Summer Coffee Chat
Our house is officially in the thick of the dog days of summer - where the mornings are packed with fun activities (when everyone is in a good mood and likes one another) and afternoons are hazy and lazy (and everyone fights until dinner). Our evenings stretch far past bedtimes as we sneak to the beach for some relief from the humidity and heat - coming home with pockets full of rocks and my car full of sand (and, quite frankly all in much better moods, #justaddwater). This summer feels so different than last; we’ve found our special nooks and crannies, discovered our favorite pizza and ice cream spots and our roads are becoming so much more well traveled - we feel like we belong.
I generally subscribe to a “no plans” kind of summer - a choose your own adventure type if you will. I make a loose daily schedule and try to include activities from our bucket list in the morning to break up the day and get out some energy then we come home for lunch & Ellie’s nap and then have some low key time for the boys to play while she rests.
This summer, I found a really interesting shift that happened when two of my kids began going to school full time this past fall. Before this year, being with my three kids solo all day was the norm - we had a rhythm and routine, I woke up knowing could handle anything ahead of me. This summer, it’s taken some time for me to re-learn the skill of balancing each of their bigger personalities, interests and dynamics when they’re all together all day long.
For those who saw this past weekend, my sister-in-law suggested I make each of the kids a busy box with items from the dollar store to give the kids a few minutes of independent play in their own designated space.
In each box, I included dry rice, beans, pom poms, gems and different scooping tools (measuring cups, spoons, small strainers and silicone tipped tongs) and a veggie platter for them to sort the materials. My plan is to switch out some of the objects every week & pair them with a theme of books we get from the library. This week’s special material was gems to accompany books about pirates. Other ideas are mini Dinos, DIY fossils & small paint brushes - books about dinosaurs, construction vehicles from their collection, lego guys - books about construction and mini sea creatures and shells - books about the ocean.. you get the picture. So far, they’re a hit!
On a different note, I completely wore my old running playlist out and because I’m married to a serial song killer - this is possibly the WORST offense in my mind. I did some spotify searches; 90’s workout mix was nostalgic but honestly, there were a lot of duds.. I shuffled through my personal mixes and a various Disney soundtrack always ended up popping up; nothing was the quite right fit until I ended up listening to Kygo Radio. My last two runs have been the longest and easiest so far!
I’m inching towards my next milestone of my 10k training - I think this is the last week of 30 minute sessions before I transition to hour long runs so my mix BETTER be good haha! I took a few weeks off as we adjusted to summer but now being back in action, I’m planning to continue my program while we’re on our two late summer vacations. We’ll be in both places with our parents and siblings so it’ll be easy to sneak out and get some runs in while I have some extra hands.
Caleb’s VERY belated anniversary gift arrives this week, which I can’t wait to show him (and you). I don’t know if he’ll this before it comes so I have to keep it on the DL until next week ;).
And now for the moment many of you have been waiting for, my Trader Joe’s Grocery List for this week. If you head to my blog - you can see what’s on the meal plan for dinners this week & this is the shopping list that accompanied it!
Until next time!
C