We enjoyed a trip to Frisco (north Dallas) for my youngest cousin's high school graduation. My aunt has a lovely large home and was able to squeeze in our family, my sister's family and my uncle in addition to her own family, so we had a fun, family-packed weekend! It was surprisingly cold due to some storms, but the toddlers still insisted on swimming in her pool (we made the dads join them while the moms stayed nice and dry inside haha).
We enjoyed TWO family reunions - one at Lake LBJ for my father-in-law's extended family that we've done the past two years. It's always super chill, and E LOVED looking at the lake and swimming in the pool (I think we spent 4 hours in the pool spread out over 3 visits in one day!).
And we enjoyed spending time with my mother-in-law's extended family in downtown San Antonio for another weekend. We stayed at the historic Menger hotel (built in 1859!) right next to the Alamo. We loved the historic grace of the hotel, not to mention the pool :D And Emmett LOVED the Riverwalk. We tried bribing him to stay at the table with the tablet (for the first time ever) but not even Daniel Tiger could hold his interest.
And this past weekend, we dropped him back off in San Antonio for a fun-filled long weekend with grandma and papa while Luke and I headed south to Corpus Christi for a weekend with his best friend Mike and his wife Aubrey. We had a ball at the beach, in their backyard pool, at the movies and just chilling. It was Luke's birthday and I can safely say he lived it to the max :)
Somewhere in the middle of all that was a lovely chill Father's Day weekend at home that involved hiking and swimming and grilling! We also had a sitter one night so we could go to dinner and see the Pirates of Penzance at a theater in our neighborhood.
If you haven't noticed, the common thread here is SWIMMING. E took 2 weeks of lessons in early June through the city at a cool pool with his two besties from preschool. He LOVED it and had no problem jumping in, completely submerged, over and over and over. Fear of the water isn't a problem here, it's making sure he doesn't try to jump in when I'm not watching! Luckily I've convinced him to wear a puddle jumper for some extra support, and I don't take my eyes off him either :)
Another big change is that Luke finally convinced me to let him take the crib rail off Emmett's bed and make it a big boy bed! It's been an... OK transition. He's been drawing out bedtimes later and been a bit more challenging. THis month's sayings are "I can do it, I can," "No thanks, maybe later," "You want to ______ with me?" and "wait here, I'll be right back."
And now... a day in the life!
6:17 a.m. We hear Emmett calling for us earlier than usual. Ugh! Luckily Luke is amazing and goes to grab him and they head downstairs to play. Luke comes back up at 7 with a cup of coffee to wake me up - amaaaazing. He jumps in the shower and I go to greet Emmett for some early hugs then get started on breakfast. We haven't been to the store yet since we just got back in town yesterday evening, so I rummage to pull together something tasty. Toasted whole wheat English muffins with Confituras peach preserves, sharp cheddar and fried eggs - not bad! The muffins are kind of dry, but the toppings make up for it! We also share a plum Luke's mom sent us home with yesterday - SO sweet and juicy. E has a muffin with jam and a couple small strawberries from the garden.
7:30 a.m. We're finish with breakfast and E wants to head to the backyard. We play for a while, water the grass, pick some tomatoes and have a good time.
8:15 a.m. We wave goodbye to Luke and hang out in the front yard with Benji. It's trash day, so E brings his garbage truck to the front to play. We see TWO garbage trucks on our street and he's SO excited. Then, to make it better, one of the drivers stops and gives E a quick tour of the truck! He offers to let him honk the horn, but E doesn't love loud sounds so he declines. It was such a fun treat though :) Then the donut gang walks by (some of our retired neighbors who walk to the donut shop .75 miles away every Wednesday for a donut) and we chat with them for a bit. E loves them!
9:00 a.m. We hop in the car and head to Whole Foods Market for the week's provisions. E bee-lines to the Kids Club wagon for his complementary piece of fruit. He selects a clementine and hops in the cart while I peel it and he eats it. He's super excited to pick out this week's fruit and we get peaches (his current favorite!), plums, cherries, apples, strawberries AND blueberries. Oh man, we are keeping WFM in business ;) We hurry through the rest of our shopping since he's getting restless, then head back home. We share a plum, then E munches on a few pretzels and then snags an apple.
10:20 a.m. After putting away groceries and packing a picnic, I gather our summer outdoor gear and we hop back in the car. We're headed to Bailey Park Splash Pad to meet his preschool pal Max for some fun in the sun. He's so excited to see Max and the boys run to the splash pad and have it to themselves for a while. Unfortunately, it stops working after 15 minutes and won't turn back on. So, we head back to our cars and drive to Pease Park 5 minutes down the road to enjoy that splash pad! The boys love the splash pad and the playground. We enjoy our picnic (PB&J and carrots for me, cheese stick, peach and goldfish for him).
12:30 p.m. We finally hop in the car to head home, then play with cars and on the trampoline when we get back.
1:45 p.m. After some (strong) protestation, I carry E upstairs for his nap. I read him some books while he drinks milk, then he goes potty and we read one more book.
2:00 p.m. He's out! I head downstairs to troubleshoot some issues with my phone, which takes a little while. I pop some popcorn and enjoy it along with an old episode of Revenge. Then I plug away at a freelance project I'm working on for Whole Foods, and I get a head start on this post. Next it's time to tidy up a bit and prep dinner. I'm making the Momofuku Ginger Scallion Noodles and am soooo excited to try them. I marinade some bone-in chicken breasts with ginger, garlic, lime, soy sauce and sesame oil to go with it and prep some cauliflower florets in a foil packet to grill alongside it. Finally I fold some laundry and then head upstairs because...
4:40 p.m. Time to wake up Emmett! His sleep has been ALL over the board since our hotel stay in San Antonio - late nights, flip flopping between long naps and no nap. Sigh. Today was a good day! He pops right up and asks to watch Daniel Tiger together on the couch, and I happily oblige. We snuggle and watch it while he snacks on a bowl of frozen peas, and towards the end I go fire up the grill. Luke texted that he's coming home early (hooray!) so I can start cooking a little early.
5:15 p.m. Luke is home! I just put the chicken and cauliflower on the grill and the boys play inside and out while I do the cooking.
5:50 p.m. Dinner time! We all give this meal 2 thumbs up and clean our plates. Yum!
6:10 p.m. E wants to go upstairs and play beach (still a favorite, but not nightly, recurrence). I package up leftovers and head up after the boys and they are in full-on silly sprints carrying fake sand from the nightstand to the pile of pillows Emmett stacked up. We have lots of fun goofing around.
6:55 p.m. I change for Sh'bam and wave goodbye to the guys and head to the gym. I missed Body Jam Monday AND Tuesday due to being out of town and Independence Day, so I'm eager to get some exercise in.
7:15 p.m. The class is well-attended tonight and Katie picked some sweet jams. I have a total blast! Some of the Body Jam instructors arrived and planned to rehearse the new routine that launches next week, so some of us stay to dance with them. I really like it and am excited for launch, but holy 2 hours of cardio! I'm WIPED. But there's time for a super unflattering, sweaty post workout pic, because I forgot to include myself in any other photos from the day! Thanks Katie for teaching a great class :)
9:15 p.m. I leave the gym and head home. I download with Luke about bedtime (it went well! Luke turned out the light at 8:10 and E passed out by 8:40). I head to take a much needed shower and then climb in bed to read.
10:40 p.m. Oops, I can't put my book down! Lights out, but unfortunately my mind is still buzzing and I don't fall asleep until after 11...
