Greetings From the Gilleys: July Stuff

It's HOT here, y'all.... Two days ago, it got to 106 degrees but the "feels like" was 115. I think that MIGHT be the hottest temperature I have ever felt in my entire life! So, unless we are at the pool, we don't go outside much. July is miserable here. It's worse than August and thankfully it's only the last 2 weeks that get to be THIS insanely hot so we're almost past it :)

But, we have been "surviving" just fine. We keep remembering that even though it's hot here in the South, it's also such a great place to be so I can't complain too much :)

Our month has been pretty low-key and uneventful but I did want to just catch up a little bit before we go to Idaho so that I don't get too far behind.

So here are a few "highlights" of our month:

I'm SURE you heard about the whole Build-A-Bear debacle.... I feel like I should include that story 'cause it made history and we were part of it! We weren't ones who were throwing MASSIVE fits over the dumbest reason, but we were part of the semi-disappointed crowd. People were FLIPPING out! It's funny now. But on the day of, it was such a madhouse and I was not too happy (my kids get so excited over Build-A-Bear. We've only gone there once so it's as exciting as Christmas morning to them, which is where the disappointment comes from). However, I understand that getting a cheap bear is not a right, it's a privilege and America just flipped out! I felt bad for Build-A-Bear. People were SO mean to them! I was annoyed at the situation at the time but never mad at Build-A-Bear. That's just stupid.

Here was my two cents on the day of:

"One of the worst parenting decisions I’ve ever made was telling my kids we could go to Build-A-Bear today for the pay your age event.... we got to the mall 30 min before they opened thinking we’d be in and out within 30 minutes. What we never anticipated was that when we got there, we’d be 700 people deep in a line that wrapped around the entire mall. The first 2 pictures show 2 girls full of hope and happiness when we had only been in line 30 and 50 minutes. The last 3 pictures show the girls leaving, devastated that they didn’t get their promised bears after waiting for almost 2 hours. If we stayed, we had at LEAST another 2 hours to wait. We didn’t have the patience, time, or energy to deal with our hunger pangs any longer. Plus, we had Sully with us. Worst. Choice. Ever. We made a pit-stop at the Disney Store on the way out to browse through the sale items (their prices are just stupid) to try to mend their broken hearts, but even that was lame because those lines were also out the door with all the other parents and crying kids who decided to ditch Build-a-bear as well. I chalk today up as a total loss. #YouWinSomeYouLoseSome #IWillNeverAttemptThisAgain @ Woodland Hills Mall."

But GUESS WHAT?! Later that night, the kids had forgotten ALL about the fiasco and it didn't matter anymore :)

"Turns out riding on Daddy’s back is way better than buying a discounted bear. This was the most fun they’ve had all week!"💗

💙

💗#LaughingSoHardTheyCouldntBreathe #OurHouseIsNeverQuiet#ButAlsoNeverBoring

Now, onto other stuff.

See those sunflowers behind the girls? We waited until they died and then picked them and roasted them! I made Ranch flavored Sunflower seeds for the first time ever. They tasted yummy!! How cool is that? We have had so much fun this year with my garden. I'm still super new at all of this and have SO MUCH to learn, but it really has been awesome!

The fruits of her labor... well, the veggies of her labor

😉 She planted all of our corn stalks herself and we’ve been patiently waiting for months ‘til they were ready to pick! Well, today when we checked for the “milk” we were excited to see it! She said “Mommy, I know how to pick it. I remember when Nana Raine taught me last Summer!” So she grabbed it at the base and broke it off like a pro. Homegrown corn: it’s what’s for dinner!

😊

🌽

Another favorite July tradition of ours is when we trek over to Chick-Fil-A for their Annual Cow Appreciation Day! We all got free meals for dressing like cows, the kids got to run around and play and Mama didn't have to cook! Win-win all around!

Next are just some snapshots of Summer :)

This night is worth mentioning. The girls' asked Daddy if he would have a slumber party with them up in their room and instead of saying no (like I feel most Dad's would say), he gladly said yes! He went to the grocery store to buy some special ice-cream, popped some popcorn, let them pick out a movie to put on the projector and slept ON THE FLOOR in a sleeping bag right next to them all night; even after they fell asleep- he stayed. I didn't get any pictures of them lined up on the floor in their sleeping bags, but I so wish I had! I just love that he did that! To be honest, I wouldn't have done it! But he was excited to spend the night with them and it makes me so happy!

We've gone bowling, we've had nights at the pool with friends, we went back-to-school shopping (NOOOOOOOO!!!!! :( :( :( It's coming too soon!) and we've just really, totally, completely enjoyed our Summer break. I don't want it to end, but before it does we get to do one more thing that we've been waiting for ALL Summer long- we get to go up to Coeur d'Alene. I haven't been back there in 4 years and I'm just dying to get Sully up to Nana and Pops' house. I can't wait to see family I haven't seen in years and swim in all the lakes. I love Idaho oh-so-much and can't wait to be "home." Only 10 more days!

Lastly, I'll leave you with this. Summer is awesome. Sully's Terrible Two's are NOT awesome....

Happy July everyone!