Weekend Recap + Back on the Road

We had a beautiful fall-like weekend but now summer weather returns this week with highs in the upper 80s - right in time for my 10 mile race on Saturday, go figure. If only my race was this past weekend when the weather was PERFECT but so it goes! Here is how our weekend shaped up.

- Friday night was low key as usual. We ate leftovers and I ended up taking the boys to the goose house to play with the toys there to get them out of the house. Phil stayed back to enjoy some silence since he’ll be solo parenting for a good chunk this week. 

- Both boys were up around 6:15 on Saturday morning. I did my final long run (8 miles) once Phil was up. It was 53 with low humidity when I started so perfect running weather. I felt really strong! When I got back and showered, the boys and I went to the library. We hadn’t been there in about a month. I ran into a friend from the neighborhood (hi, Anne!). 

A rare quiet moment when Taco was looking at a book.

- After lunch I was ‘off-the-clock’ so I laid down in bed and read (‘You, With a View’, recommended by Stephany!) and napped while Phil took the boys to the park. 

- Then it was block party time! The boys had a blast scooting and running around on the closed street with the other kids on our block. Phil and I had a great time catching up with the other adults. The shoe kicking contest was fun as usual. The way it works is that each person gets 2 tries - one try for each shoe. There is an under 13 division, women's, and men’s with a traveling ‘golden’ shoe trophy for each division. I actually tied for 2nd! My furthest shoe went 63’ - the winner kicked it 66’.  I did have to carry a kicking, screaming Taco home around 7:30 when it was time for bed… transitions are so hard. Paul and Phil stayed until 8:30.

Shoe kicking!

Racing with other kids on the block!

- I woke on my own at 6:45 on Sunday morning! Not waking to a screaming child is such a treat. I actually had to wake both boys around 7:30 which pained me to do, but letting them sleep too late makes for a terrible bedtime and since it was a school night, I didn’t want to pay for letting them sleep late when bedtime rolled around. 

- The boys went to Sunday school while I went to church at 10. This is a new routine for us but both boys loved their classes and are excited to go back. Phil stayed back to clean and mow.

- After lunch I once again read and napped. Why am I so dang tired? Phil and the boys watched the Vikings (they won!!) and the boys played on their iPads. Then it was time for the first swimming lesson of the fall session. This is Taco’s first session of being in the pool without me - we did mom/parent classes when he was a baby/young toddler but took a long break until he was ready/interested in the water and could be in the pool without me. Both boys did great so we celebrated with macarons after class. 

- Their behavior was not great when we got macarons… They just can’t keep their hands off each other and constantly want to wrestle and mess with each other. I’ve talked to other moms of boys and it seems like this is just how they are going to be for like years to come? Sigh. I used my yelling mom voice when getting them in their car seats which I hate to use.

- So we stopped at a park to run off some of their boundless energy to make the final hours of the day more tolerable.

This week I travel for the first time in 1.5 months. It was a nice break and what our family needed. This is a longer 3-night trip for me. I think I will hit gold status with Delta on this trip. This is the most I have traveled since the year I lived in Charlotte and made silver status on 2 different airline - which is a total waste since silver is worthless but it’s how it worked out. I hope the boys are cooperative while I am away… Solo parenting is hard enough with well-behaved kids, Phil doesn’t need the extra challenge.

How was your weekend?

5 Things Friday - Re-entry Week

Happy Friday! Was this not the longest short week or is it just me? Here are 5 things on my mind today.

1. Paul started 1st grade on Tuesday! It was a beautiful morning but he insisted we take the photo inside because there were kids outside our house waiting for the bus and he was embarrassed about the sign. He's already embarrassed by his mom at 6.5. Sheesh. He was very excited for school but also a little nervous.

2. Re-entry has been ROUGH for the boys. I don't remember it being this tough last summer but maybe I blocked it out. Mornings have been rough and there has been so much attitude. Taco's back to his normal bedtime but wakes up in the worst mood most days. We're trying to get Paul's bedtime earlier but he fights it each night and falls asleep far later than he should (around 9pm, he should be asleep around 8-8:15 ideally). Then he wakes up so EXHAUSTED but forgets how exhausted he was in the morning when bedtime rolls around. Gah. 

3. Our activity schedule is heating up, too. Paul started soccer on Wednesday. He'll have it on Mondays and Wednesdays. Last time he did soccer he barely touched the ball but Phil said he was very into it this year. Yay! I stayed back with Taco so did not get to observe but I will take him sometime when I'm not traveling. Both boys start swimming lessons on Sunday afternoon and they will also attend religious ed classes on Sunday mornings. I am sure this sounds like a walk in the park to those with big kids, like Sarah and Kae! And don’t get me wrong - it’s not a heavy activity schedule since our kids are too young for that (IMO). The soccer schedule is tricky when I am traveling as it's from 6-7pm and we start Taco's bedtime at 7pm so he can be sleeping by 7:30-7:45. I'm encouraging Phil to hire a neighbor girl to stay back with Taco when I'm traveling so she can put him to bed. 

4. Between back to school and being in the office, I haven't ran since my 8 mile long run on Monday. I'm hoping to fit a 3 mile run in today and then I'll do one last 8 mile run on Saturday or Sunday. My race is next Saturday. You don't really need to taper for a 10 mile race that you aren't going to aggressively run, but I don't know when I will run next week since I'll be in Charlotte Mon-Thur where I have 2 client dinners, moderate 2 panels, and have 25+ client calls (it's a week where sales is encouraged to book a ton of calls). Looking at my calendar kind of makes me whimper... 

Red = client meeting or event. The big blue blocks are what I blocked for travel to/from Charlotte.

5. But ending on a positive, we have a pretty low key weekend ahead of us. We'll lay low tonight. Tomorrow afternoon/evening is our annual block party which features a shoe kicking contest (that I am TERRIBLE at but enjoy participating in). Sunday we have religious ed in the morning and swimming lessons in the afternoon. So Sundays are kind of set for the forseeable future since we have a morning and afternoon commitment. So we'll just need to add in the occasional park visit and those days will be set. 

How was your week? If it's back-to-school week, has re-entry been rough for you as well?

Kid-free Week + Labor Day Weekend

Our kid-free week last week was so wonderful! The boys had a great time with my parents and were apparently on their very best behavior according to my parents. They got to do lots of fun things - pontoon rides, park visits, beach/water play, games with my parents, etc. We FaceTimed twice which did not go well as Taco was not happy during those chats. 

Playing at a cool tractor park

Playing Yahtzee after Taco was in bed! He rolled lots of yahtzees!

Snuggles with papa!

While the boys were away we had an impromptu grilled dinner + cards with friends one night and a double date with that same couple another night. I ran before work one morning and after work another night. Besides that we enjoyed a quiet, clean house! I did miss the boys by the end of the week. It was a little weird to be in the house without the boys. 

I took Friday off and left for my parents’ that morning so I could beat the long weekend traffic. Upon my arrival my mom commented on the marked changes in Taco’s behavior… I guess he was punishing me for being away for a week. I had planned to stay at my parents until Sunday mid-day but I ended up coming back on Saturday night after dinner since sleep was challenging on Friday night and Taco was just soooo moody. 

Sunday and Monday were all about adjusting back to our usual routines, especially bedtimes. Bedtimes had slipped for Paul recently so it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment to get back to his typical bedtime. 

I did my 2nd to last training run for my 10 mile race on the 14th. I forgot to turn my Apple Watch back on after stopping at a stoplight so about 0.75 miles were not recorded. Womp womp. The weather was deliciously cool! I’m ready for the race to be here at this point!

The view at the halfway point. I am lucky to run in such a beautiful area!

The boys got haircuts, too! We are ready for the start of school/fall!

Paul is excited to start school today but Taco has been saying he doesn’t want to go back to school…. So I am bracing myself for a rough week of re-entry. I am home this week and then travel the next 3 (Charlotte, Dallas, Chicago). Fall is going to be BUSY with 8 work trips and 1 fun trip to visit my sister with Paul. Fall is one of my fave seasons but I will need to be intentional about soaking up all the fun or it will pass me by!

How was your weekend? Do you have a busy fall? 

What We Read in August

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Annual Lake Vacation Recap

We are back from our annual summer vacation at my parents’ lake home. We had a great time and lucked out with the weather. We had one day of rain which was ok as that gave us a chance to take the boys to a local toy store and not feel guilty about ‘wasting’ a beautiful morning. When I am at the lake I feel like we have to soak up all the sunshine and beautiful views so it kind of nice to do something different. 

Here is a photo-heavy recap! During our week at the lake, we…

(Belatedly) Celebrated daddy’s birthday!

Taco especially enjoyed the chocolate syrup on his ice cream!

Went on lots of pontoon rides! The boys enjoyed driving with papa. 

The boys enjoyed lots of swing rides!

Lots of fish were caught. 

We roasted marshmallows and enjoyed s’mores.

A rare photo of all 4 of us!!

There was some cousin time! 

The boys had ice cream at ‘Granny’s Pantry’ which is a place I frequented a lot as a child.

And there was lots of beach time!

After Taco was in bed, Paul and the adults played Pictionary each night, which Paul loved! After Paul was in bed, the adults played rummy.

Of course it wasn’t all good - there was plenty of horse play and shenanigans… 

Phil did his annual swim across the lake (which we estimate to be about 1.5 miles). I kayak alongside/just ahead of him. Sounds idyllic, right? Well for me this is one of those things I do not enjoy doing but do out of love for Phil. This year we had calm waters to start but before long it was quite wavy. It is very hard to steer a 2 person kayak in choppy water so there were some terse exchanges when Phil took a break from swimming and would ask where exactly I was aiming the kayak. And then my wrist and forearm started to act up, I assume due to my RA. But Phil enjoyed himself and was just 1 minute slower than his previous PR.

But all in all, it was a wonderful change of scenery. And now Phil and I are back home without the boys as they will spend the week with my parents. It sounds like they’ve been on their best behavior so far. It will be nice for Phil and I to have a chance to reconnect without kids around and this gives the boys a chance to make priceless memories with their grandparents. I’ll head back to the lake on Friday morning to spend a couple nights and then will bring them back.

We have a busy fall ahead of us as I have 9 trips in the last 4 months of the year so we are going to soak up the silence and free time. The first night we were like - what do we do with all this time???

TGIF + Vacation-bound!

Hey hey! Today is my last day of work for a week and I am THRILLED. We head to my parents' lake home on Monday morning for our annual week at the lake... after I am on the Monday morning sales call - for the 2nd year in a row, I need to present the week of our annual lake trip! But so it goes. Besides a few shouldless days here and there, I haven't had a solid break from work since our April spring break trip to Destin so I am really overdue for some time away! I'll be taking a break from blogging/commenting next week so I can soak up time at my happy place. Here's how the week shaped up!

A book I am reading this week is ‘The Wedding People' by Alison Espach which is SO GOOD. I loved her last novel, too (Notes on Your Sudden Appearance). The topic is very heavy: a woman travels to a beautiful hotel in Newport, RI with the intent to kill herself and finds that every guest except herself is there for a wedding. And yet the book somehow the books doesn't have a "heavy book" vibe to it. 

The high of my week was *crickets* No highs come to mind. This was a bit of a ho hum week for me. It wasn't bad but it was just a little meh overall?

The low of my week was a tough parenting night on Wednesday night. Usually the boys can kind of "read the room" and not both melt down at the same time but that was not the case that night. I don't know what set this behavior off but it's probably a fools errand to try to apply logic to tantrums/emotional outbursts.

For workouts I ran 3 miles on Tuesday morning, I'll run 3 this morning, and then tomorrow I'll do another 8 mile training run. My workouts are very running-heavy these days. That will shift when this 10 mile race is behind me. Ideally I'd like to run twice/week and strength train twice/week.

A show we watched was the final episodes of season 2/first episode of season 3 of Welcome to Wrexham. I really really really miss the Olympics but at least we have the winter games to look forward to in 1.5 years (although I do not like the winter games nearly as much as the summer games...). 

The best money spent was on new glasses for Paul. It's not the most fun money to spend but it was essential. His vision prescription doubled from -1.25 to -2.50 since he last exam! It seems like he's on the path to have my vision (my rx is -4.25). Good thing he looks so cute in glasses!

We went with these frames, but in navy blue. I'm pretty sure he's wearing a shirt that we got as a hand-me-down from Kae!

My plans this weekend include laying low tonight, as usual. Tomorrow we will probably hit up a pool since it's supposed to be warm. Sunday is Phil's birthday! My gift to him was arranging some rounds of golf which I must say was HARD. I can see why he rarely golfs. Getting people pinned down for a round of golf was not easy. But I managed to plan 2 rounds of golf for him. I also plan to take Paul to get school supplies at Target. We did this last year and he wasn't as excited about buying school supplies as I was but it's a tradition I want to stick with as I have such great memories of school shopping with my mom. 

How was your week?

Weekend Review

It was a fall-like weekend in these parts with cool, dry temps. It was nice to not sweat copious amounts during the day but I am not ready for fall just yet! Here is how we filled the weekend. 

On Friday night I was on my own with the boys as Phil was golfing with his cousins. Lately the boys have been interested in a wagon that we got from my parents years ago. So I pulled them around the neighborhood for awhile (which is quite the workout) and then we had dinner and did baths. Paul and I watched the Olympics after Taco was in bed and then I FaceTimed with a friend after he was in bed.

Phil took our car in for an 8am service appointment on Saturday morning so I wasn’t able to run that morning. Instead we walked up to the grocery store/Starbucks for coffee and donuts. Then we headed to the library.

I suggested Paul wear a sweatshirt that morning but he declined… and then was cold so he draped my sweatshirt around himself while eating his donut.

Is there something on my face?

I rested/read my book after lunch and Phil took over as the primary parent. He was getting together with college friends at the house of a friend that has a pool that afternoon/evening so I met up at the zoo with 2 of the wives and their kids. The boys had a blast  

Measuring his wingspan!

Paul had lots of fun with his buddies, a couple of which he went to daycare with.

After about 3 hours at the zoo, we kept the party going and went to a park and got pizza. I walked 14k+ steps that day so my legs were tired! 

I thought surely the boys would both sleep in with all that fresh air and activity, but nope. Taco was up at 5:40 on Sunday morning. Le sigh. Paul slept until 7, though. After Phil was up I headed out for my 8 mile training run. I am about a month out from my 10 mile race and feel like I am in a good spot with my training. I have no time goals - I just want to finish and have fun!

At about the halfway point. The lake was like glass that morning!

Phil got Twins tickets from his cousin for the Sunday afternoon game so he took Paul and I stayed back with Taco. Paul and Phil had a great time. Paul got to run the bases after the game!

While they were at the game, Taco and I went to the goose house to burn some time (twice actually because when we got there the first time he said he had to go to the bathroom and wanted to pee on the sidewalk like an animal and I was NOT HAVING THAT OBV). Luckily it’s only 6 blocks away. Of course I had asked him to go to the bathroom before we left the house but he said ‘I just went’. Why is there such refusal to use the bathroom before leaving the house? Both boys do this! But I digress… he did have a fun time at the goose house. 

After that I was just done with coming up with things to do and had logged 22k steps so we watched part of Beauty and the Beast which he had started that am and The Little Mermaid - which I haven’t watched in probably 30 years and is weird to watch as an adult. Ariel is 16? And her father decides to make her a human so she can marry a stranger? What in the world? Disney plots are so odd. 

After Taco went to bed, we watched a bit of the closing ceremonies with Paul. I am so sad that the Olympics is over! But at least in 2028 it will be in the states so we will get to watch more things live. In 4 years, the boys will be 7 and 10 which sounds wonderful. I’m not wishing time away - I’ve just recognized that the elementary school years are great in so many ways so I am looking forward to that stage of parenting. 

How was your weekend?