life lately! just JULY-ing with the GRANDS!
- Our Grand Lives
- Jul 30, 2025
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 11, 2025
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Just like that…. July has come and is almost gone!
For us, it’s been a month of celebrating
and enjoying all our Minnesota summer has to offer!
We’re back a day earlier than normal
as we take a break from our typical content
and share an updated LIFE LATELY post.
Each month this post serves as our version of an online scrapbook
where we capture the moments we want to always remember!
After all, as you may already know, our motto is
Here’s a few of our just JULY-ing! snapshots from the past month!
We had a couple of important birthdays to celebrate this month
and then a bittersweet gathering filled with
lots of family time and many memorable moments!
July began with us celebrating Little D’s fourth birthday
with a Frozen party with cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grands in attendance!
Our own little Elsa was thrilled!
We can't quite believe that our oldest Little is so grown up!
Mid month we celebrated my husband’s birthday
(or BaBa as he’s known in some special circles)!
Then we wrapped up the month of July when we celebrated MY special day!
There is a very dear story behind the cake
that my husband bakes for me each year on my birthday!
When I was little, my mom always made me a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and she decorated it with M&Ms.
When I reached my teens, my mom asked me if I wanted a “store-bought” cake. Of course, I thought that would be cool so I said “yes”. My mom passed away when I was in my mid-twenties, and on the first birthday without her, my husband asked what I wanted for my birthday. The only thing I wanted was a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting and decorated with M&Ms. He has made this birthday cake for me every year since - for the past 35 years! (And, he decorates with many more M&Ms than my mom ever put on!)
Every bite is a loving memory!
We took in another Maria and the Coins concert
(my daughter-in-law’s band)!
We love taking in these outdoor summer shows whenever we can!
My last living (and favorite) aunt passed away last fall,
and her son and daughter had a memorial service for her this month
in her home town in western Wisconsin.
Extended family came from Arizona, Washington, New York, North Carolina, and Wisconsin, as well as our own family here in the Twin Cities. Everyone came to spend a long weekend mid month. It was a glorious four days of celebrating my lovely aunt, laughing, reminiscing, eating, playing games and catching up with cousins and their families.
Here’s hoping you are as blessed with family as I am!
LOTS of time was spent at the lake in July
with a fun date night back home in the Twin Cities
followed by time in Wisconsin with our Littles
as the month now comes to an end!
We were so excited to install this addition to our new dock…
and it flew for the first time on July 3rd!
Perfect timing!
Then, early on the morning of the 4th,
we had a surprise visitor
who decided to join our holiday festivities!
A little too close for comfort
(the dock was only steps away)! YIKES!
It was a hot 4th of July
but that didn’t stop us from
enjoying the bed races and parade down Main Street!
❤️ 💙 ❤️
Lots of lake time followed!!
Our grandpup claimed her spot early on!
Nothing beats summer days on the lake!
We were even treated to our very own Frozen talent show that weekend!
It reminded the GRAND generation of the times
when the mothers of these two put on similar shows for us all
twenty five years ago!
A full circle moment for sure!
Later in the month, Hubby and I spent a fun evening in St. Paul
taking a trip down memory lane!
We started with dinner at a mainstay supper club that's been around forever!
It still deserves its stellar reputation!
Hubby had spent the first part of his career as an architect
doing restoration work in the historic neighborhoods of St. Paul.
We had time to drive by a few of these sites.
Then it was off to the theater.
We were so excited to see this band one last time in concert!
The music brought back lots of memories…
especially for Hubby!
Does anyone out there remember their music?
Mr. Bojangles, Fishin’ in the Dark and Will the Circle Be Unbroken?
We were living our best life that night…
along with plenty of other Baby Boomers, too!
We headed back to the lake for a peaceful week together.
And while we love the peace and quiet,
we kept our fingers crossed that our bear friend would not reappear!
(Thank goodness... she didn't!)
Who can resist these sunsets?
Not us!
The tail end of July is being spent near Madison, Wisconsin.
Daughter A and I traveled here last weekend for a special event!
Our Girl Group
(made of up two Grands, a mama, two aunties and our Little L)
enjoyed an outing at Fireside Dinner Theater!
We saw The Little Mermaid and it was fabulous!
We sure love our own Little Mermaid!
Daughter A returned to Minneapolis earlier this week
BUT I get to spend the last days of July and the beginning of August
with these two sweet faces
before Hubby comes to pick me next weekend!
No doubt about it, I’m savoring the GRAND life!
THANK YOU
for taking the time to visit our world!
It’s always great when you stop by!
We hope you’ll join us tomorrow, when we wrap-up this year's summer series
We’ll be back tomorrow with Week Eight of our final installment
Don’t miss it!
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As July winds down and we reflect on the past several weeks
we are grateful for the memories created during these long summer days!
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I just love that your husband makes you your mom's cake every birthday. That's so dear. What a wonderful family gathering to honor your aunt, too. Wow, it must be the year for bears--we had one on our deck at a family reunion we did in July in the Colorado mountains! Beautiful and kind of neat from behind our closed doors, but wholly unsettling at the same time. ;) Thanks for sharing this post with us at the Will Blog for Comments #66 linkup. Hope to see you next week at #67, too.
Aw, I loved how you all spent the month of July. Full of love, family, and making new memories, along with cherishing some old ones. Wonderful post. I hope you will join us today at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party. We always enjoy visiting with you.
Steph@CrazyLittleLovebirds
LOVED the story of your M&M cake- such a wonderful memory with your mom :)
What a special tradition with the birthday cake - that really is very special. And looks like both your summers have been so wonderful.
Hi L&L, what a fabulous joy filled post from you both. I love the birthday cake tradition, that's so sweet of your husband! A lovely time over summer for you all.
Debbie Debs-world.com