Our Week - The One with Summer, Week 9 (Camp, an Evening Swim, and the Rest of Jacob’s Birthday Celebrations)

Last week was very fun and super productive and I’m recapping it all on the blog today!

Monday, July 18

Monday morning was the first day of the second week of summer camp for the kiddos, so we were up bright and early (ugh, haha).  I dropped them at the school at 8, swung by to pick up some school uniforms from a friend’s house, and then I headed straight back home to do all the things.  My to do list was a mile long, so I spent the day checking off all the things – working on blog posts, ordering Jacob’s birthday cake, tidying, doing laundry, doing final verification for back-to-school registration, and cleaning out Olivia’s room.  I didn’t get very far in her room, but at least I got started.

By the time 3 o’clock rolled around, I felt pretty darn accomplished, and I set out to pick up the kids from camp.  They both reported that they’d had a great day.  None of Jacob’s friends from school were there, but he didn’t seem to mind, and most of Olivia’s friends were there, so she was ecstatic. 

When we got home, they played video games for a few minutes, and then I made a quick early dinner for the three of us.  Brian had to work all night, so we were on our own. 

After dinner, we all put on our swimsuits and headed to my parents’ pool to meet my friend Jeannine, and her two boys, for an evening swim.  Our kiddos were so excited about camp, but they were so sad that they wouldn’t be able to swim all week, so I decided it would be extra special to take them for a late evening swim. 

We ended up staying in the pool until after 8, and everyone had a blast.  The kids played together all evening and Jeannine and I got to chat.  The water was awesome – nice and warm – and it was a great way to spend the evening.

Just as we pulled into our garage, the bottom fell out and it poured for the next hour or so… we’d made it home just in time, and I was so glad it had held off for our pool evening.  The kids and I all got showered and ready for bed, and then Jacob read in our bedroom while Olivia (almost) passed out in our bed… they were both wiped. 

We called Brian at work so the kids could say goodnight, and then after I got them in the bed, I spent the rest of the night downstairs with Maui.  Friday Night Lights is on Netflix again, so I grabbed a bowl of frozen yogurt and started it from the beginning! 

Brian finally got home a little after 11, but he had to work some more from home, so I headed to bed, and then he finally got into bed around midnight, I think.

Tuesday, July 19

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kiddos at camp and then headed to Target and Fresh Market to grab a few things, and then I spent the rest of the day at home working on different tasks.  Brian worked from home Tuesday, so he and I ate lunch together and then it was back to doing all the things.

I grabbed the kids from camp a little after 3, and we had to swing by my parents’ house to get their mail before heading home.  We got caught in a major storm right as we left the school, so I was white knuckling it all the way home, and I was relieved when we finally pulled in the garage.  I hate driving in crazy storms like that one.

After the rain cleared, Olivia went to check on her sunflowers, and after having two of them getting eaten by a squirrel (we think), the last one standing FINALLY bloomed.  She was thrilled. 

The rest of the evening was spent tidying up and cooking dinner.  I made my Momma’s Rosemary Wine Chicken recipe with mashed potatoes and broccoli, and we warmed up some Cheesecake Factory whole grain bread to go along with it.  It was so, so delicious and it hit the spot.  While I cooked, I tried a new station on our Amazon Echo… my friend, Jeannine, had told me to check out the 90’s Alternative station and it did not disappoint!!  Y’all know how much I love the 90’s Pop station and the 90’s R&B station, and the alternative one was awesome, too.

After dinner, we took Maui for a short walk and the kids rode their bikes up and down our street.  We stayed out there for a bit, and then I walked another 2.5 miles while the kids got ready for bed and then I did my arms workout.

After that, they watched another episode of Theodosia, and then B and I watched some of the new season of The Bachelorette before calling it a night.

Wednesday, July 20

Wednesday morning, I dropped the kids at camp and then I headed to Publix to pick up a few things that we needed in between big grocery shopping trips.  I spent the rest of the day working on blog stuff, unpacking Amazon Prime Day items that had delivered, trying on dresses for an upcoming wedding, and cleaning out Olivia’s bedroom. 

Y’all.  My smart, beautiful, snuggly, loving girl is pure sunshine and so much fun, but she is also a TOTAL SLOB.  Haha.  It took me hours to clean out her bedroom because there was just crap everywhere – I found dirty clothes that have probably been missing for months, there were beads in literally every nook and cranny, and it was a total junk yard under her bed, dresser, bookshelf, and nightstand.  Lol. 

I had just bought new hairbows for school for her on Tuesday because all of hers were gone.  I had assumed that they’d disappeared at school as she’s constantly taking them out, but NOPE, she had plenty of them… they were all just under the bed, dresser, bookshelf, and nightstand.  Lol.

She is a piece of work, y’all, but I sure do love her.

I had to break mid-afternoon to grab the kiddos from camp, and then it was back home to finish up in Olivia’s room.  You may remember at the beginning of the summer we painted my Mama Cass’s old childhood desk to go in her room?  Well, it’s been in her room for a while, and we bought a desk chair and a bulletin board to go along with it last month, but I never took the time to share the space with y’all.  Here it is!  Isn’t it darling?

It’s all set up and organized for her for now, but we’ll see how long that lasts.  Hahahaha.

The kids had another great day at camp, and they’d both spent loads of time outside.  On Wednesday, they were supposed to have brought a change of clothes, but they’d failed to remember, so they ended up doing a slip n slide in their actual clothes.  Well, Olivia did, anyway.  Jacob wasn’t about to get his clothes all wet with nothing else to change into, but Olivia, she’s always down for anything!  Haha.

Since Olivia broke her elbow last summer, I’ve been extra worried about her doing anything that puts her at a higher risk for having another accident, and I wasn’t super excited about the slip n slide, so I was happy to find out about it after the fact.  Otherwise, I would have been worrying all day.  Haha.  Thankfully, she didn’t have any spills!

By the time I was done in Olivia’s room, it was time to cook dinner, so I headed downstairs so make some chicken and rice stir fry with veggies.  After dinner, I was BEAT because of all of the cleaning in Olivia’s room.  My low back is STILL messed up from throwing it out at the beginning of July, so doing any kind of manual labor is tough.  I’m not one to lay around, though, so I’ve been doing more than I probably should be.  #Stubborn

My back was completely wrecked Wednesday evening again, so I lay down on the couch for a bit and iced it while B took the kids to ride scooters and play basketball, and then when they came in, I got back up and finished up the laundry while they got ready for bed.

We all watched a few minutes of AGT before bed, and then after the kiddos went to bed, B and I watched some of the new season of Better Call Saul.  I wanted to like it since I loved Breaking Bad so much, but after a couple of seasons, I’ve pretty much tuned it out.  For some reason it just doesn’t hold my attention like Breaking Bad did.  Weird since so many of the characters are the same.  

Thursday, July 21

Thursday morning, I dropped the kids at camp, this time with a change of clothes and a towel, and then I headed back home to work on the blog, wrap gifts for Jacob’s birthday, and do a few other things around the house. 

I grabbed the kiddos at 3:30 and they’d had the best day at camp… the slip n slide was out again, and they had played outside most of the day.

When we got home, both kids had some quiet time…  Jacob is still working his way through The Hunger Games for his summer reading, and he needed to get in some reading time.

Brian had gotten off of work early Thursday which was nice because Olivia’s voice lesson was canceled, so instead of waiting at the music studio with me, she was able to stay home with B and play some board games. 

I took Jacob to piano lessons and read for a bit, and as we were leaving, it looked like a massive storm was brewing.  Fortunately, the storm held off long enough for him to get through his 30-minute lesson and for us to run into Publix to grab some milk before the bottom fell out.  As we were walking (running, really) back to the car, the wind was whipping, and lightning was flashing everywhere, and then the rain started just as we were pulling out of the parking lot.  Another white-knuckle drive home.  That’s summer in Georgia for ya.  Lol.

It ended up raining for the rest of the evening, so we spent all of our time indoors.  I cooked Taco Joe’s for dinner, and then I relaxed on the couch and read for a bit afterward.  In addition to throwing out my back (that still hasn’t healed), I also woke up with a horrendous strain in my neck Thursday morning, and I couldn’t turn my head, so between those two things, I was pretty much out of commission.  Lol. 

Once my back and neck had been iced, I got up and did an arms workout since I couldn’t get out to walk due to the rain.

We watched some more America’s Got Talent Thursday evening, and then after the kiddos went to bed, B and I started The Vampire Diaries because we are just plain out of ideas for what to watch.  The first episode was okay, so I’m hoping it gets better soon.  Once that episode was over, we switched off and watched some of Better Call Saul for B and then we went to bed.

Friday, July 22

Friday morning, I dropped the kids for their final day of camp, swung by UPS to return some Amazon Prime Day purchases that didn’t work, and then I spent the rest of the day cozied up in my office, working on the blog. 

The kids gave another great report when I picked them up from camp, and then we headed home to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening.  We all cleaned out the playroom together, and then B picked up takeout from Carabba’s for dinner.  

After dinner and showers, we all watched the last bit of America’s Got Talent and another episode of Theodosia together, I got in an arms workout, and then we all hugged Jacob one last time as a ten year old before tucking the kids into bed.  Look at these two!! 

Once they were in bed, B and I watched another episode of The Vampire Diaries since we’d finished all of our other shows.  I never watched it when it was on TV, so it’s brand new to me.  B isn’t super excited about it, but when we can’t find something that we agree on, we typically take turns watching something that I like and something that he likes.  B also started the new season of Barry after that, which is a show that I don’t like, so now we’ll just go back-and-forth between the two (and Better Call Saul as new episodes are released), assuming we stick with The Vampire Diaries. 

Saturday, July 23

Saturday morning, we got up bright and early because it was Jacob’s birthday and we had fun morning plans!  B headed out to grab donuts from our favorite local place – Jacob’s birthday breakfast request – and then after breakfast we all got ready and got to the kids’ favorite arcade in town that’s similar to Dave and Buster’s.

Jacob’s two best friends from school met us there, and then we spent the next couple of hours playing games, eating pizza and cupcakes, and opening gifts.  The boys had a blast, and Olivia was just as excited to tag along… Jacob’s friends were super sweet to her!

After Jacob’s friends were picked up, we hung out for a few more minutes letting the kids play a few more games and pick out their prizes with their tickets they’d won.  On the way home, we swung by the bakery to pick up Jacob’s birthday cake for Sunday evening, and then we headed home for the rest of the day.  Jacob opened his gifts from us, and then he got to putting together his new Lego sets that he’d received. 

We headed to church Saturday evening, and then afterward, we went to our favorite pub down the street from church with my parents to find that it was insanely packed… seriously, I haven’t seen that many cars there ever I don’t think.  They couldn’t even estimate how long it would be until we got a table, so instead, we went to our tried-and-true favorite Mexican place down the street from church instead. 

Jacob had chosen the pub for his birthday dinner so he was pretty disappointed we couldn’t stay, but he was super excited when we got to the Mexican restaurant to see that our extended family who had just gotten back in town were there!  They’d already finished eating, but we were able to sit at the table next to theirs and chat with them all evening. 

I secretly told our waitress that it was Jacob’s birthday, so they brought out the sombrero and the birthday dessert to surprise him after we’d finished eating.  They always smear ice cream on your mouth and nose when they sing, and Jacob was a great sport about it, even though he haaaates getting messy.  He actually loved it and thought it was so funny.

On the way home, we grabbed Dairy Queen Blizzards (so much junk food this weekend, y’all!) and then we all hung out for a bit before the kiddos went to bed.  I also squeezed in an arms workout since I’m trying to do that one 3-4 times per week this whole month.  After bed, it was more Vampire Diaries and Barry for B and me.

 

Sunday, July 24

Sunday morning was leftover donuts for breakfast and pure laziness the rest of the morning and early afternoon.  I honestly don’t even remember much of what we did but there were fake nails, quilting, and reading!

After eating lunch at home, we finally got showered and ready for the day, and then we headed to my aunt and uncle’s house for a bit because my cousin and his wife + their two baby girls and my other cousins kiddos (who are Jacob’s and Olivia’s ages) were in town for the afternoon!  They live in Colorado (used to live in Cali), so we only get to see them once a year at Christmas, but due to the pandemic, they hadn’t been able to visit for the last two years, so we hadn’t seen them since Christmas 2019, which meant that we’d never even met their almost two-year-old.  Just crazy. 

We visited with them for an hour or so, and I would have loved to have been able to stay longer, but we had to get Olivia to her friend, Savannah’s, birthday party at 4.  After dropping the boys at home, she and I headed to the party, and she swam with all of her best friends while I chatted with all of the moms.  We all got to talking about the start of school and which kids were in which classes (they have two of each grade at their school and they mix all of the kids up each year), and we are just so excited about Olivia’s class this year.  She has a fantastic group!

Unfortunately, Savannah’s party overlapped with Sunday dinner at my parents’ house, and while normally, it would have been fine to be a few minutes late, we were celebrating Jacob’s birthday with them, which meant we had to leave Savannah’s party a little early.  I know Olivia was disappointed, but she was such a good sport about it, even though she had to leave her friends behind.  I also forgot to take a single picture.  Forehead slap!

Fortunately, they live fairly close to us, so we were able to zip right back over to our house so Olivia could change, and then we grabbed the boys and the cake, and we headed to my parents’ house for the evening.

My littlest brother, my Mama Cass, and my Uncle Billy were all there, too – the usual crew – and we had spaghetti for dinner with a side of white rice for Jacob because that’s what he requested for his birthday dinner.  Hahahaha.  He LOVES my mom’s white rice.

After dinner, we ate the lemon cake with Kirby (the video game character) on it for dessert, and then he opened his gifts, and that was a wrap on all of the birthday celebrations!!!!

 

And now for a few current things…

Currently Reading

 

In July, I read The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han, and I liked it a lot.  It’s a YA book, so it follows the lives of high schoolers, but it was very light and entertaining, which is always what I’m looking for in a summer read.  I read it in just a few days, which is the fastest I’ve read a book all summer.  We’ve been on the go so much this summer that I just haven’t made nearly as much time to read like I usually do.  In addition to that one, I also started reading Oona Out of Order, and by the time this month is over, I’m sure I’ll be done with it because I can’t put it down!!

 

Currently Watching

 

With B:  This month, B and I watched season two of Love Life from start to finish and we also watched The Summer I Turned Pretty from start to finish.  I loved both of those shows!  I ended up having to read The Summer I Turned Pretty at the same time that we watched the show since my book hold became available right after we’d started the show, and it definitely wasn’t ideal toggling back-and-forth between the two because it was difficult to remember which things had happened in the book and which things had happened on the show.  I think I actually enjoyed the show better which isn’t usually the case for me.  There are similarities between the two, of course, but there were many differences as well, a couple of which changed the tone of the whole story.  I’m really looking forward to season two and book two, though!  In addition to those two shows, we also had a rare movie night where we watched Hustle, the new Adam Sandler movie, and then we also finished this season of Stranger Things (which I didn’t pay attention to at all).  We also started and the new season of The Bachelorette and part two of the newest season of Better Call Saul, but we decided that we’re done with The Bachelorette.  The show has gone way downhill over the years, and I’m not a fan of the two girls who are the bachelorettes (yes, there are two) this season either, so we decided to skip this season.  We also started The Vampire Diaries which is a gazillion seasons, so if we stick with it, we’ll be watching that one for months!

 

With the Kids:  We’ve been working our way through America’s Got Talent on network TV and we finally finished Walk the Prank and Mighty Ducks Game Changers!!  #Finally  In addition to that, we’ve also picked The Fresh Prince of Bel Air back up, and the kids have started Theodosia.  Oh, and we had several movie nights – Jinxed, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (which I skipped out on), Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey (also skipped this one), Sea Beast (which I wasn’t home for), and Freaky Friday (the early 2000’s version) which has always been one of my faves.

 

Alone:  This month, I’ve been watching You’ve Got Mail and Father of the Bride 2 on repeat as my happy background noise.  Both of them give me aaaallll the happy fall vibes and I’m soooo ready for fall!  Not ready for school to start yet, but definitely ready for everything else that comes along with fall.  I also discovered that Friday Night Lights is back on Netflix, so I started that from the beginning, and I’ve been listening to that while I work a little bit, too.

 

Currently Listening To

My friend, Jeannine, told me about the 90’s Alternative station on Alexa, so we gave that a whirl and we love it, so I’ve had that playing a good bit in addition to my beloved 90’s Pop and 90’s R&B stations.  I’ve also started incorporating my cozy standards again because… y’all know after July 4 I’m ready for fall!  Haha.  Rod Stewart, Steve Tyrell, Michael Buble, cocktail jazz… THE BEST!

Happy Wednesday, y’all!