Our Week - The One with Summer, Week 1 (Date Night, Girls Night, and Packing for the Beach)

The first week of summer has already come and gone, and it was a very productive one… and a little bit relaxing.  I’m definitely loving the later wakeup times!  Here’s how we spent our first week…

Monday, May 27

Monday was Memorial Day, so Brian was off of work.  Since we’d spent a lot of the day away on Sunday, we just decided to hang out at home all day Monday.  The weather was awful, and it stormed off and on all day, anyway, so there was no sense in getting out in it.

After breakfast, I spent some more time getting caught up on my blog reading… I’ve been soooo behind, so it was nice to catch up with some of you!  :o)

The rest of the morning was spent organizing my planner for the week ahead, getting some things done around the house, and prepping for the beach.

We all had a light lunch together, and then I got some more blog work done.  Blogger did some updates, and I’m now having lots of issues, so I ended up wasting a ton of time trying to figure out how to fix them, with no luck.

Monday evening, I made beef and parm pasta with zucchini and Cheesecake Factory bread for dinner, and the kids rode bikes while I cooked. 

Thankfully they got in some good outdoor time while I cooked because after dinner, another storm rolled through. 

I wanted to run/walk so bad, so I checked the radar and saw that things should be clear by 8, so I waited it out and then got my run in a bit later than usual.

By the time I got home, it was dark and getting late, so I got showered and we got the kids in the bed.  B and I watched some more Shark Tank and went to bed.

It was a pretty boring day and not typically how we spend Memorial Day, but it is what it is!

 

Tuesday, May 28

Tuesday morning, B headed off to work, and the kids and I stayed home.  My hair guy, Jamey, came over at 10 to do some highlights and a cut for me, and he also cut Jacob’s hair while he was here.  I went a bit blonder and shorter for summer and I love it!

The rest of the day was spent hanging with the kids, getting more stuff done around the house, and working on the blog in preparation for the beach.  I finally got completely caught up on blog reading Tuesday – finally! – so that was nice to check off of the list.

Brian and I had a date night planned Tuesday evening, so we dropped the kids off at my father-in-law’s house at 5:30, dropped a library book that was due, and then headed downtown to have dinner at a restaurant that just moved locations and changed to a more upscale approach. 

We did a round of cocktails to start – the “New Fashion” for Brian and the “Touch of Grey” for me.  Brian’s was an updated version of an Old Fashioned that included maple and green peppercorn, and they had also smoked the glass which was a nice touch.  My cocktail was roots of ruin gin, crème-de-violette, elderflower, and honey, and it was divine. 

We got an order of their “Killer Tofu” to start because it’s the best appetizer everrrr and he’d never tried it.  And then B opted for their specialty burger while I opted for a Caesar salad with roasted chicken.  Everything was wonderful!  And it was nice to have one-on-one conversation time with B without the kids interrupting every five seconds.  Haha.

After dinner, we headed to the local craft beer bottle shop and tasting room that we love because B wanted to pick out something new, but parking was horrendous downtown.  We drove around a couple of times and couldn’t find a spot, so we just decided to head home because it wasn’t worth the trouble.

On the way to pick up the kids, we did stop by Walmart, though, to grab a couple more things for the beach trip that we hadn’t been able to get at Target.  It wouldn’t be a date night without running an errand!  Lol.

After we got the kids, we headed home, and I got in a super late stair stepper workout + an 8-minute arms workout.  The kids got in the bed, B and I finished the evening with another episode of Shark Tank, and then we headed to bed.

Wednesday, May 29

Wednesday morning, B headed off to work, and the kids and I settled in for a productive morning.  But first – some tea and Bible time for me and cartoons for them!

After that, Olivia and I took every single thing out of her closet and reorganized the entire thing.  The system we’ve been using since she was little was no longer serving her, so we got everything cleaned out and rearranged to maximize functionality.

Since she’s getting older, her clothes are getting longer, and her dresses were getting crumpled up since we had that extra rack in there to halve the space to create two hanging spaces.  We removed the rack, and she’s now just using the top rack to hang everything.  Now her dresses hang properly and aren’t getting all wrinkly from being crumpled between the two racks. 

Since there is no bottom rack taking up space, there was room to put a couple of storage boxes on the floor.  We put all of her old recital costumes in two of the boxes and stacked those up, and we’re going to search for a basket or some kind of container to sit on the floor in the middle to hold all of her purses and bags (that one messy pile in the middle). 

We also switched all of her little kid hangers to adult hangers, and she loved that because she no longer has to worry about her tops sliding off of the tiny baby hangers anymore. 

We also moved her keepsake boxes to the left side of the closet so she could hang all of the clothes on the right side of the closet. 

It was a HUGE undertaking that took hours, but it’s done, and it feels so good!  And now her closet is all up-to-date for a big girls closet instead of a little kid closet.  It probably wasn’t exactly what we should have been focusing on that week since there was so much else to do for the beach, but I just couldn’t take the mess anymore.

Jacob also decided that he no longer wants any of his Hot Wheels sets, and those were taking up two huge tubs in the play room, so we got those removed, and now we have a lot of extra space in the play room!  Woo hoooo!

While I’m sad to see all of their baby and little kid stuff go, it’s also nice to get rid of a lot of the clutter.  The older they get, the less stuff they need, so that is definitely a benefit of them aging.

After the closet cleanout, we all had lunch together, and then I got some stuff packed for the beach before heading to my office for an hour to work while they played video games.

Nothing screams lazy summer day like laying in bed, watching craft videos, and eating a bag of chips at four in the afternoon.  Lol.

I got showered and ready late in the afternoon, and then I headed out to meet my girlfriends for dinner when Brian got home from work.  We met at the local pub that my family frequents after church on Saturday evenings, and this time we had an extra person in tow because our friend, Emily, was in town from Montana.

All seven of us girls who went to grade school and graduated high school together walked into the restaurant and who did we see?  A table full of our old teachers and administrators!!  So funny!!  Naturally, after dinner, we had to get a picture with a couple of them.  One of them is my friend, Jessica’s mom, who I love dearly and keep in touch with regularly, and the other is our old PE and health teacher from middle school!  She stayed at the school forever and Jacob had her for a year or two before she retired, and we just love her to pieces, too. 

This is exactly one of the many reasons why we love our school so much – everyone is so close-knit and so many of us make lifelong friends there.

When I got home, Brian and the kids were waiting for me to start watching America’s Got Talent, so I changed into some workout clothes and did a strength workout while we watched. 

After that, the kids got in the bed, and Brian and I watched some more Shark Tank before heading to bed.

Thursday, May 30

Thursday morning, I woke up and got showered and ready because we had errands to run later in the day.  The kids and I had breakfast together, and then I headed upstairs to squeeze in a few minutes of blog work while they watched TV for a few minutes.

After that, we spent the rest of the morning getting Olivia packed for the beach.  She’s officially reached the age where she wants to have a say in the outfits she brings, so she picked them out one-by-one.

By the time we had her 80% packed, it was time for lunch, and then after that, we hit the road to run a couple of errands.  First up was the library.  I had a stack of books to pick up for the beach for myself, and the kids also wanted to browse.  They have summer reading, so they wanted to get some ideas.  Neither of them settled on anything, though, so I was the only one who left with a big ol’ book stack.

After the library, I dropped the kids at my parents’ house, and I headed to an appointment with my therapist.  Once I was done there, it was back to my parents’ house to pick up the kids, and then we headed home.

My parents’ neighborhood pool that we always use typically opens Memorial Day weekend, so I was shocked to see that it was still covered when we drove by.  My mom said they sent out an announcement that it needs a new pump and a new liner, so the opening is going to be delayed.  They aren’t saying how long it will be, so unfortunately, we are pool-less until further notice.  Sigh.

When we got home, I tackled some more blog work and a Bible study, and I worked on tidying the house and getting dinner ready.  I had forgotten to take chicken out of the freezer – whoops – so we ended up having sides and bread for dinner – mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, black eyed peas, and warmed Hawaiian rolls.  It wasn’t much of a meal, and it definitely lacked protein, but sometimes you just have to do what  you have to do!  Haha.

After dinner, Brian went out to mow the lawn, and I took the kids bike riding in our neighborhood.  We stayed out there for a long time, and then I sent them both inside to shower.  While they did that, I got in a walk/jog, and then I showered when I got home.

We ended the evening by finishing up Monday evening’s episode of America’s Got Talent, and then we all headed to bed.

Friday, May 31

Friday morning, I was up and ready before the kids were awake, and then they made their way downstairs just as I was getting breakfast ready for myself and unloading the dishwasher.  They both got their own breakfast, and then they settled in for a few minutes of TV while I caught up on some blog work for an hour.

After that, I got one last load of laundry in the washer before our trip, and I worked on packing some more. 

I had to take Maui back to the vet at 11:15 so they could do another blood draw to doublecheck her white blood cell count.  In case you missed it, it was super low at her last appointment, and the doctor said that’s typically a sign of cancer.  I’d been worrying my head off about it since I’d spoken with the vet about it initially, and I was terrified we were going to get bad news.

Thankfully, her white blood cell count was a bit higher than it was during the last blood draw and it’s no longer in the “low” bracket.  It is, however, still on the lowest side of the “normal” bracket, so they want to test it one last time when we get back from the beach.  It was such a relief to know that it wasn’t as low as last time, but we’re still not out of the woods yet.

I drove home so relieved, and I called Brian and my parents with the good news.  I also had to text all of my girlfriends with an update since they’d all been praying for her, too.  Praying for one more good blood draw when we get back from the beach so we can declare our girl well!

When I got home, it was lunchtime, so we all had leftovers and random other odds and ends to clean out the fridge before our trip.  After lunch, I assisted Jacob with his packing, and I finally got myself somewhat packed.  I packed for two hours and still had a ton more to do, but I decided to stop mid-afternoon to do some blog work that had to be done before we left for the beach. 

I worked for a couple of hours and got my Bible study done, and by then, it was time for dinner.  Brian was playing in a tennis match as his team had made it to the state tournament, so the kids and I were on our own.  I threw a frozen pizza in the oven and called it a day.  Haha. 

They had been playing outside for a lot of the afternoon, and they went right back outside after dinner, staying out until nearly dark.  Meanwhile, I packed, packed, packed.  Why oh why is there so much to pack for a week-long beach trip?  It is never-ending!

B got home around eight, and I took Maui for a short walk when he got home.  I was feeling guilty about leaving her and I wanted to get her outside since it’s one of her favorite things. 

When I got back, the kids came inside and got showered, and then I finished up with as much of the packing as I could do.  I then retreated to my office once more to work on a few more things for the blog, and then we got the kids in the bed way later than normal.  Olivia brought all of her drawings in to show me, and I was SO impressed.  She has been doing "how to draw" videos on YouTube and she definitely has a natural ability!

B and I finally sat down on the couch around 10, and we started a new limited series on Netflix called Eric.  So far, it’s holding my attention, so we’ll see how it goes from here.

 

Saturday, June 1

Saturday morning, I got up and made homemade waffles, I finished up all of my blog work before our trip, we finished packing, we got ready for the day, we had lunch, and then we hit the road for the beeeeach!  I’ll be recapping all of the beach trip in subsequent posts, so be sure to check back for those posts.  In the meantime, you can follow along with us on Instagram!

Happy Wednesday, y’all!