Slice of Life: July 13th, 2018

This summer has been equal parts really stinkin’ fun and really (really) long, and despite all of the good times we’ve had as a family, everybody is going to be jumping for joy when preschool starts in a month!

We intentionally didn’t put any family travel plans on the calendar this summer so that Jamie could build his time off at work and we could let the dust settle after a wild few months of transitioning out of the Army. The kids have been out of school since the end of February though, meaning the three of us girls have been hanging out all day every day for almost five months, and well, we all need a break from each other. 😉

Everybody who knows me knows I love being a SAHM, but I’m only human… and my kids make me nuts sometimes. 😉

But really, we are having such a fun summer! I’m looking forward to documenting a “Day in the Life” next week and recording what our manageable daily routine has looked like.

Most days we get out of the house and go somewhere, but some days we just get out of the house and only make it to the driveway. Neighbor hangs are some of my favorite hangs! Moms pull out lawn chairs, kids eat popsicles and play, and it’s just a simple win/win for everyone.

Despite my parents being five miles down the road, we hadn’t gone on a date night in three months (since we celebrated the closing of our Kansas home). We have no good excuse except that we are evening homebodies and are often content to be in our home with friends and family.

Hadley’s new favorite thing = jumping on the trampoline at our local indoor mall. She is an adrenaline junky sometimes like her mom and dad. 🙂

We finally filled up our dining room space with our former DIY farmhouse kitchen table Jamie and my BIL Josh built is 2014. We bought a new kitchen table set spontaneously after stumbling upon a killer deal, so this one is going to camp in our dining room until we find the right set for in here as well.

I’d ideally love an 8-10 top with a big rug, but it’s pretty darn far down our priority list. We’ll see! For now, this totally works!

PS: That china cabinet off to the left is 100 years old. It was my great-grandmothers, and I’ve been in love with it since I was a teenager. I asked my parents for it years ago, and I’m just enamored with it.

We have a few beautiful walking/biking trails nearby (but sadly none that are within walking distance), so we’ve been throwing the girls’ bikes and/or strollers in the truck/jeep and heading to get some exercise. My best friend just had a baby last month, so this has been our spot to get some exercise during these insane newborn days for her. My girls love her oldest son, Carter!

Hadley has had so many different bikes that she’s strongly disliked (including a $200 Strider bike…), but this inexpensive one is the absolute love of her life. She has completely mastered it and rode for two miles during her first ride. It could not be more girly, and even includes a princess carriage for my grandkid, Sophia the stuffed cat (as pictured buckled up below).

My grandmother has had a slew of health issues lately, but these girls have brought a healthy dose of sunshine to her life, especially when she’s not feeling well. They love her so much, and she adores them.

Jamie’s co-worker has talked a lot about Point Mallard, a water park in nearby Decatur, so we headed there last Friday for a day of fun (he can take every other Friday off as long as he’s put in his hours). Our neighbors joined us, and we had a total blast! It’s pretty much the exact same as it was when I was growing up, but our girls thought it was the best day ever. I envision this will be a place we’ll come once per summer, put our check mark in the box, and move on. 😉

Also, check out this big girl jumping off a legit diving board! I wasn’t allowed in the pool to catch her, so I stood on the edge and held my breath as she jumped. I knew she’d go down further in the water since the board was higher, but she came right to the surface and swam to the side. FREAKING PROUD MAMA RIGHT THERE. Sheesh. So awesome. And you better believe Jamie and I had a ball doing that big water slide in the background. We switched off with our neighbors watching each others’ kids so we could go down it with our spouse. 🙂

After we rested up from the water park, we rode bikes to a local dog park and then ate outside at Sonic before bedtime. At 30 years old, this is my idea of a perfect day. Fun with friends and family + exercise for the whole family (including Teddy) + casual dinner out = MY JAM.

Around lunchtime Saturday, we boogied down to Birmingham to celebrate a couple of birthdays! My brother turned 27, so we brought him a homemade cake (Hadley keeps track of whose birthday is next and would have been so confused if we didn’t celebrate), and then went over to the McWane Center (free for Army Reserves members and their families!)

We spent two hours playing hard at the McWane Center before hugging Uncle David goodbye and driving over to Cantina Laredo to attend a surprise party/dinner for Jamie’s best friend from high school.

Not only did we get to see Jamie’s best friend Chris, but the girls got to meet their second cousin, Gloria! Chris is married to Jamie’s cousin Madeline (they met at our wedding!), and then had a baby girl a few months ago. Getting to all be together and catch up was wonderful. We made the 100ish minute drive home after dinner with two sleeping peanuts in the backseat.

Hadley attended a preschool art class recently that I bought on Groupon for less than $1. She had fun. 🙂

Meanwhile, Sadie has been rockin’ and rollin’ with her weekly gymnastics class. She loves it so much, I can’t even tell you.

But every once in a blue moon, we stay home in comfy clothes, put on too much TV, and rest our bodies. Full days at home make me feel a little loony by the end of them, but they’re so, so necessary sometimes to simply catch up and rest. We stay busy around here, so I’m trying to listen to my body when it says “NO MORE.”

Enjoy your Friday the 13th! We have a super low-key weekend coming up which has me giddy as could be. See ya Monday!