Summer Wrap-Up: July

July started on the highest of high notes.  My sister and her husband welcomed a darling little boy into their family officially, minus confetti and moving music.

I already did a whole big post on Adoption Day, but it's still such a huge occasion, and July 3rd will always be the day that Anthony became an official part of our family.

My folks and I did a marathon driving session from Georgia back up to Illinois and I came back home on July 4th in time for the fireworks!

We gathered with half the town by the football field and watched the fireworks take place.  It was a beautiful night and we contemplated bringing Lucy but were pretty glad we didn't because we had a bunch of yahoos shooting off illegal fireworks right next to us.  I kinda thought we were going to die for a while.  Luckily, we survived, and hopefully the yahoos were ticketed for their misbehavior.

But all in all, we had a great 4th of July.

The next big event in July, which Doug calls his favorite event of the summer, was Pub n' Putt.  Again, this event was crazy enough to warrant it's very own post, but here's the before and after:

We all made it through and without a nap.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, Pub n' Putt is a marathon!

Finally, I've come to what was a surprise hit this summer:  The Ladies Leatherneck Football Academy!  This was a fundraiser held by Western Illinois University Athletics for women to come out and learn more about football from the coaches and players.  We started with a "chalk talk" in the locker room and then moved outside for some hand's on practice.

I went with my friend Sarah.  When the coaches started describing the drills we would be running, she ended our friendship.  But after an hour of tackling, passing, and catching drills, all was forgiven.  I had a blast!  After a long week at work it was music to my ears to hear, "go ahead and tackle that dummy to the ground!"  I think the offensive line drill was the best because we were encouraged to look mean and then run into the players as hard as we could.

 Below you see Sarah and I dressed in full Leatherneck gear.  The second picture most accurately describes how Sarah felt toward me in the beginning of the night.

All in all, I want to do a football workout every week!  Plus I came home saying things like "I've got great offensive line stance" and "I learned how to run some running played called God's Play" and then my hubby looked at me with a mix of awe and deep attraction.  I definitely have more respect for football as a sport, and I totally want to get a powerpuff league going in my town.  Or just play in the backyard. 

The only improvement that could be made on this event for next year would be to inform women about the dress code.  I wore workout clothes and sneakers, but most women had on sandals and one lady even had on a skirt!  It's not easy to run drills in sandals, so do us a favor and tell us what to wear!

So, that was July.  It felt busier, but August has definitely been full of activities.  More on that later!

Happy Reading!