July highlights {Children's Museum, pool party, music class, summer sports, time with friends!}

we kicked off July with a trip to the Children's Museum with friends! all went swimmingly up until the time we decided to break for lunch (as the kids were already melting down from hunger) and the wait was 30 minutes for food. there isn't really another good option for food nearby so we just stuck it out. it was my first time at the children's museum cafe (we have eaten at the science center many times) so not sure if it was an off day for them or just to know to plan better next time! anyway, the food itself was delicious once we got it and we had a great time together. 

doing some coloring before we left the house

one of my favourite zones in the museum -- they can do all kinds of messy art and my counters/floors don't get ruined!

all smiles for a while ... twenty minutes later, they were not so happy to be waiting for food

trying to get a cute group photo

good enough!

so grateful for friends who are more like sisters!

we spent the Fourth of July with family (recapped in Victoria's birthday post), and then the Saturday after the Fourth we were invited to a pool party at our friend's parents' house. these pool parties have a legendary reputation and Nick and I both were just as excited as teens being invited to a cool party in high school, or at least, how I imagine that would feel ... I had a very wholesome, gleefully uncool, non-partying teen existence ;) the one downside was that I had agreed to take call for work that day for one of my colleagues who was going to a concert. it would have been doable because we just have to be available by phone to give medical advice, but still I would have had to check the phone frequently and possibly spend a lot of time in the house answering calls away from the melee. my colleague texted me the day before saying that the concert was canceled so she could cover call again as originally scheduled! sad for her but yay for me! 

the party was just delightful -- delicious food, fun people, and a perfect playlist curated by none other than Nick (he was quite honored to be in charge of the music and as the night wore on, there were some great singalongs with ad lib harmonies). there was an epic fireworks showdown in the neighborhood and we left late that night with bellies and hearts full.

this patriotic berry trifle was a hit! I made it again for a work potluck a few weeks later

what a life!

I think all of the kids drank their body weight in juice

practicing their kicks

I brought Victoria's birthday ice cream cake to share with everyone

the highlight of every pool party evening -- the Tiki Man goes around the yard lighting the tiki torches, accompanied by children in masks and banging drums. we had heard stories about this tradition but nothing could have prepared us for seeing it in person

night swimming!

a late-night Domino's delivery hit the spot!

I signed the babies up for a four-class music pass for the summer. they love these music classes and we lucked out with good weather for the most part! Cece tagged along to one class and Greta came to another. 

Greta and Cece both played in the summer rec basketball league a few towns over. this was Greta's third year playing and Cece's first. Greta didn't enjoy it as much this year because most of the girls on her team all went to the same public school and so they all knew each other and had been playing together for years. I don't think any of them were specifically mean to her, but she definitely felt like an outsider. Cece, on the other hand, loved her team and the coaches were great. it was a bit comical to see the lineup on the beginner K-2 team -- we had a disproportionate number of tiny kindergarteners and just a few second graders. 

Cece taking it down the court

dinner of champions between Greta's and Cece's games one night. we took shelter in the dugout because it started pouring out of nowhere (hence all the wet hair!)

popsicles for the last game of the summer!

Greta setting up for a shot while the babies cheer her on

Elizabeth proudly wore her own medal to basketball after completing the daycare's summer session of Soccer Shots

gymnastics ended for the season with the summer showcase at the end of July. it's fun to see what they have been working on all year. as much as we love the gym, it gets crazy balancing school sports during the academic year, so I asked the girls how strongly they felt about signing up again this year. Cece gave it a 4 out of 10, while Greta gave it a 6 out of 10 and so I did go ahead and put Greta on the waitlist for a Monday evening class. as I type this in late October, she's still on the waitlist, so we'll see what happens! 

uneven bars

Cece was so nervous about messing up their group floor routine warmup because she had missed a few weeks of class. she nailed it!

finally, we had lots of fun with friends this month, from an overnight trip to Erie, to a day trip to a state park halfway between Pittsburgh and Erie, to playtime in our own backyard. this is one of the benefits to having friends who are teachers and are off work during the summer!! 

trying on her skates

doing the dad duty with the preschool crew

happy birthday, Adeline!

this trio <3 

the party favor bags included body glitter and Ellie couldn't get enough!

the next morning we took the world's slowest, whiniest walk to the waterfront to go play at a park. there was MUCH angst from the tween contingent. the little ones were happy though ... and the hand-holding!! melt my heart!

back at home...

both of these girls' fathers are organists. it's in their blood!

we spent a delightful day at Lake Arthur, about an hour north of Pittsburgh. the water is a perfect temperature -- warm enough to be comfortable, cool enough to be refreshing, and it's quite shallow in the swimming area so the little ones can practice in the water. we decided that next time we need to plan a time when our husbands can join us and we'll bring burgers and dogs to grill by the beach!

"don't worry, Vicky, I'll walk with you"

"look, Mom, we're swimming!"

I made Cece take our picture before we headed back to our respective homes!

and finally, a bonus round:

Greta set up this "water park" in our side yard

they spent an hour arranging all of the different components and about ten minutes actually playing on it

Cece made pancakes one morning and was extremely pleased with herself

Victoria and I had a rare evening on our own after dropping Greta off for a second week of sleep-away camp. we hit up Dairy Queen for dinner. sister was in hog heaven!

camp photo shoot by the creek!

Cece finally had a molar extracted that we originally thought would need to be pulled over a year ago. the oral surgeon at the time wanted to let it be, but she has now entered the wonderful world of orthodontia, and the orthodontist needed it to be pulled before she was fitted for her upper and lower expanders. she was understandably nervous about the extraction but the tooth was already fairly loose and no sooner had the novocaine taken effect than the dentist gently rocked it back and forth and just as Cece raised her hand to indicate that she was feeling discomfort, the dentist showed her the tooth -- out already!  

the babies love to play with the CB radio in Nick's truck

I've made Colleen's recipe for penne alla vodka twice this summer! soooo delicious!

and that's a wrap for July!