July Lookback

July 2017 was unlike any July we have ever experienced.

Sure, we had our family time on the 4th, and took in a ball game.  But, then, the rest of the month was consumed with packing for Zambia, being in Zambia, and recovering from Zambia.

It was awesome.  And I want to do it again.  Some pictures of the trip are posted here, just because it made up a majority of our July. To get a more thorough summary of the trip check out The Beautiful and The Hard previously posted.

Grandpa and Grandma's new 'playground' is a hit with all the cousins


Through my job in Foster Care we got seats to a Tincaps game, a buffet meal, and July 4th fireworks afterwards.

Carrie in Zambia gave me the idea to put a countdown app on my phone. It was fun to be able to countdown the days.
We planned to make the majority of our luggage be for the Wiegands, so as boxes showed up at our house that Carrie had ordered, I would stack them in the corner. A few days before our flight I started unpacking the boxes to see how I could get it all to fit. I was a bit taken aback when I opened one box and found a cow's heart, cow's eyeball, and fetal pig! The kids were a bit surprised as well...

We fit a round of frisbee golf in one afternoon at the local course. Definitely had to play best throw or we would have been there ALL day.

Our luggage in it's entirety. About lost most of it in Johannesburg, South Africa...

I was amazing to realize in 36 hours time we were on 3 different continents. It made the world seem big and small at the same time.  All in all, we were in 6 different countries (minus the US) on our trip.



The part we called the "Anniversary" part of our trip. Celebrating 15 years with a 7 hour layover in London. Walking through Hyde Park...

Seeing Buckingham Palace

And enjoying fish and chips at an outdoor pub
Standing on the bridge spanning the Zambezi River, 
able to say we were both in Zambia and Zimbabwe

Those baboons were the real deal. I was only fearful two times while on our trip, and this was one of those times. Baboons within a foot of us, trying our best to avoid eye contact and keep moving.
Unknown to each other, we packed the same shirt... #twinning


Dipping our feet in the Zambezi
Safari in Botswana, seeing animals up close and in their natural habitat

Hanging out, living life with the Wiegands. The best part of the trip.





The last night we were able to go out on a double date, no kids, just the 4 of us. It was such a sweet time to reflect, discuss, and share.  

And then my camera quit working. I still have not been able to get it to work, unfortunately. I'm limping along with my phone camera, that leaves much to be desired. But this was all I was able to get from the rest of July.


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