A Get Back on Track Kind of Weekend

Hey friends! How are you? We’re back in North Carolina and I’m blogging from home right now after two weeks away in Florida. Though I admittedly have a little bit of the post-vacation blues going on right now, it simultaneously feels good to be back into a routine, back in our beds and back home to the place we love so much. But there’s no denying that time away with family was just what we needed to end our summer on a high note!

(The above pics are from Friday’s mother-daughter tea we treated my mom to for her birthday!) 

From Florida to North Carolina

We spent the morning and early afternoon in Florida on Saturday with the intention of making the day feel less like a travel day and more like a 1/2 day of Florida fun. Our plan worked well as Ryan and I had fun with the boys on the beach and then were joined by my parents, sister and her family at the pool for pool games and lots of swimming.

I realize I’m partial to the pool as someone who loves swimming and anything water-related but pool time with the boys is next-level fun right now. I’ve loved teaching them some of my favorite water games and the hit of our Florida time was “surfing” where I’d hold out a small inflatable boogie board for them to try to land on. The objective was to then try to make it to the other side of the pool without falling off. It was waaay too entertaining and I cannot tell you how many times they asked to play surf over the past two weeks!

The drive home was better than we expected for leaving around 1 p.m. on a Saturday. We made it home a little after 7 p.m. and spent a solid two hours unpacking, doing laundry and organizing around the house before the boys were ready for bed. It always amuses us how everything old in our house becomes new again to the boys after some time away. They were loving life with their toys, bikes and scooters when we arrived home!

Sunday

The way we ended our Saturday was very similar to how we spent our Sunday with the exception of the start of the day which we spent watching the very end of the Women’s World Cup. Did anyone else catch the game? I’m not exactly a huge soccer fan (I adore and totally relate to Glennon Doyle’s soccer commentary — hilarious and oddly accurate) but man oh man I got stressed out watching those penalty kicks. I think I said how bad I felt for the the goalies and the women who missed their shots a little too many times. Heaven help me when our boys get into more competitive sports. My heart might not be ready for that stress.

After the World Cup game, our boys were all about outside playtime which worked perfectly because Ryan and I split up household chores and he was all over yard duty and kept an eye on the boys while I spent time tackling inside stuff like laundry, meal prep, cleaning and trying to get a hold on the ants that decided to infiltrate our house while we were away. What the heck!? Anyone have tips for getting rid of lots of ants? We’ve used these Terro ant traps in the past with good success but we can’t seem to find the “source” of the ants if that makes sense and are just finding them in odd spots around our downstairs.

We broke for lunch which was a delicious shepherd’s pie I made thanks to inspiration from my sister.

Leslie made shepherd’s pie that tasted like comfort food in a bowl during our time in Florida and it reminded me how much I love this good-for-the-soul dish. I didn’t follow a recipe but it thankfully turned out well which is a good thing because my meal plan for the week ahead has us eating it for dinner tonight, too.

Another perk of vacation for me is that it always seems to breathe new life into my desire to cook and meal plan again.

Here’s a glimpse at our dinnertime meal plan for the week ahead:

• Monday: Leftover Shepherd’s Pie
• Tuesday: Taco Bowls (ground beef, zucchini and onion meal prepped and pictured above)
• Wednesday: Chicken Salad Sandwiches with Fruit Salad
• Thursday: Turkey Vegetable Meatloaf with Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
• Friday: Three Cheese Baked Ziti

After lunch the lake was calling to us!

We did a little kayaking and then swam around for a bit before Ryan had the idea to try our inflatable slide in the water versus off the dock. Genius!!

The boys loved it and we swam until some fussiness from Rhett told us he needed a nap. While he slept, I caught up on some very neglected work on the computer while Ryan took the boys out to get crickets for Lucky.

Once everyone was back home and Rhett was awake, we spent the rest of our Sunday relaxing in our pajamas after early baths for the boys and movie night. The boys are majorly into a new show on Netflix called Creature Cases and requested it for movie night on Sunday. Apparently it is created by the same people who make Octonauts (the show our boys have loved the most for YEARS) so I’m just throwing it out there as a kid show recommendation that checks a lot of our boxes for shows we gravitate toward for our boys (semi-educational, non-violent, no name-calling, etc.).

As for the week ahead, it’s our family’s last full week of summer break. Ah! It’s also (intentionally) a camp-free week, so we’ll be filling our days with pool playdates, a few adventures and hopefully even a trip to our local waterpark since visiting the water park near my parents’ place for Chase’s birthday was such a hit. I hope you all have a great week!