Around here, I have been:
bringing a family a meal to celebrate the birth of their fourth baby (and first daughter!). The dad is a friend of Mark’s, so he went all out: BBQ ribs, homemade baked beans, his special coleslaw and homemade macaroni and cheese. I stayed out of his way and just helped package everything up, hah!
working on house projects. Nesting is in full swing already and I was happy to knock a few things off the list:
+ Finally hung curtains in the kitchen (just simple ones from Ikea, my favorite)
+ Went on a date with Sophia to Homegoods and picked up a big basket for dirty laundry (to go in the upstairs hallway) and found a lamp for my office. Now I can hop in and work even after dark – game changer!
+ Picked out a ceiling fan and kitchen/laundry room lighting for our electrician to install
ordering a bassinet on Amazon Prime Day. Our old one officially bit the dust and I didn’t really want to commit to an expensive one at this stage in the game. So lucky to have found a nice one with good reviews and a small footprint for less than $80!
reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle (finished!) and The Cuckoo’s Calling.
spending a week on vacation in Maine! We got a few new things for the 10-hour trip: this car topper and color-coordinated LLBean duffle bags for each of the kids (we waited for a sale, plus 2% back on ebates!). Other favorites: puddle jumpers for the little ones, a Pirates of the Carribean audiobook from the library and fluffy striped beach towels.
staying at our family’s camp right on the lake. The weather was warm, but definitely not Virginia unbearable, so we loved it. We swam for hours multiple times a day. It was so surreal to have my children experience one of my favorite childhood memories.
filling our days making lots of memories. The highlights: delicious Italian sandwiches and Whoopie Pies, swimming morning, noon and night, spending time with extended family, playing Pie Face! (a huge hit!), a quick Freeport trip while the big three enjoyed their first baseball game with cousins, and a visit to the farmhouse.
enjoying a new ice cream spot – we went two days in a row because it was so good! I had mint chocolate chip and coffee heath bar…still dreaming about it.
laughing at our sweet, sweet Sophia. Her latest is calling watermelon, “waterlemon”.
surviving an exciting ride home. We left at 1am and at around 4, our “low tire pressure” light came on. We stopped at a gas station, filled the tire and thought we were home free…except 20 minutes later, the light returned. On the second stop, we could hear a hissing from the tire – definitely a hole! Mark called roadside assistance, who helped us with a very tricky spare, allowed us to follow him to the body shop and then plugged the hole. A two hour delay, but thankfully the rest of the trip was uneventful.
settling back into reality. We were so sad to leave (there were tears from a few of us!) but happy to sleep in our own beds and get back into a normal routine.