July came and went...

Our awesome 4th of July plans, which included hanging out with Uncle Toby next door to his apartment to enjoy the city of Arlington's festivities, then watching the DC fireworks from his office building, got nixed because of the inconvenience and exhaustion of living without electricity the weekend before... so, we hung close to home and watched fireworks on TV.

Jackson is in summer camp at day care and he has a jam-packed schedule.  They leave the building nearly every day and so far he's been to the Goddard Space Center, laser tag, the splash pad at least once a week. And they have theme weeks... so far, Superhero week has been his favorite :)  He's getting really tan and is getting better acquainted with Montgomery County than we are!

His special certificate from Ms. Amber



His laser tag score sheet




















Little miss is continuing to do great with potty training and is as sassy pants as ever... which can be seen in the pictures below as she's modeling summer dresses her Ge-me made herself.



I've had a really eventful month.  I was contacted by a local chapter here, Gamma Chi, and invited to my first event with them... Magic Mike :) The girls have been very welcoming and it feels really good to have activities to look forward to.  I've also been to a meeting, which was fun, too - though a bit less structured than what I'm used to.  I got out and about with the sorority, but I also used up a Groupon with Toby at an awesome Medetteranean restaurant, Yamas, and had dinner with Angela and Lisa and a great place, Dog Fish Head Alehouse... the food was outstanding and it's super close to the house. 



I'm also busy again at work. Jackie is temporarily detailed to being the acting AD and she asked if I would cover her as chief... it has been a challenge because her staff gets a TON of work and it involves case reviews... I haven't looked at a real claims file in YEARS!  But, it's challenging and I'm learning new things, and keeping busy, so it's been a welcome change of pace.

I also started Southbeach earlier this month. The first two weeks were really hard, but went okay... but, I didn't transition well to Phase II. I just don't think the low-carb thing works for me - as if anything is right now!

Here are some pics from the month...




















The kiddos hanging out at the splash park





























Silly kids!




















Chillin' with Dad - note the sweat band




















An afternoon at BounceU... Jack was the only kid there and can be marked as the first time he ditched his mom for the pretty girl (one of the girls who worked there)














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