cards and “Heads
Up.” On Sunday, we left the beach at
noon to get back to Indy. Deb had a funeral
to attend for a Margaret Carter (Anna’s cousin) on Monday in Bluefield, so as
soon as we got home, she was showered and cleaned up and was back on the road
for 7 more hours.
Sarah’s Things
of the Month
Sarah’s singing at church has gotten really loud. She has no volume control when she sings and
it is pretty funny to watch other people’s reaction when they hear her
singing. Her favorite song at church is “Sing
to the Mountains.”
Allison’s Thing of the Month
Allison’s swimming has really taken off this month. I
think the only worry we have is that she may get too tired trying to keep up with
the other kids. She has also learned to
dive this month. Deb taught her in about
20 minutes at the pool and it is real impressive.
A few more items from this
month:
- Doing what a good mom should do, Debbie decided to celebrate her birthday at the Indians game as Chase and Skye from the Paw Patrol were there to greet the kids. The girls loved it and enjoyed their chance to meet the characters.
- Deb got a new pair of sunglasses for her birthday and enjoyed some cake from a local bakery.
- Deb and I went to a party for some parents at the school that was themed “Christmas in July” and we enjoyed a fun evening drinking some beers and playing some games.
- We had dinner with Tom & Tracy at Open Society. We followed off dinner with a night-cap at the Red Key Tavern.
- Both girls attended Vacation Bible School at Christ the King and enjoyed every minute of it. They liked seeing some of their friends from the pool and church, but most of all they loved the songs.
- We went to a wedding for my cousin Julie and her new husband Spero. It was a great ceremony and it was fun to see the extended family on my dad’s side.
- After the wedding, I attended my 20th year high school reunion. It was good to see some faces from the past and also some good friends that I’ve stayed in touch with.
- We went to a neighborhood pool party at the Doyle’s house. It was fun to see several neighbors in the middle of a busy summer and enjoy some lunch and beer while the kids swam.
- The girls continued tennis lessons and really seemed to like tennis
