Hello July!

Summer spoils me. Its sunny days of sleeping late, wearing no make up and having fewer things on the calendar to boss me around is a life that I could easily love everyday. But perhaps because I don't live a summer schedule all year round is precisely the reason it spoils me for the few months it is present. 

Here it is July already and I really don't know where June went to. One week we were out of school and next Abigail and Annah were off to Girl's Camp and then to Arizona and California and BAM it's July! Ahh, but what a lovely start to July!

We typically spend the 4th of July at home watching neighbors unload an arsenal of fireworks at the corner of our street just one house down from us. These guys do some pretty major fireworks -- ones that they would make a special trip to Tennessee to purchase because you can't buy them here in Kentucky, well, because they are not legal.  And they wouldn't just buy a few! They would spend hundreds of dollars for them, sometimes going in with neighbors to purchase even more than they normally would.  Our contribution to the evening is awe and applause at their displays and a few token sparklers, firecrackers and low level fireworks to satisfy the pyromaniacs in the family.  

Over the past few years the neighborhood displays seemed to be dwindling so this year we decided we would go to the local businessman RJ Corman's fireworks display that is put on every year on his property here in our town. It was our first time attending and we liked it so well that we think we will do it again next year. :) 

   

Backing up to June for a minute...

Tim and Lisa made a mad dash across the country from Arizona to Kentucky in 2 days time to pick up Abigail and Annah for a road trip back to Arizona.

At Christmastime Tim and Lisa gave Abigail and Annah this ticket to be redeemed in the summer of 2014. 

They came to pick them up, traveled back to Arizona (and of course seeing the Grand Canyon!), then on to San Diego for a few days and back to Tempe again. Once the trip was done Abigail and Annah flew home on a non-stop flight from Phoenix to Louisville. It was the first time the girls had ever flown and they had a blast! To have the opportunity to spend time with their oldest brother and their sister-in-law is something that neither of them will ever forget!   

While Tim and Lisa were here in Kentucky for a few days Lisa, Abigail, Annah, Tim and I went off to visit Keeneland in hopes of seeing the horses work out at the track. As luck would have it the horses weren't working out at all but rather they were working on resurfacing the track. So instead of cheering  for horses we cheered for trucks!

But we had really great seats....

And a good view of the KEENELAND shrubs...

And we learned how to place a bet!

And the girls hung out with some life-size jockey's! :) 

Okay, not really but they were almost life-size.

 And Tim even got to knuckle-bump a jockey!

We even found the actual starting gate....in the parking lot!!! :)

(My bet is on #9!) 

We had a fun time at Keeneland with Lisa and the girls. Later in the day we went to High Bridge Park. Unfortunately, I seemed to have misplaced those pictures on my computer. Don't even ask me how that happened...I have yet to figure it out. :(

The road warriors: Tim, Lisa, Annah and Abigail just before heading out for their summer road trip to Arizona!