I can hardly believe it is July already! June was a pretty darn good month. A return to a more normal way of life, fresh strawberries from the garden, caterpillars, ice cream, lazy nights, a new favorite wine. All the little things that make up our days and make us smile.

Every July I used to reread the book Cape Cod by William Martin. It is a big chonker of a book, but I love every bit of it. I haven’t read it for a few years and I can’t get it out of my mind lately. It looks like I will be rereading it this year. We are going to the zoo this weekend, having a fire at my brother’s and then I don’t know what all else for the fourth. I do know we are going to watch Jaws, which has become a 4th of July tradition. That scene where Quint talks about the USS Indianapolis is one of the best bits of acting I have seen in a movie. It is riveting. And terrifying.

July brings us the potential for more and new adventures – we are doing a whole Italy study for the entire month of July, and it is going to be so much fun. We started on Monday, and we have already done some cute little projects! We have a “field trip” planned to a local winery – it was the only place nearby I could think of where the kids could see grapes growing for the life cycle of a grape study. But bonus for the adults. I think that we will take a picnic with us and the kids can have grape juice while the parents taste one or two of the wines being offered. I also have a few new recipes for us to try together, along with learning a bit of the language. I am still doing a bit of research about other things we can do to tie in to this unit – I am sure I will find a few more!

It is also the month of the Tour de France! Billy and I have been glued to it every night when he comes home from work – this year has been so crazy already. Some emotional wins, some terrible crashes, even a protest and an arrest! My favorite cyclist, Mikel Landa, is not part of the Tour this year as he has a broken collarbone. I hate that he has to miss out this year! I already miss seeing him pedal pedal pedal to the finish line! I am trying to find my cyclist to root for, but honestly, I have been so happy for every cyclist that has won a stage so far this race. Wyatt is even starting to enjoy watching, at least the end and all the excitement that happens in those last few minutes!

My garden is slowly filling out and growing – this cycle of rain and hot weather seems to be good for it. Not as much for me, but the plants seem happy. I love going outside and just looking at how pretty it is all looking! I ended up planting way more flowers than vegetables this year. I guess that is what my soul needed this year. I desperately need to get outside and do something with my tomatoes though. I can’t find any tomato cages and my plants have become a big jungle! I hope that they are salvageable, the tomatoes look amazing already. I had been so proactive, pulling off the suckers, removing the shoots from the bottom – then bam, it is a giant mess. This is a view from my front window. This cute little squirrel showed up for breakfast the other day, plopping himself among the yarrow and lavender and raspberries. And can I just say how much I am loving yarrow these days? I never planted it before and I am in love with it.

I do have some other low key projects planned for the month and the weekend, but mostly I hope to do a lot of slowing down.

What about you all? Any plans for the holiday weekend?