Moments from the middle of the summer...

The month of July feels like it ended before it began...  With school going so late and our beach trip at the start of August, I feel like July came and went in a blink and before we know it, we'll have one girl in 1st grade and the other starting preschool!!!

Other than our fun trip to NC at the beginning of the month, there weren't any major adventures in July, but still lots and lots of fun times.  I've included a ton of pics and will keep the words brief!

 Setting up the neighbor's pool right outside our place-

the girls LOVED it!

 Oh, these two... such cuties!

 So excited to have Nana & Pop-Pop back from their long trip to France!

Date night celebration of another step completed in our adoption journey (with much more to go...) and a promotion for Steve!

 Girls breakfast date across the street while daddy was on a work trip- 

discovering a love of breakfast pizza!

 BGR dinner with Nana & Pop-Pop before daddy's return

Party games celebrating Xavi's birthday!

 Including the hilarious pie-in-the-face game that kept smacking Maelee in the forehead with whipped cream!

 She took it in giggling stride :)

 Happy Birthday, sweet neighbor!

 Big milestone for both of our ladies the 2nd week of July-

full day "fun" camp for Maelee and half day camp for Lilee at her new preschool!

Successful first day celebrated over frozen yogurt.

 Pizza, ice cream, & movie night at our place
with several friends from K!

 Zootopia dance party to end the evening

 Last day of camp- Lilee proudly sporting her camp shirt.

She LOVED being like her big sis for the week!

 Getting ready to show what she learned!

 The theme for the week was "Reduce, reuse, recycle" 

so she was up there crumpling paper for their song.

 Lilee's "paper" artwork!

 Breakfast with  Nana & Pop-Pop while Steve and I got to take a sweet overnight trip up to MA to celebrate my dear Sarah before her wedding!

 Maelee's impressive solar system picture that she worked hard on while we were away!

 So sad to have not been able to see her say "I do" but SO happy to get to be there for her joint bacelorette/bachelor party!

 Beautiful evening at an awesome location with one of my dearest friends and my hubby at my side.  Couldn't ask for a better date night!

 Savoring every moment with this friend with breakfast the next morning before driving back home.

And the long drive up and down provided for lots of great conversation for Steve and me!

Grateful for every aspect of that trip.

Special "brupper" dinner of pancakes 

with whipped cream & chocolate syrup!

Fun at a water mister at Home Depot...

It's the little things.

Another highlight of the month was seeing another one of my dearest!

My sweet Cindy and her fun kiddos :)

Taking in some fun in Shirlington!

Double date with my awesome folks to see the Nats!

It was unbearably hot but we were able to move up 

under the shade eventually. 

We didn't win but had a great time!

We were so grateful for our friend, Lisa, for hanging out with our girls the entire day!!!

Yeah, they had fun :)

More water fun with ice cream and neighbors!

Hanging out with some firemen outside the Silver Diner!

Hanging out with Nana at the nearby playground!

Pool time lounging :)

Enjoying the VBS down the street from us!

Out for breakfast pizza with daddy this time!

Oh, how I love those smiles!

And that's a wrap for July!  We got back from our OBX trip last Sunday and what an amazing time we had.  Loads of pictures to come!

Slideshow from July:

Stars & Stripes- NC in July!

We haven't been able to make it down to visit Steve's folks during the summer in a while, so we thought the 4th of July weekend would be a great time to make that happen again!  It was a full visit with a trip to the Museum of Natural Sciences, a trip to the movies, and a day full of fun Independence Day activities.  Maelee was thrilled to make friends with even more neighbors during this trip and the girls enjoyed spending time with their Mee-Maw & Grandpa.

The NC Museum of Natural Sciences was pretty awesome and the girls loved it! From fossils to live exhibits, a play room and a live animal show...  Then there was the gift shop.  We actually found a stuffed moon for Lilee!  Couldn't pass it up... And Maelee was pretty excited to find a baby sloth to go with her big one :)

The excitement for the next day was a trip to the movies! Lilee's first experience with the silver screen.  We saw Finding Dory (so sweet!) and Lilee wasn't too sure what to think of everything, especially after her seat swallowed her up sine she wasn't heavy enough to weigh it down!  Bless her heart.  She went between all three of our laps during the movie. :)

Just a little reading before the movies :)

Excited at first!

Then not so sure...

But overall, she loved it and has a little stuffed Dory in her crib now!

Our 4th of July started with a parade in downtown Wake Forest and we loved watching the adorable kiddos riding by in their wagons and on their bikes and scooters.  It was a little drizzly and the chilliest Independence Day I can remember but it was nice to not be scorching and the girls didn't seem to mind at all!

 God bless the USA!

After the parade, there were several bounce houses set up in a field with crafts indoors that included decorate-your-own cupcakes and door hangars, and patriotic tattoos.

I absolutely love this little smile on her which really says, 

"I'm proud of myself for doing that but don't want anyone to know it." :)

So proud of her craft!

Happy girls!

Maelee got in some good play again with the neighbors later in the afternoon and Lilee loved trying out the scooter all by herself! After a delicious dinner, it was time for our own little fireworks!  Our mini version, at least.  The sparkler/popper/bright lights kind that are legal and easy but the kids love!  (Most of them, at least, poor Lilee got pretty terrified when it looked like a huge tower of fire...)

It was a happy 4th and a fun trip.  And somehow we are at the end of July already...

Slideshow of our time in NC: