Full disclosure here…July is tough for me! It was a very long month and I hate to say I’m somewhat glad its over…please no judging! I am mentally exhausted after this month. Don’t get me wrong, we had lots of fun adventures in July, but it just comes to a point where the kids (especially Kinsie) are just over it. She’s over summer vacation and she’s ready for school. It is really hard being full time entertainment for 2 VERY busy children, neither of whom nap, and are both in need of constant mental stimulation…and throw in the fact that it’s too darn hot to step outside most days! Kinsie is so ready to get back into a school routine, be surrounded by kids her own age, and an adult who isn’t me! She starts Kindergarten on Monday and she could not be more ready! I am so excited for her and can’t wait to see her thrive. Brax doesn’t start preschool again until after Labor Day, so I still have a little while with him. Overall, he’s pretty content doing puzzles and playing board games all day so we should be able to get through it ok!
We had a lot of random adventures this month to keep us busy. We had one week of great weather, but other than that, it was your typical high humidity Arkansas heat. We found a lot of indoor activities and projects to do to keep us as busy as possible. Here is a rundown of our July…
4th of July
Now I do love 4th of July. Ryan always makes a point to try to get this day off because we enjoy our 4th of July traditions here. Like last year and the year before that, we went to the 4th of July parade in our town, had hot dogs for dinner (they always sound good after watching the Hot Dog Eating Contest…is that weird?), then to the park for fireworks. The parade is simple, short, and sweet, but the kids enjoy getting candy and seeing firetrucks, etc. One float in particular always tosses out popsicles…which is brilliant. They loved it!
After our hot dog dinner, we walked over to the park. We enjoyed some treats, played a few games, then just chilled in the field until it was time for the fireworks. The kids were slap happy so they danced and tackled each other until the fireworks started. And as always, the park put on a great fireworks show!
Kinsie’s ear piercing
Kinsie has been asking to get her ears pierced for almost a year. I wasn’t quite ready for it at the time, so I told her it could be her 6th birthday present. Well we decided to let her do it a little early before she started school. She was SO brave and didn’t even flinch! She loves her earrings and takes every change she gets to show them off.
Pool Days (of various sizes)
A few times a week, Ryan and I lift weights together…and unfortunately, our garage is the only place we have room for all of our equipment…which means those workout sessions in the summer are brutally hot! At least we have some huge fans to help us get through it! Anyway, when we workout, the kids usually put on their swim suits and play in their kiddie pool. That pool has been the best $10 I’ve ever spent! They stay content for hours in it. After our workouts, we cool down by having water balloon fights with the kids. Fun and staying cool…win win!
There is a community pool in our town, and we try to visit it once or twice each summer. We decided to use one of Ryan’s days off and make it a family pool day. The kids had a great time, and we even ran into Kinsie’s best friend from school, so they were especially pumped to have a playmate!
Indoor Adventures
We spent most of our July indoors. Most days, the heat index was between 100 and 110 degrees. Therefore, we explored every play place possible in the city of Little Rock. And when we weren’t doing that, we were playing games, doing art projects, and making obstacle courses in the house.
The Wonder Place
We actually came here twice. The kids love it and its a great place for them to play for a few hours, and I brought along a book and read while they played!
Altitude Trampoline Park
The kids love this place, and usually we beat the crowds and hardly see anyone there. However, we went on one of the hottest days of the summer, so everyone else apparently had the same idea we did! The kids still had fun though, and it got some of their energy out (just some).
Kiddie City
This place is neat, but pretty expensive. Luckily, I’m in a moms group in town and once a month we get a discount day, so we take full advantage! The kids love this place, and after the last time we visited, they even created their own version of it at home.
Projects and Crafts
Kinsie has a lot of creativity in her little brain, and needs lots of outlets for it. We did lots of play dough, painting, and crafts this summer. Remember the Toy Story 4 project she started after she saw the movie last month? Well we took it a step farther and laminated all the characters, labeled them and strung them together to create a banner in the playroom!
Baking Fun
In one day, we spent a few hours baking different recipes from Kinsie’s princess cookbook. We made muffins, princess popcorn, and fairy wands. The kids loved getting to help and making as big of a mess as possible!
Farmer’s Market and Splash Pad
We LOVE the Farmer’s Market. This was the first Saturday Ryan had off since May, so we finally got to go. We loaded up on all our favorite jams and granola, and the kids got to paint a picture and a statue at one of the booths.
After the Farmer’s Market, we ventured down to the splash pad. The kids (and Ryan) had a great time!
Birthday Parties
Two of Kinsie’s best friends from preschool had birthday parties this month. Judah had a firefighter party, where they got to visit the fire station and explore and climb on a real fire truck. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever!
Luke’s party was at a place called Urban Air Trampoline Park. It was similar to the other trampoline place we go to, but there was lots more (it’s also a lot more expensive, so we’re lucky we got to go for free since it was for a birthday party!) There were trampolines, ball pits, tubes and slides, rock climbing, a foam pit, ropes courses, and more. It was a really neat place and the kids were in absolute heaven!
The One Week it was Nice Outside
We had one week of pure perfect weather. So we spent most of those days at the park. We hadn’t been there in a while since it’s been so hot, so we loved exploring our favorite park again. One of the days we met up with some residency friends, and the other days we just played on our own. It felt so good to be outside again!
Zoo Day
One of the other days that we had nice weather, I took the kids to the zoo. We usually go to the zoo with Ryan since he loves it too, but he had to work and we really wanted to take advantage of the nice weather while Kinsie was still out of school. We had such a great time. The kids were so well behaved and loved everything we saw and did. It was one of my favorite days with them this summer.
Kinder Camp
Kinsie’s school had “Kinder Camp,”, where all the incoming kindergarteners got to bring their school supplies and meet their teachers. Kinsie was awestruck. She was so excited to meet her teacher and see her classroom. Her teacher seems so sweet, so we are looking forward to a great year!
We are looking forward to August, especially for Kinsie to start Kindergarten. Once September gets here, I feel like time goes a lot faster…so before we know it, it will be June and we will be moving back! We are so excited, but enjoying our time in Little Rock while we can.
Here is our 1 Second Everyday video for the month of July!
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