July Summarized

We started off July by going blueberry picking on the 3rd (first day of the season) and then celebrating the 4th of July at the Fairborn parade and then watching fireworks from Grama and Papa's driveway.

Ava taking a selfie before the parade started.

More waiting for the parade to start.

Aero Club flyover.

Caitlin and Ava checking out the flyover.

Watching the parade and getting candy. :)

Waiting for it to get dark enough for fireworks.

Playing superhero "light girls" with their glow necklaces and flashlights, chasing away bad guys with lots of screaming.

Looking at the bats flying around...still waiting for fireworks. They did good staying up late (of course there was lots to do).

We didn't do much that Sunday (the 5th) and then I worked the 6th through the 10th. On the 11th (Sat) we celebrated my birthday by having Sean's family over for Dewey's pizza and ice cream cake. Then on Sunday in the evening Sean and I went to see Huey Lewis (and Richard Marx) at the Fraze with some friends (Jackie and Derek).

Waiting for the show to start.

On Tues I finally had a day off again so the girls and I went to the playground in morning and then went bowling in afternoon, using our free kids bowling coupons. It had rained the night before so the playground had lots of puddles.

They didn't have the slide so Fiona practiced throwing like a grown up. She did pretty good, but was a little twisty. I tried having Ava push the ball between her legs, but that didn't really work too well. We only made it one game and then left.

Aunties Donna and Margaret came to visit for the long weekend from the 17th through the 19th. On the 17th we went out to Germantown MetroPark for a kid's program for Fiona that had actually been cancelled but I didn't listen to the phone message until we were out there. So we just stayed and went for a hike instead. That night we went back and took Fiona hunting for bullfrogs as part of another Conservation Kids program. She wasn't real thrilled at water through the water, but did enjoy seeing a couple of green frogs.

On Sat (the 18th) we went blueberry picking in the late morning and then after lunch I made a gluten-free blueberry pie, which was pretty tasty. The rest of the day we just hung out and visited.

On Sunday we had a bird party, as the 'at-home' part of the Conservation Kids program for Fiona, with me, Ava, Margaret, Donna, and Fiona. We basically walked around the yard looking for birds and things birds like, After Donna and Margaret left we headed over to Bob and Carol's for a going-away party for Chris and family.

On Tues (the 21st) we went to Cox Arboretum for Fiona's last Tikes program for the Conservation Kids. They started off by having each of the graduates talk about their at-home activity / party. Fiona didn't want to at first (she was scared), but the other 2 kids went before her and by time it was her turn she walked up there all by herself and told about her bird party. I was very proud of her. And she got a backpack for completing the program, which she was (and still is) very excited about. They also got a couple of small bug-catching tools (magnifying glass, a small collection box and a larger collection jar) that she's been using to catch small spiders around the house.

We started out inside where the kids got to listen to a book about exploring nature.

The kids used all five of their senses to experience nature. And then played follow the leader, where each kid got a turn to point out something in nature (a flower, a bee, etc.).

Putting the assassin bug back on the plant.

The fairy house Fiona built.

As a graduate of the program Fiona can now volunteer to assist with future Conservation Kids programs. The girl in green is a volunteer holding and passing around a spider for the other kids.

After the program we stayed to have lunch and then visited the Butterfly House. There were a couple of caterpillars, a chrysalis and a couple of different kinds of butterflies to see.

On Friday (the 244th) Caitlin came over for a playdate in the afternoon, at Fiona's request. The girls played in the sprinkler and then I got the pool out also. In the evening we all headed down to the Celtic Fest (met Sean's parents there) for some good food, great music, and lively atmosphere.

A trio of Irish dancing girls.

The picture just before (and maybe just after) I fell off the concrete step and scraped my leg up!

Ava had fun dancing to Gaelic Storm.

I spent Saturday gardening and baking (zucchini bread and cookies) and on Sunday we went over to a friend's house (Kerrianne and Justin's) to help make tamales, and then eat delicious tamales. :) Fiona ate them, but Ava did not.