July 2019

July is usually a busy month filled with parades, swimming, fireworks, and fun. We did all those fun things and more this year. 

One morning in July I couldn't find Deacon. I went to check in his room and he had a small plate with oreos on it and an applesauce that he was eating. Funny kid had taken a pack of oreos and stashed them under his bed along with some other snacks (he had not had breakfast yet). I took them away and told him he needed to eat breakfast first, but it was a funny sight.

Also in July, Emerson decided to take my hairbrush and drop it in the toilet. I guess I need to watch him closer around the toilet. He has also been saying "FINE!" a lot lately. If you want him to do something and he doesn't want to do it, eventually he'll say "FINE!" in a stern voice. 

Patriotic Emer and Dirty Deacon

 On July 3, my aunt and uncle put together a birthday party for my Grandma Mecham. We met at a park and had cake and ice cream. There were tons of ducks and birds by a pond that the kids enjoyed chasing. Happy Birthday Grandma!

That night we watched the West Bountiful fireworks from the back of the truck:

On July 4th, we watched the West Bountiful Parade with Livy and Grandpa Mecham. After that, we went to the West Bountiful park for the activities they have set up. I was not planning to get the balloon animals because the lines are always so long and they pop after a few minutes, but somehow we ended up getting them. Deacon and Livy got a dog on a leash and Emer got a tiger. I don't remember how long they lasted, but they at least made it home. 

Our friends Vince and Paige invited us to Brigham City to join in their 4th of July BBQ and firework show. It was fun, but unfortunately ended up being rainy and cold. They kids did get to see some good fireworks and Deacon was excited about the Pokemon ball firework.

Our July 5th plans changed a few times. The Zoo was having a promotion, so my mom, Livy, the boys,and I decided to go to the Zoo. It was way too crowded, so we turned around and planned to go to Discovery Gateway. My Grandpa Nelson was in the hospital and was not doing well. My mom got a text on our way downtown to go to the hospital where my Grandpa passed away a little while later. I took her home and took the kids to Kangaroo Zoo instead. I used to love Kangaroo Zoo, but it has changed a lot since the last time we went. There are some different slides/play things, which is fine, but they've also filled it up with arcade games, boo! The kids kept wanting to play the arcade games and wouldn't leave them alone to go play on the blow up toys and slides. I don't know if we'll be going back there or not. 

Since we couldn't go to Discovery Gateway on July 5, I told the kids we could go the next day. We even got Matt to come along with us this time.

Grandpa Nelson's funeral. My Grandma just had a graveside service where we all shared memories of Grandpa. It was really nice.

When trying to explain to Emerson that Grandpa Nelson had passed away, we would tell him that Grandpa's body was not doing well and that he was in Heaven. He repeated this quite a bit for the next few days. He would say "Grandpa Nelson died," I would say "yes," and he would ask "because his wasn't doing very well?" and I would say "yes." I know death is hard for kids to understand, but his thoughts and questions around it were pretty cute. 

Kids trying out Blacksmith Ice Cream (SO GOOD!), Emer being Spider-Man, and kids swimming in the backyard. 

 Deacon got these glasses from the 4th of July park activities and the kids would put them on and say "I'm Harry Potter."

On July 19 we went swimming at the Rec Center with Grandma Mecham and Grandma Nelson:

Then that evening, we watched the Bountiful Handcart Day Parade on Main Street:

On July 20, we went to the park for the Handcart Days activities. They took out some of the rides this year, which was disappointing, but they also watered down the blow up slides, which was nice.

We invited Livy and my parents over to do some fireworks on July 24th. It turned out to be a bit of a mess - the kids wouldn't stay in their chairs, they kept moving them closer, and were overall just difficult. We got through the fireworks, but it was painful!

On July 27, we took Deacon and Livy to see Toy Story 4. I thought it was really good!

Lastly, on July 31 we went to a Bee's Game. We got some free tickets from a reading program and Grandma and Grandpa Fenwick came, too. It was rainy and chilly, so the game was postponed for about 45 minutes. We rode the train, got $1 hot dogs, played on the park, and Deacon got his hat signed by Bumble. Grandpa Fenwick was nice to buy and share peanuts and ice cream with the kids.