Things I’m Loving Friday #595

Hi friends! Friday is here but this one feels a little different as we’re saying goodbye to my parents and my sister and her family — a big ol’ gang we’ve been loving having under our roof over the past week. I’ve fully unplugged which felt wonderful and while I feel immensely behind on life right now, it was so fantastic to have so many people we love so much under one roof. We also got to celebrate two birthdays together — my nephew James’ first birthday and Ryder’s 8th — which felt like such a treat! We filled our time together with pool days, park playtime, lots of kid crafts and games, kayaking and more. Can we run this week back and do it again, please!?

Now let’s get to the reason you’re likely popping by the blog today: Things I’m Loving Friday! Keep on scrolling to check out this week’s roundup of favorites!

Things I’m Loving

• Birthday Fun Activity Banner

Talk about a mega-hit with the birthday boy!! For Ryder’s 8th birthday, I made a simple birthday activity banner on our white butcher paper and he was so, so into it! I’m not going to say it will be a tradition until we do it again but I could easily see this becoming something we do for the boys every year because Chase and Rhett thought it was really cool as well and really wanted to be involved (hence Rhett’s dot challenge which was fully his idea)! I remembered seeing someone share something similar on Instagram yearsss ago as a Thanksgiving entertainment idea for kids (I want to say it was @dayswithgrey?) but I thought it would be super fun to make a birthday kid version. I highly recommend this easy but fun idea for any kid birthdays you might have coming up — I want to make them for the boys’ friends, too!!

• Row Your Goat Card Game

Talk about an instant slam-dunk card game! Our boys really enjoy most games but card games in particular are a sweet spot for us right now. I ordered Row Your Goat for Ryder for his birthday yesterday and when I tell you we’ve played at least 10 rounds since then, I mean it. It’s easy to learn (we watched this 2-minute YouTube video) and simple enough that even Rhett at almost 6 years old figured it out fairly quickly. It’s fast-moving and super fun, even as an adult! A new favorite for our family card game collection!

• Cotton Candy Machine

My mom surprised the boys with this cotton candy machine during their visit and all of the kids and cousins flipped for it! It was easy to operate and made fluffy, flavorful cotton candy! She brought a few packs of different flavored dye-free sugars and I have a feeling this little machine will be one we break out for a little treat that feels extra special!

• Mae’s Giant Bubbles

Mae’s giant bubbles strike again!! I know I shared this a few years ago on the blog but it’s worth mentioning again just in case any of you out there have little ones or big kids who might be enamored with extra big bubbles! The bubble recipe is one my mom found years ago but it works like a charm when paired with big bubble wands and creates large bubbles that aren’t too thin and stay together well. It’s been our go-to bubble recipe for years because it works like a charm. It’s also one we keep on hand to whip up when we have younger kids visiting because they always get so into it!

• May 2026 Top 10

Below you’ll find the top 10 blog posts as well as your top 10 favorites from May!

Blog Posts

• Lasagna Recipe Using Cottage Cheese
• Our First Yes Day: What We Did and How We Planned It
• Cottage Cheese Baked Pasta
• How to Make Salmon Bites
• How To Make German Pancakes
• Not Too Scary Movies for Kids
• Our First Disney Cruise: Disney Fantasy 5 Night Cruise
• Cilantro Lime Grilled Shrimp
• Greek Yogurt Biscuits
• Simple Summer Chopped Salad

Your Top 10 Favorites

• Kickback Rocker Collapsible Rocking Chair (The most comfortable chair for sideline spectating. It also arrives on Father’s Day if you still need a gift idea!)
• Glass Air Fryer (I love this air fryer and use it 4-5x a week. I love that it’s non-toxic and have really enjoyed actually being able to see our food cooking. And hooray for no longer needing to cook in batches because this thing cooks a lot of food at once!)
• aerie Foldover Flowy Shorts (I’m super picky with shorts but these are great. They’re flowy through the hips and booty and the fold-over waistline is super flattering and can be worn high, mid or low-waisted. I wear a medium.)
• Coverup Pareo Sarong (My most-used bathing suit cover-up — you can tie this Amazon find so many different ways. It also packs SO well for summer travel!)
• Strappy Sandals (Comfy enough to wear all day long and so cute!! A go-to neutral summer sandal for me.)
• Feels-Like-Nothing Pajama Pants (So, so similar to the $$$ Negative pajama pants. Super thin without feeling cheap and super soft. A great summery pajama pant!)
• Quince Workout Sets (I love that you guys are also loving Quince’s bundle-and-save workout sets. I was super impressed with the quality of the leggings + workout top set I ordered!)
• Large Capacity Pencil Case (The case we keep stocked with card games, Hot Wheels, markers, a mini notepad, etc. for sibling activity entertainment.)
• Eby Seamless Underwear (95% of my underwear drawer is now Eby seamless briefs! I love the way they stay in place and feel so soft on my skin.)
• Ruggable Kamran Rug (The rug we have all over our house in different colors and sizes. We have the Kamran Coral runner + mats in our kitchen and the Kamran Ivory Opal large rug in our family room + the mat sizes in multiple bathrooms. Code PBFINGERS15 saves 15%)