July in a flash!

June went by like mad and July in a flash. I cannot believe we are only weeks from a new school year now. July was full of 80 degree dasys with 50-60 degree nights… so pleasant and good for play. Yes, my heart has been heavy for Daniel and thoughts of my little son have been a mountain… but wait we must and wait we have! Great news on that front is a court date has been scheduled! September 4th is the day he will become legally our son. And just a few weeks after that we will put on our traveling gear and go to bring him home. Oh, I could repeat that all day. It feels GOOD!

But back to July! We had many opportunities to enjoy the summer holiday with friends and family and we did! We had opportunities to stay home and we did! The kids have spent some of every day in the pool. It’s fun to see how they have become braver and more proficient in just the one summer in one small pool. Jordan has struggled quite a bit this summer with sleep and with big feelings and behaviors, but he’s doing better right now. We keep him with us a lot rather than letting him hang out in his play room on his own. It seems to help. It’s more work for us, but I’m thrilled it’s been successful. Being together is so good for Jordan.

I have pictures of….
The big garage sale
Harvesting honey
Going for a walk with Jordan
Getting my hair colored
Camping for a week straight!

This piece of paper and its message warmed my heart. My sister and her kids collected their coins for Daniel.

Okay – no pictures of the garage sale, but we made something like $700 at it! So glad to have all that stuff gone and a chunk towards expenses!

For Independence Day, we spent the day with my sister, going to a parade and eating at her home.

Maggie

This didn’t last long. Haha

A great gang of us were there!

I needed Brian’s help to harvest the honey. It’s HEAVY!

The box after I took the frames out of it.

Delicious capped honey. MMmmmmmm

I crushed up the wax in a fine sieve that sits on top of a bucket… one conveniently fitted with a spout.

Some of the wax was new and pretty and golden. Some of it was old and black. But it all contained delicious honey.

The girls wanted to cook. Anna led the way and made a scrumptious blueberry buckle!

The finished dessert!

We harvested almost 3 gallons of honey!!! Hopefully I did it right and the ones in the hive have enough to get through the winter.

Jordan and I escaped one sunny day to go on a walk at the park.

He really, really doesn’t like to hold on. Somehow he usually manages to balance with his elbows, though.

A few minutes in the creek was almost fun, but Jordan was only wanting to throw rocks at people and so we had to leave.

I like this pattern.

I got my hair fancied up!!! So fun. 😀

Time to go camping!

Once again, Jordan’s wheelchair was a lifesaver, giving him somewhere to sit that he could be buckled into.

We brought a full minivan and a full pickup truck too!!!

This year it wasn’t just us. We camped with our friends and my sister’s family and grandparents were even able to drop in!

We had plenty of floating things to play with!

The view from our campsite.

Turning around with the lake at my back…

The very first morning, our kids were in the water all the way out to the logs… no matter that the sun was still low!

At this point on morning one… I considered the trip was already a smashing success.

Keeping the home fires burning.

Dinner for Jordan. Lunch? I don’t know.

Maria the adventurer taking her kids out. They found a bridge with a rope swing good for swimming from. We didn’t dare it, but maybe next year! (they did!)

I brought my henna and colored any skin that held still.

Kids didn’t always sleep in the same place…. but Carolyn and Jordan were in the tent with us… and sometimes Maggie.

I loved waking up to cozy kids.

Before our hike we actually were all together in one place!

13 kids, 7 adults.

Jordan didn’t make it far walking, but I was prepared to carry him.

After the hike, we piled in the pickup for the last leg to our campsite.

😀

So much water fun.

A beautiful place.

I picked these lakeside campsites on purpose!

Carolyn stole my heart… again.

Alexis was a huge help once again and a pleasure to be around.

Kids were in and out of the water all day long.

Marshmallows happened.

Each family had a campsite and “kitchen” ….. and we all kept moving from site to site for the best conversation.

I orchestrated a treasure hunt… the little kids were SO CUTE following a map.

One day, a chipmunk got trapped in a tent long enough for us all to take a peek!

In honor of some birthdays, we carted in the necessary supplies for italian sodas. MMmmmm

Strawberry italian soda?

Carolyn and Felicity continue to be best buddies.

Maggie photobombs with bunny ears.

It was difficult for Jordan to be there and he had moments of tears and being upset. But overall, it worked out really well for him too.

Dreamy

Listening to his music toy like a tiny boombox.

Another day, another swim. We were there for 6 days and 5 nights.

Unless he is very tired, Jordan lasts a long time in the water with just a puddle jumper on. Which he’s a little too heavy for, so I’m thrilled with his progress.

Anna’s very first jump off of the tall stump! Even I had a hard time jumping off of it.

Maggie jumped off once too. But got water up her nose, so she didn’t go again.

One of Jordan’s favorite things was the automatic hand dryer in the bathroom.

If you get the chance to go camping with a photographer… I highly recommend it! Credit to Maria Supin

Bike riding happened a lot!
Credit to Maria Supin

Credit to Maria Supin

We went for lots of walks.
Credit to Maria Supin

A lovely evening down by the day camp area.
Credit to Maria Supin

More exploring
Credit to Maria Supin

Credit to Maria Supin

A herd of little girls!
Credit to Maria Supin

The big girls. So fun to have them together.
Credit to Maria Supin

The nights were amazing. And Maria even stayed up late to photograph it!
Credit to Maria Supin

Credit to Maria Supin

The “teens”
Credit to Maria Supin

Credit to Maria Supin

Credit to Maria Supin

Adorable overload. Three 4/5 year olds.
Credit to Maria Supin

Look at all them kids!

After the hike.
Credit to Maria Supin

I love my carrier that I use for Jordan. You can see that he’s outgrown it in some ways, but it is still awesome. (It’s a Kinderpack Preschool – the largest of its kind)
Credit to Maria Supin