Friday
Friday was Cinco de Mayo and we had a fun time celebrating over margaritas at my friend Dana’s baby sprinkle!
Dana is expecting her second baby in early June and I loved the way her sprinkle included dads and kids. The casual backyard cookout had a Cinco de Mayo theme and was a great way to unwind on a Friday evening while celebrating a very special occasion!
We arrived home a little after 7:30 p.m. and Chase lucked out and got to skip his evening bath since we didn’t want to put his bedtime off too long. I mean we had a riveting episode of Dateline to watch! Just kidding… Kind of. (Pajamas + Ice cream + Dateline is seriously my idea of a fantastic Friday night these days. No shame.)
Saturday
The whole Fagan family ended up sleeping in until 7 a.m. on Saturday which was fantastic! Ryan wanted to get in a quick morning workout but I wasn’t in the mood, so I hung back at home with Chase and Sadie and we eased into the morning with the help of a batch of banana bread protein pancakes and coffee with coconut oil and collagen (for me) and milk (for Chase).
Once Ryan was home, we got ready for the day together before heading uptown for a morning in the city.
We spent about an hour at Discovery Place where Chase obsessively looked for Dory (“Doe-wee”) in the aquarium tanks. My mom bought him a Dory book with buttons you can press that make Dory talk so coupling Chase’s love for fish and marine life with a talking cartoon fish = Instant toddler magic.
Eventually a craving for Not Just Coffee lattes pulled us away from Discovery Place and we walked a couple blocks to 7th Street Public Market where we shared an acai bowl and sipped on our lattes. I also couldn’t resist doing a little shopping at the CLT Find booth and nabbed a birthday gift for my sister.
If you’re local to Charlotte, you have to check them out if you haven’t already! Apparently CLT Find opened up at the market at the end of March and they have the cutest Charlotte-themed gifts, jewelry, bath and beauty products and more. Ryan pretty much had to peel me away!
Fueled by our lattes, we popped back into Discovery Place for another 30 minutes or so and watched Chase run around before heading home for lunch and nap time. Chase was ready for a nap soon after we walked in the door and while Ryan took him up to bed, I headed back out to run some errands and shop for Mother’s Day gifts. I also wanted to pick up fresh berries, lemon curd and coconut whipped topping to make Kristin’s lemon fruit dip for a Kentucky Derby party we had on the agenda for the afternoon!
I arrived back home to an empty house (Ryan had Chase and Sadie out on a short walk) and quickly threw together the dip and changed into my Derby party clothes so we could head out the door soon after they arrived home. Thirty minutes later, everyone was home and changed and we were off to Lauren and Tony’s house to watch the 143rd Kentucky Derby!
We all drew a horse’s name out of a hat and threw a couple bucks into a jar to make the race a little more interesting. I drew McCracken who had pretty good odds but didn’t place in the top three. Ryan’s horse, Battle of Midway, didn’t seem like much of a contender based on his odds but he ended up placing third which was really cool! I loved watching the race surrounded by toddlers who LOVE animals because there was a lot of neighing and high-pitched “Go! Go! Go!” yelling happening in the living room.
We left an hour or so after the race and Chase somehow got a second wind the minute we arrived home. Ryan and I were cracking up watching him run around in his diaper. He was NOT happy when I scooped him up and brought him into his nursery but one I turned on his “special light” (<—he’s really into his salt rock lamp right now) and promised to read him two books, he calmed down and I soaked up every second of his sweet cuddles.
Ryan and I changed into our pajamas after Chase was in bed and curled up on the couch to watch a couple of episodes of The Big Bang Theory while we shared a pint of Ben & Jerry’s.
Sunday
Sunday morning began with a random suggestion from Ryan to go on a day-trip to Stone Mountain. With temperatures dropping into the low 60s, he figured it would be one of the last cooler weekends around here for a while. Sunday’s sunny skies and cool breezes made it the perfect hiking weather so we decided to load up the car and make the 90-minute drive to Stone Mountain State Park.
Ryan and I first visited Stone Mountain shortly after we moved to North Carolina when we were on a mission to see and do as many new things as possible. The distance from home makes it the perfect day trip and the hike is a great one that includes views of a 200-foot waterfall! We made the trip once before with Chase back in February 2016 and since he handled it well as a baby, we had high hopes for our outdoorsy toddler.
Ryan wore Chase during the entire hike (I give him a TON of credit for tackling some serious inclines the mountain!) and Chase had a ball! We figured we’d need to stop for some breaks so Chase could run around but he was quite content up in the backpack with an assortment of snacks and his water cup.
We used the Osprey Poco AG Child Carrier Backpack that we bought last summer for our trip to Snowshoe Mountain after Ryan did a ton of research and have been really happy with it. (A bunch of you asked about the backpack on Instagram after my IG Stories video and I go into more detail about it here.)
Though we all had fun, I think Sadie had the best time on the trails!
I cannot believe she’s been hiking and exploring with us for 9+ years now. Sadie still puts all of us to shame with her energy levels, I’m tellin’ ya! I love watching her sprint all over the place and enthusiastically smell every blade of grass around her.
We made it back to the car about 45 minutes after Chase’s usual naptime, so we were hoping he’d sleep during the 90-minute drive home. Chase had other plans and apparently wanted to tell his stuffed Elmo all about the hike we went on and chatted away in his baby babble for a solid hour before he finally fell asleep. Gone are the days when we can easily transfer Chase from his car seat to his crib and though we tried, Chase spent about 20 minutes in his crib before he let us know his 30-minute car nap was all we were getting out of him on Sunday.
We ended up spending the rest of our Sunday running a couple of errands and ordered pizza for dinner before calling it a night.
I hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
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What a fun weekend!! That first picture of you and your little guy is precious 🙂
Thanks so much, Alexis!! <3
You and Chase smiling together is the cutest thing! Looks like a wonderful weekend, going to need to make it to that boutique next time I’m in Charlotte!
Loved watching Chase call for Dory. He’s such a sweet pea!
What a fun filled weekend! A Sunday hike sounds like a great idea, my hubby and I might need to do something like that here soon. And LOVE all your outfits from the weekend!
This sounds like the perfet weekend 🙂 Love your Derby dress!
Wow very fun weekend! I love the kids with the pacifiers and the derby hats–too much! hahaha!
I’m obsessed with the athletic top you wore to Stone Mountain! Where did you get it? Looks like a great weekend 🙂
It’s from Lululemon! 🙂 I got it about 2 years ago though.
Hi Julie! Looks like a great weekend. You are inspiring me to go for a hike with our little one. Also love the Kentucky Derby outfits – your sweet family looks great and you look downright radiant!
We took our daughter to the aquarium this weekend and she absolutely loved it! She said hi and bye to pretty much every fish and animal they had there. I was going to suggest you take Chase (because of his love of marine life and Dory) but then I googled it and saw that you already took him in January!
Have a great week!
Hey Julie!
How did you deal with the nap time conundrum? Driving 90 minutes seems like it could almost be a nap, but I’m guessing you didn’t wait to leave until nap time? I just don’t know if my toddler would do 90 min there and back before nap! Suggestions please! 🙂
Honestly, we just hoped for the best! We left first thing in the morning and packed lots of books, snacks and toys (he has a little electronic pretend laptop we reserve for car trips which helps entertain him) and lots of snacks! His “nap” on the way home ended up being awful and kind of messed up his normal nap for the day but we just tried our best to roll with it for the sake of a little weekend adventure! 🙂
We love hiking with our vizsla too! Do you ever cross paths with people while you are hiking that don’t like if Sadie is off leash? We LOVE to have ours off leash but recently people have made me really nervous to let her because they yell at me. And yes I know she is supposed to be on leash but she never bothers anyone and she is so much happier running around in the woods!
I’ve never been to a derby party before but it looks so fun! You guys have such a sweet family. That hike looks gorgeous!
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This sounds like an absolutely perfect weekend! I absolutely love your derby outfit and am envious that you have such a cool spot to go hike at with your family so close to your house. I also love your grey and black hat – I need one of those!
Julie, I’ve been reading your blog for several years now and just wanted to say how much I enjoy it. Your bubbly, adventurous spirit shines through in your work. You take such joy in life and it is invigorating! Now if only I could capture half of your energy LOL :-). Thanks for sharing your life with your readers.
Thank you for this comment, Sarah!!! I really, really appreciate it and needed it today. Thank you! <3
I love your derby outfit! Sounds like a really fun (and busy!) weekend!
Sounds like such a fun weekend!
That hike looks like a pretty one!
Do you happen to remember where you got that hat? It’s super cute.
Dick’s Sporting Goods! It was pretty recent, too! The brand is CALIA.
Thanks for the info. I hope they ship to Canada! I’m off the check out their website.
Okay… Chase and his outfit at the Derby party was SO CUTE!! I love watching him grow! He’s getting so handsome, and I love that his super blonde hair is sticking around. 🙂
The kiddos’ derby outfits are SO precious!!
So much love for Sadie too…we went for a family hike here in Boulder on Saturday with our two dogs and all I can say is they better be the world’s first immortal dogs.
I so agree- I cream and a movie make the perfect Friday night! Have you tried Halo Top yet?
Super cute hiking hat! Where did you get it?
Thanks!! It’s CALIA by Carrie Underwood and I got it at Dick’s Sporting Goods. 🙂
Looked like a great weekend Julie! Outfit details please from your hike! Love that hat and top!
What a great weekend! That hike looks so awesome.
Wow, Julie!! Sounds like you had such a great weekend! I just adore all of your pictures, especially the ones with Chase! He is such a cutie, that smile is everything!! 🙂
That sounds like such a fun weekend! I’m obsessed with your grey hat you wore hiking! Where did you get it?
These pictures are so cute! It was an eventful weekend for you too! Isn’t there a place at the top of Stone Mountain where you can see the borders of 7 states or am I making that up? Haha I seem to remember that from a trip there long ago. Anyways! My little dog is not much of a hiker — like Chase — her would prefer to ride in a backpack or be held hehheh. And also, these days, I tend to agree that pajamas and ice cream makes for a great weekend night. Oh how the times have changed! 🙂
Fun time. Adorable photos. 🙂
What an adorable hiking outfit-love the shirt and hat!! I’m typically lucky that my clothes are clean and kind of match 😉
Totally random: I have never been in your immediate area, but my cousin lives in Huntersville (I am guessing that is kind of close because I recognize the hiking spot from some of her pictures). She just opened http://www.ishineyoga.com/ in that area and does yoga hikes to the top of that mountain. Funny to recognize a place you have never been, but it has such an interesting look to it!!
That sounds SO fun! Thank you for sharing!
Love, love, love the pics of you and Sadie! You will really cherish these in the future….
Who makes the backpack you are wearing?
It’s Marc Jacobs! I received it as a gift and love it! –> http://bit.ly/2q2SCZo
Hi Julie!
I’ve been in the market for a new ball cap, not liking most of what I’ve seen, but then I saw your cap in your hiking pictures! Where did you get it?
Also, I have the same length of hair as yours, and was wondering if you could do a short hair tutorial for your waves? I’ve been wanting to curl my hair like that on a more regular basis.
It’s CALIA by Carrie Underwood and I got it at Dick’s Sporting Goods! 🙂
One of my friends lives very close to Stone Mountain – glad you got some great pics! I love your recap posts so much, and you always have such great photos! The Kentucky Derby party looks so put together, even though you said it was impromptu. Also, I make your banana bread protein pancakes all the time! Thanks for that recipe! It’s a staple in my diet.
I love it when it’s in the 60’s, it’s my absolute favorite time to go on a nature walk – glad you guys were able to get one in before it gets crazy hot!
I LOVE your hat!!!! I am 100% buying that, because I have literally been looking for a hat like that for months! (I bought a similar looking one from Target, but it was too big, even though it was “one size fits all”). That’s my color!
Thanks for another great recap. (I read this in the morning but couldn’t post until now.) Such good stuff as always. By the time you see this it will be Wednesday! (I know you’re not a fan of Tuesdays!)
I LOVE your shirt in the hiking pic! Where is it from?
Thank you!! It’s from Lululemon but I got it about 2 years ago. 🙂
Hi Julie, I just have to shout out a big thank you to you for keeping Sadie as such an important part of your life. I know so many people who neglect their pets after kids come along and the dog suddenly turns into an inconvenience. She is one lucky dog and you guys are great pet and kid parents! Thank you for sharing your adventures with us. Many blessings to you and your family.
Daang, you even had the little drink umbrellas! Now that’s what I call a real party 😉
Hi! I know this is going back several years but do you still use this hiking backpack? Do you think it would work for someone shorter (I’m 5’4″)?
Thanks!