Our Week - The One with Girls Night, Two Nights Out with Friends, a Golf Tournament, and Two Sets of Sleepover Company

We had a jam-packed weekend, but it was full of so many fun things!  Let’s get to the recap!

Monday, April 17

Monday morning, I got the kids off to school and then I settled in to tackle a long to-do list.  First up – laundry, then a bunch of blog work, a photo shoot for an Instagram Reel, and various other random tasks.

At 3, I grabbed the kiddos from school, and then Jacob and I dropped Olivia at dance and made our way to piano lessons.  I sat in again with Jacob at his lesson, and he rocked the new song he’d started the previous week.  He also started on a new song and he got that one down pretty quickly, too. 

Once his lesson was over, I dropped him off at the golf course where Brian and my father-in-law were already waiting, and then I headed to Publix to pick up a couple of items that we needed since it wasn’t my week to do my big grocery shopping trip.

After that, I headed back to dance to pick up Olivia, and then she and I headed home.  I got some stuff done while she showered, and then I started dinner while she did homework.  We just did turkey and cheese biscuit sliders and fruit for dinner since it had been a busy day.

After dinner, I jumped on the stair stepper to get in a quick workout while Jacob showered and got ready for bed, and then both kiddos had to wrap up some homework after that. 

We got them in the bed a little after 9, and then B and I watched some of the newest episode of American Idol before calling it a night.

Tuesday, April 18

Tuesday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed home to work on blog stuff all morning.  I had a Home and School Association meeting at 11:30, so I headed to the school for that, and I got all of the auction items turned in for our fundraiser next month. 

After that, it was back home to eat a quick lunch and knock out a few more things, and then it was time to pick up the kiddos from school.

After school, they worked on homework while I prepped for the next day and tied up some loose ends, and then we headed back out to drop Olivia off at dance.  I had a girls night Tuesday, so I dropped Jacob off at Brian’s office as he was leaving work, and then I headed straight to girls night while Brian and Jacob ran an errand and then headed back to pick up Olivia.

For our girls night, we decided to do trivia night again downtown at the food hall by the river.  It’s a great place with lots of food and drink options, the atmosphere is fun, and trivia night is always a great time.  My friends Jeannine, Heather, and Jenn all made it Tuesday evening, but we were missing a few other girls who were held up at work and kids’ extracurricular activities.

They did four rounds of trivia again Tuesday evening, and we ended up winning the first round!  We did pretty well at the other three rounds, although, the last round (the music round) was really hard.  I’m usually excellent at music trivia, but the guy doing trivia night that evening played mostly 70’s and 80’s stuff, and he only played about 30 seconds of the songs that didn’t include the chorus, and he played cover band versions of the songs rather than the originals, which made it soooo hard for some of them. 

We had a great time, and I didn’t take a single picture other than the one of my beer and the one of our music round trivia card.  Haha.  Totally dropped the ball on getting any pictures with the girls.  There’s always next time!

After trivia, I headed home, we got the kiddos in the bed, and then I squeezed in a very late arms workout while B and I watched some of American Idol before heading to bed.

Wednesday, April 19

Wednesday morning, I worked in my office until it was time for my ENT appointment.  I’ve been getting tons of wax buildup in my left ear for the last two years, so I had to go get my ear cleaned out.  I can always tell when it’s time to go because the ringing in my left ear always gets louder than the ringing in my right ear and my hearing also gets muffled in my left ear. 

Sure enough, the doctor said my ear canal was completely obstructed and by the time he was done, I could hear again!  He said, unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do to prevent it… it’s just the way my body is now.  So now I go once a year and have him remove it.  It takes about two minutes and it’s completely painless.  And it’s AMAZING how well I can hear after my appointment.  Haha.  

After my appointment, I headed home to work the rest of the day, and then I grabbed the kiddos from school when they got out.  We had nowhere to be Wednesday evening, so I tackled some household chores while the kids did homework, and then they played outside while I got dinner ready.  This is how I feel about cleaning toilets.

We did breakfast for dinner Wednesday night (eggs, grits, bacon, and toast) because it’s always a crowd-pleaser.  Then, after dinner, I headed out to run, and I got in 3.24 miles followed by an arms workout when I got back home.

We watched the season finale of The Mandalorian with the kiddos after that, and then I got showered and ready for bed.  B and I ended the evening with more American Idol.  We’ve only been getting 30-45 minutes of TV time each evening lately, so it’s taking us forever to get through a two-hour show.  Haha.

Thursday, April 20

Thursday morning, I had a Home and School Advisory Board meeting at the kids’ school, so I headed straight to that after drop-off.  Then I swung by UPS on the way home to drop a few Amazon returns. 

The rest of the day was spent working on blog stuff, catching up on other random things, and deep-cleaning the floors before heading to the school to pick up the kids.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was a whirlwind.  Right after school, we headed home and the kids had about ten minutes to change clothes and get snacks before we  had to head to Olivia’s weekly voice lesson.  Right after voice lessons, we had to be at Fine Arts Night at the kids’ school because Olivia was singing with a few other girls in her class. 

They had all of the artwork on display, so we milled around and looked at that first, and then the presentation started at 5:30.  There was a saxophone solo and a piano solo, a short one-act play put on by three of the high schoolers, a fifth grade choir performance, a third grade choir performance (those sweet girls did so well!), and then the evening ended with a little preview of the opening act of Seussical that our school is doing in May. 

It was a great evening, and we all enjoyed it!

After that, we drove over to the other side of campus to the baseball field where the varsity boys were about to start their game.  My nephew is a senior this year, and they were having senior night, so we stayed for that presentation, and then we headed home.

B stopped by Chick-Fil-A to pick up dinner while I got the kids home to do homework, and then we all ate dinner together when B got home with the food.  After dinner was done, it was already time for the kiddos to get showered and ready for bed, and while they did that, I got in a stair stepper workout along with a very quick arms workout, and then we got the kids in bed.

B and I ended the night with an episode of Shark Tank, and then we headed to bed, too.

Friday, April 21

Friday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I settled in to work on the blog and other random stuff all morning.  This time of year gets crazy hectic, and I had to get my ducks in a row for a few upcoming events.  Olivia’s recital is always a HUGE ordeal every year, so I had to sit down and start getting things organized for that.  Tights needed to be ordered along with other event accessories, and I also wanted to start getting my list ready, too, because there are so many tiny details to remember.

For lunch, I met one of my old coworkers, and he had taken the rest of the day off, so we had a round of beers as a special Friday treat.

After school, the kids and I headed home, and I had a few minutes to read after I finished all of the items on my to do list.  When B got off of work, the four of us headed downtown to eat at our favorite local brewpub for dinner, and then we met some friends outside to hang out and watch live music for the rest of the night.

Our city does these spring and fall outdoor concert series every year, and they have different bands play outside every Friday evening.  It’s free to the public, and they shut down the streets, and everyone sets up their chairs and grabs drinks and we all listen to the bands play.  We’ve been going for years and years, and it’s always one of my favorite things to do in our city.

Friday night, we went with our friends Jeannine and Khristina, and their families, and the kids played all night while the adults chatted and listened to music.  We all had a couple of rounds of drinks, and we ended up staying out a bit later than we usually do when we have the kiddos with us.  By the time we got the kiddos home they were exhausted, so they got into bed, and then B and I watched A Million Little Things before heading to bed later than we normally do on a typical Friday night.

Saturday, April 22

Saturday morning, we were all up early because Jacob had his city golf tournament to close out his season.  He had to be there by 8:15, so he and Brian headed out bright and early while Olivia and I hung back for a bit.  He’s only allowed two guests when walking the course, so Olivia and I couldn’t be there for his actual match, so we decided to meet up towards the end so we could be there for the awards portion of the day.

While Jacob played golf, Olivia and I made homemade waffles for breakfast, and then I got in a cardio workout before it was time to head to the golf course. 

We timed it just right, and the boys were just finishing up when we arrived, and then they handed out some awards and medals.  Jacob’s school ended up coming in second place in the regular season, and Jacob ended up having his best season out of the two he’s played so far.  Hopefully he’ll continue to improve a little more each and every season!  He really does enjoy golf, and he’s already saying he wants to play again in the fall.

After golf was done, Brian and Jacob went to pick up donuts from our favorite place for the next morning because it’s right down the street from the golf course, and Olivia and I headed back home.

We all had a light lunch when we got home, and we did our Saturday chores like laundry and tidying, and then I spent a couple of hours outside Saturday afternoon because it was gorgeous.  I could lay in the sun and read all day when the weather was the way it was on Saturday – 72 degrees, sunny, low humidity, and a light breeze.  It was perfect.

Mid-afternoon, I came in and tackled a couple of things in my office, and I got some things prepped for Sunday because we had guests coming to stay the night.  B cleaned out all of the showers and tubs (praise!) and we got the house nice and tidy and ready for the next day.

Saturday evening, our friends Amanda and Josh had invited us over to hang out at their house, so I made a Walmart run to grab some beer and stuff to take over there for dessert.

We headed to their house at 6, and we ended up staying there until after 11.  They had a few of our other couple friends over, and we all sat around their outdoor fireplace all evening.  All of our kiddos go to school together, so the kids had a BLAST playing on the trampoline all night, and the girls caught frogs after the sun went down while the boys played disc golf. 

At the end of the night, Olivia, and her best friend, Aubrey, came up with a little scheme to ask if they could spend the night together at our house, and it was the cutest thing ever.  The way they asked us reminded me exactly of the way my friend Jen and I used to ask our moms to spend the night when we were just about their ages, and that made me smile… definitely couldn’t say no to that!

We all left Josh and Amanda’s around 11 with Aubrey in tow, and we swung by her house to grab some PJs and her toothbrush.  Thankfully, all of us live in the same area and we’re all only five minutes away from each other, so it was quick and easy.

When we got home, Jacob headed to bed, but the girls were ready to party.  B and I stayed up for a bit watching Shark Tank, and then we headed to bed sometime after midnight, but Olivia and Aubrey were still going strong.  Haha.  I peeked my head in Olivia’s room before bed and told them not to stay up too much later, and thankfully, they listened to me.

I woke up around 3:30 AM randomly, so I got up to check on them, and thankfully, they were asleep.  I was actually a little worried they might still be up then.  Haha.

 

Sunday, April 23

Sunday morning, we all slept in a bit, and the girls were already up by the time I got up.  They said that they had gone to bed at 12:40 AM, so that wasn’t too bad considering we’d gotten home so late.

We all had the donuts for breakfast that Brian and Jacob had picked up the morning before, and then the girls played all morning while Brian and I got the house ready for the guests.  I had to wash all of the bedding and get things tidied up after having spend the night company, and then Brian cleaned off our back porch since it was covered in layers and layers of pollen.

I also got in a yoga workout and prepped my planner for the week ahead, and I did a couple more loads of laundry, and I got showered, and ready, too.  We all had a light lunch together, and Aubrey’s parents came to get her shortly after that. 

The kids played video games for a bit afterward, and I did some blog work in my office, and then Brian’s cousin and his wife arrived a little after 4 to stay with us for the night.  They live in LA, so it’s not often that we get to see them.  As a matter of fact, Erik and his wife just got married a couple of years ago, so this was our first time meeting her. 

I’ve only gotten to hang out with Erik a couple of times – once B and I went to visit him in LA and we had the best day with him as he showed us around – and then, he came for our wedding back in 2007.  I hadn’t seen him since then, so it was wonderful to spend time with him again and meet his wife.

We chatted for an hour after they arrived, and they played with the kids for a bit, and then once they were settled in, we headed to my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law’s for Sunday dinner so they could visit with the rest of the family.

We had a delicious dinner over there and then we sat around the table chatting all evening, and by the time we got home, it was time to get the kids in bed for another late-ish bedtime. 

 

Once they were in the bed, B and I stayed up chatting with Erik and Maria Claudia until way past our bedtime, and then we passed out sometime before midnight.  What a weekend!  Whew!

Happy Tuesday, y’all!