Summer 2019 (Week 11) - Fort Sleepover, Date Night, Meet the Teacher, & Girls Weekend

I think it’s safe to say that we really packed it in for our last week of summer.  We had so much fun, got all kinds of prepared for getting back in the classroom, and we ended the weekend with a bang – a movie, and lots of time with my girlfriends.  Let’s recap!

Monday, August 5

Monday, we started the day with yet another dentist appointment.  My TMJ management is high maintenance, that’s for sure!  The good news is that my jaw is finally doing well enough to spread my appointments out from every three weeks to six weeks!  Yay! 

After the dentist, we headed straight to Publix for our bi-monthly shopping trip.  For some reason we ran out of groceries quickly this past time, and we were out of errrrythang. 

The rest of the day was spent doing laundry, getting dinner ready in the slow cooker, working, having dinner, and playing a couple of rounds of Jacob’s new Battleship game.  And may I just say – I love that game!!  My brother and I played it constantly when we were little and I’m loving that my little man loves it as much as I did.  It’s still just as fun as I remember!

That evening while the kids were showering and getting ready for bed, I set up an awesome fort in Olivia's room, and B and I surprised them and told them they could sleep in it together that evening.  The looks on their little faces were priceless and we have another summer bucket list check!

Tuesday, August 6

Tuesday I decided it was high time to get organized for the new school year, so we spent the entire day cleaning and organizing Jacob’s and Olivia’s bedrooms and cleaning out their closets and dressers.

Tuesday evening we got out to the let the kids ride their bikes.  It was ridiculously hot and miserable so we shortened our walk and ended up playing another game of Battleship at home, but at least they got to get out of the house and sweat and burn some energy for a bit!  This heat HAS to go!!  We’ve reached the point of summer where nobody even wants to set foot outside.

Wednesday, August 7

Wednesday was another excruciatingly hot day, so we got out of the house early to beat the heat and we went to the shadiest park in town that I could think of!  The playground there is in the woods, so we were able to enjoy the outdoors for a couple of hours without completely melting. 

The walk to the playground is so picturesque as there are a bunch of big rocks, a creek, and the cutest little bridge, so the kids enjoyed exploring on the way. 

After lunch at home, I spent the rest of the afternoon organizing the kids’ playroom, and I even had time to tidy the whole house, too!  I’m happy to report that as of Sunday afternoon when I type this, the entire house is clean, organized, and clutter-free… we’ll see how long that lasts!!

Thursday, August 8

Thursday morning, the kids and I were out of the house by 8 to head downtown to our favorite coffee shop for breakfast.  The coffee shop is in a 150 year old bank, and you can eat in the old vaults.  One of the vaults was available, so the kids were excited to munch on their cinnamon rolls in there.  And I happily joined them with my Apple Cinnamon Scone and oh my goodness, it tasted just like fall!!!!  Paired with my Caramel, Cinnamon, and Hazelnut latte it was heaven!!

After breakfast we headed down the street to the playground and the splash pad by the river.  Public schools went back to school that very day so our kids had the whole area mostly to themselves with the exception of a few tiny kids who weren’t old enough for school.  They played forever on the playground and then splashed around in the splash pad for nearly an hour before I finally rounded them up to dry off.

While we waited for their suits to dry, we walked on the river walk for a bit.  Olivia was on a mission to find some painted rocks, but sadly, we never came across any.  By 11:15 it was boiling outside so I knew it was time to call it quits and get home for lunch.  On the way back to the car, I had to snap a picture of the fallen leaves because... #SignsOfFall

The rest of the day was spent working (me) and watching a movie (the kids) and then when B got home from work, we all packed up and headed to my MIL and step-FIL’s to drop the kids off.  Olivia’s kindergarten parent orientation was at 6 and kids weren’t allowed, so B and I were able to sneak off alone together for a couple of hours for orientation followed by a dinner date at our favorite local Italian restaurant.  The drinks were amazing, the bread and oils and spices were amazing, and both of our entrees were AH-MAZING – three cheese tortellini for me, and Cajun pasta with sausage and chicken for B.  Gosh, I just love that place!

Friday, August 9

Brian was supposed to have been heading out of town for a state tennis tournament in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, but I woke to him still in the bed.  He had been notified in the middle of the night that their team had to pull out of the tournament because, sadly, two of the ladies on his tennis team had been in a bad wreck on the way there (they had decided to drive down the night before) and one of them had passed away.  The other went to the hospital with some broken bones, but fortunately she will recover.  The lady who passed away has two girls at our kids’ school and they will be starting their first days of seventh and ninth grade today without their momma, so if you could just say a little prayer for them today I’m sure they could use it.  We are deeply saddened for their loss.

Since B was supposed to have been out of town, he had already taken the day off from work, and he just decided to keep his day off and spend the day with us.  First up was Meet the Teacher so we all headed to the school to do just that.  Jacob and Olivia both got to see their new classrooms (and in Jacob’s case, his new hallway!!), visit with their friends, and, of course, meet their teachers.  Jacob’s kindergarten teacher moved up to third grade this year and he’ll have her for several classes this year (they change classes in third grade), so we’re excited to have her again.  Olivia’s teacher is new to the school this year, but has been teaching kindergarten for 30 years, so we are excited to see where this school year takes her!

We headed to the library to drop off some books after that, and while we were there the kids asked to play on the playground behind the library.  We actually hadn’t been to that playground all summer, so it was a nice change of pace.  It got really hot, really quickly, so after about 30 minutes it was time to get out of the heat.

We had lunch at Five Guys and then took the kids to see the new Lion King.  Finally!  We all enjoyed it and I thought that Disney did a really fantastic job with it.  I was definitely skeptical going in, but since the movie trailer for it gave me chills I knew it couldn’t be bad.  And yes, I cried like a baby as I always do.  That movie is rough.

After the movie we had the very best intentions to finally go to the bank and open savings accounts for the kids, but when we arrived, we were told we had to have the kids’ social security cards.  Obviously we don’t carry those around with us all the time, so we weren’t able to open the accounts.  We really tried, though!

We spent the rest of the evening at home eating frozen pizza, drinking Moscow Mules, practicing baseball in the back yard, and watching Olivia’s dance recital on DVD.  We finally got it back and she wanted to see herself on stage!

Saturday, August 10

Saturday morning, one of my best friends arrived from Atlanta to spend the weekend with us.  She lived here in town until just a few years ago, and she came to stay with us for the weekend since we were having our reunion for our first job. 

When she arrived in town, she and I loaded up in my car with Jacob and Olivia and went to have lunch with our friend, Shelly, and her two kiddos.  All of the kids colored and played happily at one end of the table while Lauren, and Shelly, and I had some drinks and caught up.  The kids were all so well behaved and they were real troopers since we stayed for almost two hours.  We had Jacob take our picture, and Olivia wanted in on the action, too.  I didn’t even notice while we were taking it, but look at her holding up her drink just like we are!  <3  I just love that girl so much!

After lunch, we drove Lauren all around downtown to see everything that’s changed in the last five years since she left.  We have so many new murals and restaurants, and parks now, and she couldn’t believe how much our city has grown since she left.

The kids asked if we could stop for frozen yogurt, so we parked downtown and walked to grab some.  It was another miserably hot day so we didn’t want to spend too much time outside, so after grabbing our froyo we headed back to the car. 

We ended up driving around a couple of other parts of town to show her some new things and then we went home, where Lauren and I sat on the couch chatting for the next couple of hours.

By 5:30 it was time to get ready, so she and I changed into dresses and freshened up, we kissed the kiddos goodnight, and we headed to the Mexican restaurant for our work reunion.  Only seven people were able to make it so it was a very small crowd, but we had the BEST time reminiscing and laughing – I don’t think I’ve laughed that much in one night in a long time – and we ended up shutting the restaurant down four hours later.  I think they were getting ready to kick us out.  Haha.

We ended up leaving there around 10:15 and Lauren and I headed back downtown so she could experience a little taste of the nightlife since she’s been gone.  We went to one of the newer bars on the strip for a couple of drinks and we ended up staying there talking for two more hours.  We finally headed back to my house just after midnight.  Brian had put both of the kids to bed in Jacob’s room so Lauren could have Olivia’s room, so we were both able to go straight in and crash.

Sunday, August 11

Sunday morning I made homemade waffles for everybody and then we ended up chatting at the breakfast table for another good hour before Lauren finally took off to head back to Atlanta. 

She and I were inseparable for years and she was always my hangout buddy when B would travel for work after we got married.  I used to hate staying alone in our old house when he traveled so I’d always go bunk up with Lauren at her apartment and she and I would always have the best time together.  The year after B and I got married he traveled so much that I used to joke that I should have just married Lauren since I spent more time with her than him.  Haha.  But she and I always loved our “Lauren and Lindsay’s Weeks O Fun” together. 

When she got her job in Atlanta and left town it was basically like losing my right hand.  But she’s thriving in Atlanta and she loves it there, so I’m just happy she’s happy.  And I get to see her a good bit anyway since we go to Atlanta several times per year so we’ve been making it work these last five years.  Love you, P!!

The rest of Sunday was spent grabbing pizza for lunch at one of our favorite local places, doing laundry, cleaning house, packing book bags and lunches, and getting ready for the first day of school.

We did head to my parents’ house for dinner Sunday evening because it was time to celebrate my Daddy’s birthday which was this past Thursday.  She cooked his favorite – spaghetti – or SPO-GHETTI as he likes to call it – and we enjoyed the evening together.  Our little family of four wrapped up the evening a little earlier than usual to get the kids in bed at a decent hour because today they’re – BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!

Have a fabulous Monday, y’all!  It’s time to get back to doing all the things!!

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