July catchup

July is racing by...time to catch up with some pictures and stories!!

The first week of July, we were at Elk Lake.  See previous posts.

The second week of July, I deemed "staycation week."  I wanted to hit as many local attractions as possible with the girls.  We went to the county fair, the zoo, the DIA, Cranbrook science museum, to the movie theater to watch Madagascar 3, a kiddy play at the local theater (Schoolhouse Rock Live), and sidewalk sales in downtown Rochester.

At the zoo with our best buds Michael, Maddy, and Matthew.

Sketching at the DIA

Katie wanted to sketch in each of the rooms!

As good as Picasso!

We went on a Friday night, when the DIA always has live music, sketching in the galleries, and craft projects.  Here, the girls are working on tissue paper flowers.  They each made a few beauties!  We enjoyed dinner in the DIA Cafe (a great restaurant), the music, and wandering through the museum.

Playing around at the Cranbrook science museum.  The girls always have to try to squeeze into this turtle shell.  Katie can't quite do it anymore!  :(

But Megan still can!

Tired girls by Stegosaurus outside the science museum.  We also went to a planetarium show of "Michigan Skies Tonight" and the girls are hooked on astronomy now.

The third week of July, we stayed home.  Chris was gone on a West Coast road trip for work from the 13th-23rd.  He and his group drove their cars and competitor cars over several mountain passes in Colorado, through Utah, and spent several days based in Las Vegas. They drove to Death Valley, Lake Havasu, Hoover Dam, and tons of other places.  While he was gone, I decided to sign up the girls for a day camp for a week at our gym.  They have wanted to do it for years, because it looks so fun.  They were right - they had a blast!  They got to go swimming every day, rock climbing, ball games, crafts, etc etc.  They took a field trip to a Tigers game one day, too!  I really enjoyed the break, and got a ton of bug work done that week.  It was so easy to stay on top of the housework with the girls being gone all day, too!

Last weekend, the girls and I went to Ohio to visit my mom and dad.  Saturday, we went to Put-In-Bay island and saw all the great attractions.  Sunday, we went to dad's Aunt Anna's 90th b-day celebration, and went to Maumee Bay state park for some swimming in Lake Erie.  I forgot my camera, so check out my mom's blog for pics:  http://pchristensen77.blogspot.com/

This week, we've had a nice mix of low-key events.  We stayed home Monday to spend some time with Chris after he got home.  On Tuesday, I took the girls to the county water park for the day.  It was so fun now that Jessi can touch AND swim!  Yesterday, we met our friends at the Rochester city park to let the kids play in the creek and let the moms chat.  Today, we played with bugs (we released emerald ash borer parasitoids for a cooperative USDA and Master Gardener project), and tonight we went to the Rochester music in the park.  On Sunday, Chris leaves for yet another trip to Italy.  :(  I am planning fun with the girls while he's gone...going to a fancy ball at the Royal Park Hotel, and going to Chicago to visit family!

On Monday, the girls got feathers in their hair.  They couldn't get them last year when they were popular, due to the school uniform code.  So they're a little behind the times, but they're still cute!  This is Jessi, with a big white feather, and a skinny pink and black feather.

This is Megan, with a fluffy dark feather and a skinny neon green feather.  I don't have any pics yet of Katie's feathers, but she has two skinny feathers, one pink, and one pink and black.

Gum in Jessica's hair.

This last picture is a funny story...  Today, Jessica got two pieces of gum stuck in her hair, right behind her ear.  It took gobs of peanut butter and a few snips of the scissors to get it all out!  Although she won't admit it, I think I know how it got there.  Monday night, we watched a DVD of the Johnny Depp version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Remember Violet, the girl who was alway chewing gum?  Remember how she put it behind her ear when she ate?  I think Jessica tried it out!!  Ha ha!!  She still claims she doesn't know how it got there, though.