All the Other July Stuff

July was an emotional roller coaster, full of fun activities, lots of family time, and some major disappointment. It's all part of our life journey, so I'm recording it all here.

7/11 was free day at Chick Fil-A if you dressed up like a cow. Ben usually hates stuff like that (dressing up, plus crowds) so when I off-handedly mentioned it to him around 5:30 pm he said, "sure! let's do it!" I was surprised! I hurried and made cow spots that would go on our shirts and we went! True to my boys natural personalities, Chase was super hesitant to wear the shirt, afraid of looking silly. Hudson, on the other hand, asked if next year I would please make him cow pants and cow ears to go with it. We had free dinner and it wasn't even too terribly crowded. 

We had a fun adventure to the Treehouse Museum with Nana and all the grandbabies. The kids had a great time. They were so cute playing in the diner (for a long time) cooking up a storm and serving us all food. They all love that place and it was such a fun morning, complete with a delicious lunch at Blue Lemon (which we did last year and the boys still remember it and talk about it). 

 When I got home from the Treehouse that afternoon, Ben had some bad news for us- he lost his job. It came as a surprise and such a sucker punch. We both just felt sick and so sad and frustrated. He has loved this job, and put so much into it. A few weeks prior they let Ben's boss go- and the guy who took his place was a real dirtbag. Ben told me right when it happened that he was worried- he did not trust this new guy. And for good reason. Ben realized quickly that everything this guy had ever told Ben was a lie. As we processed and talked about what happened we came to the conclusion that a company that acts this way (let's people go with no notice, no reason, no warning) isn't a company he should be working for. But it didn't really soften the blow by much. My mom watched the kids so we could go to the temple that night, which was probably the most emotional we have ever been attending the temple. We found it interesting that while we were there we were able to feel a little peace, although it didn't take away the feelings of hurt and betrayal.

I can say a little time has helped heal this wound. For the first few days we both struggled with eating and sleeping and I cried a lot. As time has passed it's gotten much easier to swallow. One thing that really helped was that just  two days later we had a camping trip planned with our good friends from BYU. Ben and I really didn't want to go, but our boys were looking forward to it so much that we packed up anyway and went. It was the best thing for us. We camped up Hobble Creek Canyon and it was beautiful. We had so much fun with our friends and the boys had the best time playing, getting dirty and sleeping in the tent.

 Bennetts couldn't spend the night this year, but Virgins did. We put all the kids to bed and stayed up until 1:30 am talking with Russell and Ashley by the fire. It was probably the most therapeutic thing we could have done (although we were all so tired the next morning). Russell and Ashley are kind and wise and encouraging and not at all judgmental. We talked all about life, the crazy job thing and all kinds of other stuff. It was honestly the best, and something I'll remember as a bright spot in an otherwise dark time. I know this all sounds a little dramatic, but for a little while it felt that way. We quickly realized that we have so much to be grateful for, our healthy boys, each other, supportive family and friends, living in America, the list goes on and on. But this night I was so thankful for these wonderful friends!

Our big boys have really bonded this summer in a really great way. They spend hours playing and pretending together. Every night all summer they've slept together on the bottom bunk of their bunk bed. They usually have some blankets and sheets hanging from the top bunk, making it a "fort" or "ship" depending on the night. They giggle and play and read and pretend in there until late into the night, but Ben and I don't really even care because we love the bond they are forming. When summer ends we will probably make Chase start sleeping up in his bed and make them both go to sleep at a better time. But for now, this is darling and so sweet. 

Chase really wanted to do a lemonade stand this summer. I just never got on the ball to do one with him. Luckily his sweet friend Paisley invited him over for one! He was so excited. Paisley's mom does everything up really cute, hence the matching aprons and cutesy sign. He loved it. It was a pretty hot day so they only last about an hour, but he made $4.50 and was thrilled about it! He was even more excited that Nana stopped to buy some lemonade from them (not even realizing at first that Chase was there). Chase loves Paisley and plans on marrying her someday.

 The great thing about Utah is that after the 4th of July, we get to do it all over again for the 24th! The boys really wanted to go to the Bowman's pancake breakfast, so we did. We met Nana and Papa there and all enjoyed our pancakes. Later in the day I took the boys back for the kids activities there, including bounce houses, cotton candy, hot dogs, face painting and balloon animals. I had to laugh at the face paint they chose (totally unprompted by me) because Ben and I joke that Chase's spirit animal is a puppy and Hudson's is a bear.

Our last fun outing in July was another Nana adventure to the Museum of Natural Curiosity! We hadn't been there in three years and the boys LOVED it. In fact, Chase says it was his #1 favorite thing he did all summer. This place has a whole mini city, a jungle to climb in, a whole room of water play (Chase's favorite), a science room, a bear cave, playground and so much more! We stayed for several hours and the boys loved every minute of it! 

I'll say, this new baby in our lives has made this summer really different than the last several. I'm desperately trying to do lots of fun activities for my big kids and trying to preserve a good nap schedule for the baby- which has turned out to be really tricky at times. Somedays the big kids have a more boring day so the baby can nap, some days we go out and do fun stuff and tote around a slightly fussy, tired baby. Mostly it's worked. I actually like looking back on these pictures because they remind me that we did get out and have fun- but it has been a lot more work than the last few summers. Either way, I'm so glad we had these experiences. I love doing activities with my kids and seeing their little world expand.