June....where did you go?

When I received a message from my sister that she was looking forward to seeing me in a week, I stopped to ponder...'wait, why will I see her that soon?'  Then it hit me....June was over. It was already July and all the events I had pushed into my 'middle of summer' box were suddenly here.  Does anyone else feel like that?  I think it's partially due to all the rain and chilly weather we've been having, that makes it feel like summer is just starting.  Summers here are way too short! I was just reminded this week that school starts for many people next month...only a matter of weeks.

This post is kinda different from my usual. If you all hate it, then I shall never write this kind again. (well, no promises).  :-)  I just feel reflective today. June had a couple of monumental firsts: our first family vacation with littles, and our first 'stay-cation' for our anniversary.  We weren't sure how traveling with 2 littles and the family dog for a week would go. Would we all hate each other or bond? Would this open the door to future family vacations or make us want to wait until the littles are older? Thankfully, it went fairly smooth! We visited some lovely nature parks, a huge zoo, went hiking at a wildlife safari place and state park, and made lots of memories. The most exhausting part was our drive home when the kids DID NOT NAP! They talked for hours and begged for food FOR HOURS!  We were ready to be home after that drive. :-)

We also had our first 'stay-cation' for our anniversary. My parents took care of the kiddos for the weekend, and we stayed home!  It was MUCH cheaper than booking a place to stay, and we got to do the main things we love: board games, sit-down dinners, nature walks and a movie. It was soooo quiet here, it was weird. But we were thankful for the time to chat without multitasking toddlers.  We were all glad to be together again Sunday!

Our games:
Freedom: loved it!  Great strategy and great theme!

Freedom


Space Base: It was well put together, and definitely requires a replay.

Space Base




Our Movie:
Paul the Apostle:  loved it!  Well done, accurate, and thought provoking!

Paul the Apostle



Lessons I've been trying to learn this last month include 'Finish and Focus' (from the last blog post) and limits. Note to self, don't encourage your husband to read your blog posts, for then he'll hold you accountable for the lessons you publicly stated you were learning and remind you of them as often as he sees fit. (which is more often than I see fit). :-) I mentioned limits, for I tend to have superhero size dreams for what I can do, but as the months progress toward my due date my stamina has definitely decreased.  Case in point: Monday our hike included a hill and it was hot. The rest of the day, I was wiped out.  Proper limits are definitely a life lesson. Knowing how much you can say 'yes' to before you need to say 'no'. Or a better question: What do I need to say 'no' to in order to say 'yes' to the most important things?

The main book I'm reading and loving is:

936 Pennies
This book is sooo good!  I've earmarked a lot of pages to come back to!  One of these days, I'll write a review of it to share some of the main points. The premise is that we are each given 936 weeks with our child from birth to 18, and the question is 'How will we spend them?'.

What have you been reading, watching, and learning over the last month?