Our Week - The One with Summer, Week 5 (A Sleepover, a Hangout with Friends, and Prepping for Colorado)

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Much like week four of summer break, week five was also spent at home catching up on things and prepping for yet another trip. 

Monday, June 22

Monday, I was up at 8:15 AM and we woke up to more rain.  I wanted to get up earlier to get stuff done since we’d just gotten home from Nashville the day before, but I was so tired that I ended up sleeping in.

Olivia requested homemade waffles for breakfast, and after we all filled our bellies, I headed to my office to catch up on all the things and start prepping for our trip to Colorado later in the week.  On the agenda for Monday was:

 

-       Transferring photos from my iPhone to my computer

-       Planning some social media content

-       Sorting the laundry

-       Washing and drying five loads of laundry

-       Catching up on a few things in my planner

-       Catching up on emails

-       Checking insurance (again) for a bill we need to pay

-       Paying another bill

-       Tidying the kitchen

-       Finishing unpacking

-       Watering the outdoor plants

-       Watering the indoor plants

-       Starting to organize photos from my phone (but I didn’t finish)

-       Scheduling a couple of dates with girlfriends

 

Meanwhile, the kids did their laundry and Jacob helped Olivia with the last few problems that she was struggling with in her summer math homework.  He also tackled some more of his own summer homework, and Olivia did some gem art and wrote letters to two of her pen pals (her beach friend, Evelyn, who we didn’t get to see this year and my cousin’s daughter, Clara, who lives in Colorado). 

After they were done with all that, Jacob played video games for a while and Olivia Facetimed with her friend, Maren, since they were both finally home at the same time from various travels. 

Shortly after she and Maren got on their call, Maren’s mom called me to see if Olivia wanted to sleep over since the girls hadn’t seen each other since school let out for summer break.  Olivia was ecstatic and we happened to be free, so it was perfect timing.

I dropped her off at Maren’s later in the afternoon and then I put some gas in my car.  Then, the boys and I ate a frozen pizza for dinner. 

It finally stopped raining long enough for me to walk outside, and then it started pouring again shortly after I got home. 

I also tried a tai chi workout (finally) and I really liked it.  I’m doing some simple ones on YouTube that I found, and I’m hoping to start doing them regularly.

After my workout, I showered and got ready for bed and then I lay down on my vibration plate.  I’m still dealing with dizziness since my C1 and C2 aren’t staying aligned for long, so I haven’t been standing on my vibration plate because it makes me feel worse when I’m already dizzy.  Instead, I’m laying on my back with my calves draped over the plate, because supposedly that works, too!  Hopefully soon I’ll be able to get back to standing on it again, but I’m just taking it easy right now while I figure out how to stabilize my C1 and C2.

After that, I put away all five loads of laundry, and I listened to The Swiftie and the Scholar podcast while I was doing that.  It makes laundry much more enjoyable.  ;o)

I started packing a bit for Denver after that, and I got a good chunk done.

Meanwhile, the boys were utilizing their alone time to finish Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 that they’d started a while back.  And I got a picture from Olivia's friend's mom of the girls night swimming.

When the boys were done, I helped Jacob download some new music that he wanted and then I made a master to-do list of everything that needed to be done before we left on Thursday.

Jacob went to bed at 10 and then Brian and I finished season two of Your Friends & Neighbors before calling it a night.  It was SUCH a productive day, and it was much needed since we’d been out of town and were about to go out of town again.

 

Tuesday, June 23

It stormed loudly for quite some time overnight, so I woke up at 7:45 AM on the tired side since the noise had kept me up.  I got my breakfast and unloaded the dishwasher, and then I got Jacob up at 8:30 AM per his request.  He doesn’t like sleeping too late and most days he tells me what time he wants me to get him up.  We really do need to get him an alarm clock since we do not allow phones in the bedroom overnight.

After that, it was time to tackle another to do list.  On the list for Tuesday was…

 

-       Looking at and sharing some Amazon Prime Day deals

-       Catching up on emails (it’s an everyday thing)

-       Getting my planner ready for the week ahead

-       Finishing my blog post for Wednesday

-       Finishing organizing photos I had transferred from my phone to my computer (that took foreverrrr)

 

 

After that, I got showered and ready for the day and Jacob and I left to pick up his friend, WJ, from the kids’ school.  He volunteered at the summer camp there, and he got done at noon, so we grabbed him to hang out with Jacob all afternoon. 

On the way home, we swung by the library to pick up Olivia’s summer reading book and then we stopped by Chick-Fil-A to have lunch.

When we got home, I folded and put away all the towels, I finished my blog post for Wednesday, I texted Olivia on her iPad to send her info for pickup and I loved her response (also we don't usually let her bring her iPad to sleepovers, but this was an abnormal circumstance since Maren's dad was on calls all day and might not be able to answer if I called), and I started my blog post for Friday before picking up Olivia from Maren’s house later in the afternoon. 

She was in the pool when I got there, and she and Maren had a great time night swimming, doing each other’s hair, watching movies, and day swimming.  I helped her get all her stuff to the car and then we said goodbye to Maren and her dad who had been on a work call on the back porch so he could keep an eye on the girls while they swam.

When we got home, Olivia changed into her leotard and tights, and I made her some chicken fingers for a snack.  After that, we drove to dance, and I went inside to let the office manager know that Olivia was going to miss dance on Thursday since we were leaving town.

When I got back home, I made a cup of tea and did my devotional for the day, and I did two Bible studies.  I also started my blog post for Monday and then I put all the dishes away.

WJ was going straight from our house to karate, so I made him a quick dinner since he wouldn’t have the chance to eat until much later, and then Brian loaded up with the boys to pick up Olivia and drop off WJ at the dance studio since his sister dances with Olivia.

While they were gone, I made a toasted marshmallow old fashioned and photographed it for my blog post and then I synced some new music before getting dinner ready.

Thankfully, we had some leftover taco joes in the freezer, so I warmed that up and served it over fresh burger buns with some melted cheddar on top, and we had that with chips.  Since we were in between travels, I didn’t want to go grocery shopping and stock the kitchen, so it was a clean out the fridge, freezer, and pantry kind of week.

When Brian and the kids got home, we all ate together and then I cleaned the kitchen while Brian mowed the lawn.  After that, I walked a couple of miles, I did another tai chi workout, and I did 15 minutes on my vibration plate while laying on my neck pillow and meditating.  It’s knocking three things out all at once, and they go SO WELL together.  I feel FANTASTIC when I’m done.

Once that was done, I showered and got into pjs, and then we finished the episode of America’s Got Talent that we’d started.  The kids got in bed at 10 PM and Brian and I started season two of The Four Seasons.

 

Wednesday, June 24

Wednesday, I had a list a mile long since we were leaving Thursday morning, so I got up at 7:45 AM and got right to it after my morning routine was done.  On the list was:

 

-       Finishing my blog post for Friday

-       Ordering a couple of things from Amazon while they were on sale

-       Finishing my blog post for Monday

-       Packing everything for myself for our trip

-       Overseeing Jacob and Olivia packing their stuff for the trip (we were carrying on for our flight so I just wanted to make sure they got it all pared down and followed the rules for TSA)

-       Start catching up on blog reading

-       Cleaning my makeup brushes (finally)

-       Updating my concerts spreadsheet (yes, I keep a spreadsheet of all the concerts I’ve attended)

-       Prepping for July 4 (basically making a list of what we need to buy and do since we’re hosting)

-       Catching up on some things in my planner

-       Doing three Bible studies (I wanted to stay on track since I knew we were about to go out of town yet again)

-       Trying on and washing my new travel outfit that had already delivered from Prime Day

By late afternoon, all that was done, and then Olivia and I finally learned the dance that my whole family performed at my cousin’s celebration of life in Denver.  More on that when I recap our trip, but we basically learned the dance to that song Drunk (And I Don’t Wanna Go Home) by Elle King and Miranda Lambert and ran out flash mob style to close out the celebration.  (Yes, I know this sounds like a really random thing to do at such an event, but I’ll explain it all eventually.  Haha.)

It took Olivia about five minutes to pick it up since she dances all day, erry day and it took me about 15-20 minutes.  I kept accidentally Cupid Shuffling during certain parts because my millennial brain wouldn’t turn off, so it took me a bit longer.  Hahahaha.

After that, Brian and I made breakfast for dinner, we cleaned the kitchen, and then I walked, did tai chi, watered the outdoor plants, and did my vibration plate/neck pillow/meditation combo before showering and getting in my pjs.  Whew.

After that, it was more packing and more to-dos and then we ended the night with some more AGT, Four Seasons, and bedtime.  It was quite a marathon!

Thursday through Sunday we were in Colorado, and in true Lindsay’s Sweet World fashion, I’ll be recapping the trip in another post, so stay tuned for that… and Nashville, too.  I have a backlog of travel posts!

Happy Wednesday, y’all!

Our 2026 30A Summer Beach Trip - Days 6, 7, & 8

Happy Monday, y’all!  Today I’m recapping our final days at the beach.  If you missed the first two recaps you can see them here and here.

Thursday, June 4

Monday morning, we were up at 8 AM our time (7 AM beach time), but I dozed a little more while Brian put out our beach chairs and picked up our second round of donuts because I hadn’t slept well the night before.

When he got back, we had breakfast, and then we went down to the beach.  It was sunny and gorgeous.  There was a single red flag, though, so we did have to be careful in the water, but other than that, it was a perfect beach day.  We spent the morning lounging and walking, and we also took a lot of pictures.  We walk by a beach house on our route, and they have a giant statue of a slumped over purple bear.  We’ve always thought it was the strangest thing, and the kids asked me to take a picture of it.  Haha.

We went up for lunch at the condo, went back down to the beach for the afternoon, and the kids played in the sand and lounged in the shade. 

We all got showered and ready, mid-afternoon, and then we headed to Blue Mountain Beach for our dinner reservation at Mimmo’s.  We ended up leaving a little earlier than needed, so we stopped at a souvenir shop just outside of Seaside, and then we continued our drive. 

On the way through Seaside, I happened to see a famous influencer that I follow – Amber Massey.  I knew she and her family were there the same time we were since she’d been posting on social media, so it was funny that we actually saw her. 

We discovered Mimmo’s last year on our trip, and I declared it to be the best pasta of my life.  Well, y’all, it was even better than I remembered despite having HUGE expectations the second time around.

Brian and I started with a round of cocktails (an Old Fashioned for him and a Black Manhattan for me), and we also ordered some of their garlic rolls for the table.  They’re topped with an abundance of garlic butter and parmesan, and they are delicious.  Brian opted for the chicken marsala for dinner, and I had to get the rigatoni broccoli & sausage as I did the last time we were there.  It was exquisite, and I don’t use that word often.  Olivia agreed, too, because she ended up eating many bites of my pasta.

On the way out, I had to snap a picture of Olivia’s menu, because she left it on the table and look what she wrote across the top for our server.  The sweetest!

We were positively STUFFED by the time dinner was over, but the kids miraculously had room for ice cream.  We walked next door to Ice Cream Shoppe since we’d never been, and we were amazed to see just how many unique flavors they have.  It was truly impressive.  Brian hadn’t intended to get ice cream at all, but he was intrigued by their Brown Butter Bourbon Truffle, so he had to try it.  I tasted a bite, and it was heavenly.  I think it’s safe to say we’ll be adding that to our usual list of places to visit while we’re there, and next time I need to remember to leave room in my belly!

We made the drive back to the condo after that, and I read for a bit.  Then, we headed out for a sunset beach walk and to walk off all that food we’d eaten!  We also squeezed in a few family pictures unexpectedly since someone offered to take our picture!

After our walk, we finished My Girl, and the kids handled it surprisingly well.  Me, on the other hand?  Well, it still breaks my heart even all these years later.  Clearly, it traumatized me as a child.  Haha.

When the movie was over, we all went to bed… I think it was only about 10:15 PM our time / 9:15 PM beach time, but we were all exhausted.  All that sun will do that to you!

 

Friday, June 5

Friday was our last day there, so we had to make it count!  We were up at 8 AM our time again, Brian got the last spot on the beach by the water in front of our condo (whew!) and we had leftover donuts before heading down.  The water was beautiful, but the waves were a bit bigger, so there was a single red flag again.

The kids built a large sand castle with a moat, but it washed away before I could get a good picture of it.  Then we went for a family walk.

We headed up to the condo for lunch and while we were up there, I did a little tidying, and I packed up some of the food that I knew we were done with.  Then, we headed back down for our last few hours on the beach. 

While we were down there, a guy came through selling ice cream right there on the beach!  He had a cool little cart with big plastic wheels, so he was able to pull it right down the water line and he took electronic payments since nobody ever has cash on the beach.  We let the kids get something because we couldn’t pass that up!  We’d never seen anything like that before, so it was really special… the perfect way to end our last day at the beach.

We headed back up to the condo a little before 3 beach time because we were all tired of the sun and sand at that point.  We had a dinner reservation, but it wasn’t until 7:15 beach time (8:15 our time, which is late for us to be eating), so we had a long time to spend in the condo.  I was able to do some laundry and start packing, so that was nice!

I got all the swimsuits and towels washed and dried so we didn’t have to transport anything wet or sticky from the sandy, salty air, and I got everything packed that could possibly be packed.

After that, we all got showered and ready for the day, and then I read for a while since we still had some time to spare. 

We arrived at Old Florida Fish House at 6:45 PM beach time, which was 30 minutes before our reservation, and they were able to seat us 15 minutes later.  While we waited, we walked in and out of the little shops and we took some pictures. 

They seated us just after 7 PM beach time, and though there were umbrellas to shade most of the area from the sun, part of our table was in the sun, so the kids moved around to sit in different spots so they could be in the shade.  The sun finally dipped behind the trees at 7:26 PM beach time (LOL, we paid attention to this and wanted to document it for future reference, so we’ll know what time to make our reservations) and then it was nice and cool.

It was truly a beautiful evening, weather wise.  It wasn’t too hot, there was no humidity, and it was just perfect.  And the ambience at Old Florida Fish House is unmatched.  Sitting outside is a must… it is just beautiful.

Brian and I ordered Old Fashioneds and they were delicious.  Then, B opted for the filet, and I got the Joyce Farms Grilled Chicken as I did last year.  It was so delicious last year, and it was good again this year.  However, instead of serving it with creamy whipped potatoes and veggies like last year, this year it was over a bed of quinoa, so it wasn’t nearly as good.  It was definitely healthier, though.  Haha.

After dinner, we walked to the dock and then we stopped to listen to the live music.  There was an artist playing acoustic guitar and singing familiar songs the whole time we ate, and he sounded really good, so we wanted to check him out.  His voice reminded us of a cross between Luke Combs and Teddy Swims and so you know we loved that.  He sang a little bit of everything, too… lots of 90s music, some country, some current hits, etc.

Brian and the kids played cornhole for a bit and the kids and I wanted to play the hook game that’s attached to the tree, and then we took some final pictures before Brian and Olivia grabbed ice cream on the way out.  Jacob and I were too full.

When we got to the condo, it was after 10 our time, so we all got ready for bed and called it a night.

 

Saturday, June 6

Saturday morning, we were up at 8 AM our time, we got showered and ready and packed, we ate leftover donuts, and everyone helped load the car so we could get out of there quickly. 

I finished another book and cleaned out my camera roll on the way home, and then we made it home just in time to grab Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  Olivia felt pretty bad all the way home and she ended up being sick for the next few days, and we’re grateful that she didn’t get sick during the trip!

It ended up being another wonderful trip full of relaxation, sand, sun, good food, beach walks, and sunsets, and we are so thankful for the memories that we’ll keep going forward.    

Happy Monday, y’all!  Thanks for following along!