Author: jgalvinwhite

Posted in Activities, Tuesday Talk

Tuesday Talk: Summer Top 10

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Well, it’s June 21st…the first official day of summer. Why does typing “June 21st” make me feel like summer is halfway over? *sigh*

Today, I’m sharing the ten things we love about summer…

The kids helped be compile the list, and here are some of their faves:

1. Pool time

It’s no secret we love a pool day. With them doing swim team through the years (and Hadley still doing it), we spend lots of days at the pool. Swim team is early in the morning, so we will usually stay until early afternoon when we commit to a pool day.

What we also love to do is go to the pool in the evening. It’s cooler outside, and we will also have dinner there. Win win for everyone.

2. Hanging with friends

We love extra time in the summer to hang with friends. I don’t know if it was the fact that kids were forced to be outside in 2020 or the fact that my kids were old enough to be given more freedom, but that felt like the summer that starting being more than just going to the pool. It’s been great letting them go outside, bike, run around, have popsicles for a snack, and play basketball in the driveway until dark. We have a neighborhood full of kids which has been such a blessing.

3. Camp (& sports camps)

Hadley LOVES camp. She can’t wait to go again this year. After the first day of school this year, she came home telling me she recognized so many kids at school from camp. She’s even more excited to go this year because she will know so many more friends there.

In the summer, Hayden takes the cake with signing up for sports camps. From basketball to baseball to golf, he does it all. There are actually a couple of running camps nearby that he’s interested in, so maybe sleep away camp is in the future for next summer.

4. Fruit

Hadley immediately said, “fruit!” as something she loves about summer. I do too, and it’s nice to know that the kids have lots of healthy snack options, and that strawberries and watermelon can be “sides” for dinner.

5. S’mores

Travis loves making a fire when we have time. Sometimes, I tell him no because there’s usually a smokey start that kicks up my sinus issues, but the kids love the fire…and it’s hard to say “no” to s’mores!

6. Vacay

We always look forward to vacation. There are some years we get to the beach twice a year, but summer is the guaranteed time to visit the beach.

We’ve raised a couple of beach bums…that’s for sure.

Ok…i’ts my turn…I love all of the above + extra time with my kids and…

7. Summer scents & flowers

I love a summer candle and…

…peonies are my favorite summer flower …(hydrangeas are a close second!)

8. No alarm

Not having to set an alarm is the best. Now, I don’t really sleep in, but I definitely sleep later than 6am like during the school year. I love to get up by 7:30 to have some time before I have to wake Hadley for swim.

This summer, since we haven’t had baseball, we’ve had the opportunity to have a slow start to Saturday mornings which I love and appreciate.

9. Relaxed meal planning / food prep

Summer means that we often grill out for dinner. I also love that we sometimes eat at the pool or go out to dinner on a weeknight. Those are not things we typically do during the school year.

Also, I’ve shared before that I like being able to eat at home for lunch. It’s nice to take the extra couple of minutes to make a grilled cheese or enjoy a “snack plate” of whatever we have in the fridge or pantry.

10. More time to read

I love having extra time to read in the summer. Honestly, I also love having a bit more tv time too! I usually get behind in many shows and try to play catch up in the summer. I try to start and end my day with some reading…

…with hopefully reading time at the pool too!

Bonus:

One last addition from Hadley…she says one thing she loves about summer is getting tan 😆 Me too! I swear my mood improves when I’m tan. (Of course, we wear sunscreen…but it’s nice to have a bit of a summer glow!)

What do you love about summer?

I try to savor summer as much as possible. After the 4th of July, it’s hard not to start thinking about school. Enough of that negative talk…right? My teacher friends know what I mean.

I hope you have a great summer day!

Posted in Weekend Top 5

Hello Monday

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello (Monday!)

I’m linking up with Sarah and Holly to share about the weekend.

Well….let me start with Thursday. 🥴

Week before last, I mentioned that I wasn’t feeling well but was negative for Covid. Well, that changed on Thursday.

Since Monday, June 6 (my first day of summer after running credit recovery summer school), I’ve felt run down, tired, occasionally achy and had some congestion. Before my mom came to visit, I took an at home test and was negative. I continued feeling off and took afternoon naps, and actually felt pretty normal over the weekend she visited. Then, last Monday, I started having ups and downs. That being said, it isn’t uncommon for me to be sick at the end of the school year. The entire spring is busy at school and with my kids’ activities, and I struggle with seasonal allergies so combined with the negative test, I just thought that was it.

Last week, I even turned to Google and briefly thought I had mono symptoms 😅 On Thursday morning, I sat down to drink my coffee and told Trav I thought I’d go ahead and call the doctor. Then, I decided to take one more test before being the patient that goes into the doctor’s appointment saying, “I don’t have Covid.” Well, that test lit up quickly…it’s been a long time since I’ve seen two lines on a stick…and I wasn’t pleased this time.

Anyway, I wasn’t sure what to do considering the protocol now is five days of quarantine once symptoms present, and I was at 10 days since symptoms started! I’ve been quarantining in the bedroom with Homer just to be on the safe side. I wanted to keep my distance from Trav and the kids for five days in hopes that even if I was still contagious, I wouldn’t pass it to them. Once Travis saw my bucket of skincare products, he figured it would be easier if I just stayed in our room where all my things are instead of sending me to the basement .

My lack of physical affection and continued distancing from most has hopefully worked in others’ favor. Since the end of school, I’ve actually been wearing a mask for indoor errands most of the time because I didn’t want to get sick before vacation.

I guess this is what I get for trying…and I blame summer school! 😂

I’m thankful that I just feel like I have bad allergies/cold with a side of being tired.

Friday was action packed with lots of naps, reading, tv, and some patio time with Homer.

That evening, Trav and kids went to family night at the pool while I continued to binge Schitt’s Creek.

This weekend’s weather was gorgeous, and I spent lots of time outside.

Most of Saturday was spent at Hayden’s track meet.

Travis and kids went out for a patio pizza dinner with Trav’s brother and his boys while I ate Chipolte dinner in bed while watching tv.

On Father’s Day, we all slept in. Travis and I slept until 9:00, and Hadley got up a bit before 10:00. Then, they woke Hayden.

Hadley went and picked up the cookie cake we ordered (our neighbor makes them)

Then, Travis opened his gifts from the kids.

I got the traditional Father’s Day photo before they left for lunch.

I got this outtake …

…which reminded me of my favorite Father’s Day photo from 2011.

They went to lunch and ran some errands. Bless Travis — he tackled Target on Father’s Day with two 12-year-olds! Somehow, Hadley came home with three swimsuits…Hayden had lots to say about that. 😂

They brought me home a Sonic cherry limeade which made me happy.

Homer and I continued to have lots of quality time together.

Homer is literally my spirit animal.

Travis grilled his own Father’s Day dinner, and the kids helped with clean up. That’s probably how it would have been anyway. The cookie cake was a great way to end the day.

Honestly, I had high hopes of doing my summer closet purge while being confined to my room the past four days, but I’ve continued to choose reading, naps, and Netflix above all else.

Again, I feel thankful to really not feel that bad. That being said, I’d been “pushing through” the symptoms, and now that I know what’s been dragging me down, I’ve given myself permission to relax and rest more.

I hope you have a great Monday.

Posted in Activities, Friday Favorites, Kids

Friday Favorites {#117}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Friday!

I have a full posts of favorites so I’m going to hop right in to the link up with Andrea and Erika.

Here are some favorites from the week:

Favorite Activities:

Hadley’s dance recitals were a highlight of the week for sure!

Hayden is playing summer basketball, and he had a couple of games this week. The summer league is super low key which is nice.

Hadley had another swim meet this week. The butterfly stroke is one that she’s been working on, and she finally got to swim it in the meet on Wednesday night.

She swam in two relays and then all four strokes, so she was a busy girl! The heat index was over 100 during the meet. I was about to jump in and join a relay!

Last Saturday, Hayden went to run on the track for his workout and took a detour at football camp. He saw Will Levis (QB for UK), and got his photo taken with him. He was so excited.

Favorite Summer Scents:

I really need to quit buying candles, but I couldn’t pass up the $11.95 sale on three wick candles at Bath and Body Works.

I specifically went into the store for the Champagne Toast and Fresh Orange candle. I love both of those scents, so I knew this would be a good one combined…and it is.

While I was there, I also picked up the peony candle and put it next to my Trader Joe’s peonies. (Tell me it’s summer without telling me it’s summer!)

Amazon Faves:

{Amazon Affiliate links}

I change out my garden flags pretty regularly, but I didn’t have one that was summery. This one arrived earlier in the week and is perfect for summer.

I got this dress last year and have worn in a ton.

I decided to wear it to Hadley’s recital with my new braided sandals.

Also, the dress is one I turn to time and time again. I’m actually thinking about ordering the pink or sleeveless version of it before vacay!

You all know that I share my Amazon purchases once a month, but I could’t wait to share these sandals. I wore them to her afternoon recital with white jeans and then again for the evening recital with the dress. After the recital, I was on my feet for a couple more hours at my friend’s birthday party, and they were so comfortable on my feet.

I originally ordered my regular size 9, but when they arrived, they fit…barely. My heel was right at the edge, so I thought I’d compare with a 9.5. That size wasn’t available anytime soon, so I tried the 9.5 wide. I don’t have a wide foot, but these fit perfectly…much better than the 9.

Since I couldn’t love these sandals more, I decided to go ahead and share now rather than wait for my July Prime Purchases post.

Other Faves:

My niece Layla turned five at the end of May, and was overdue for a birthday gift from us. On Monday, we hit the mall (along with Hadley, my mom, and my sister-in-law) for a quick lunch and then we stopped in the Plush Shop for her to pick out a gift. She came home with “Princess Owlette” (Also, don’t you love her princess necklace?)

On the way out, we picked up cookies for everyone at Great American Cookie as one more birthday treat.

Later that night, I got this photo at bedtime which I thought was really sweet.

My mom came to visit and was able to see both Hadley and Layla’s recitals as well as one of Hayden’s basketball games.

Last Sunday, my brother’s family and my mom joined us at Boonedogs for a late lunch. The food was good and the weather was really nice. The kids were able to run around for a bit too.

I got the Greek dog –with cucumbers, feta, sun dried tomato, garlic lemon sauce and fried capers. So good!

Last Friday, I shared some new fave Target pjs, but I also picked up this set. I’ve worn them almost every night, and a shameless amount of time during the day. The pink color is very summery, and the material is so soft. I did size down in this set.

top // shorts

Throw on some flip flops, and I feel like I could leave the house in these. 😆

Favorite Mom Meme:

Even as the kids have gotten older, this struggle is still very real!

Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday:

In honor of Father’s Day, here’s a throwback to probably 1982…back when the Major smoked a pipe and rocked a mustache!

…and this meme for fathers everywhere!

Weekly Recap:

Here are my posts from this week:

Not Just a Mom
Recital Recap
Shutterfly

What are your weekend plans? Hayden has a race tomorrow, and then of course, we’ll celebrate Travis on Sunday for Father’s Day.

Posted in Projects

Shutterfly

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello!

When I shared the baseball post last week, it reminded me that I’ve been asked how I keep up with my photos. I feel like I can find a “throwback” photo in a matter of minutes!

Well, the answer is Shutterfly.

Since 2009 (or early 2010), I started using that app to upload photos from my phone.

Of course, I’ve also used Shutterfly through the years to order prints (now I use Walgreens), create photo gifts, and create holiday cards too.

So, I have many albums titled things like…January 2010, Feb/March 2010, Isle of Palms vacay 2017, Homer, first day of school 1st grade, soccer, baseball Reds, dance, and more!

I’m not sure what took me soo long, but it wasn’t until 2020 when I finally organized the albums into folders. So, I have a 2020 folder that has an album for each month along with other general events/activities like camp, sports, vacation, etc. Then, I repeated that process for 2021 and have started the same for 2022.

Actually, I know I can go back and put those other years into one folder, but I’ve yet to do that.

I have still kept general album categories like “old photos,” “kids’ elementary artwork,” “house,” “blog,” and “Homer.” Speaking of Homer, that album definitely has the most photos…guess how many photos I’ve taken of Homer! Take a guess, and I will share the answer at the bottom of this post.

One of my favorite albums is my “recipe” album. You know when you screenshot recipes on Instagram or Facebook and they just live in your camera roll? Well, that’s where I put those recipes to keep for reference.

Even with my Shutterfly organization, I still sometimes have to take a few minutes at the end of the month to upload photos….and occasionally I have to intentionally sit down and delete photos from my phone.

Also, I know my phone backs up to the Apple iCloud (is that what it’s called?!), but I still like to use Shutterfly, because it just seems easier for me to access.

The only thing I wish Shutterfly would do is save videos, but it doesn’t. I think those go to the cloud too…or my Google storage…or both?!?, but I still don’t feel like anything is as easy to access as Shutterfly.

What about you? How do you save your photos? I know there are similar apps to Shutterfly and everyone probably has their preference, but I do love Shutterfly!

If only there was an app that could immediately organize my closet… *sigh*

I’m spending most of today on a Zoom for a professional development session. While not my ideal Thursday, I do prefer to knock out these hours in the summer…and from the comfort of my home is even better.

747. That’s how many photos I’ve taken of Homer in three years! He’s the most loved dog…ever.

See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites.

Posted in Everyday Life

Day in the Life on Insta

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello!

I’m keeping it short and sweet. I thought today might be a good day to share a day in the life on Instagram stories.

My handle is @showmeandsweettea

We have a few things planned for today as well as a bit of downtime.

I hope you are staying cool and able to beat the heat!

Posted in Kids

Just Dance: Recital Recap

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello from hot and muggy Lexington. 😩

Hadley had her dance recitals over the weekend, and we loved all her performances. Kind of like my baseball wrap-up for Hayden, I like to have all the dance memories in one place for Hadley as well.

There were three recital times: one on Friday evening and then one each on Saturday afternoon and evening. That meant three recitals practices for Hadley as well last week leading up to the recitals.

Friday night, Hadley just danced in the opening number and the finale, so I just dropped her off for that one and then caught the end of the recital after Hayden’s basketball game.

Saturday was a busier day with recitals at noon and 7:00. The noon recital was extra special because that’s when Hadley helped with her younger cousin’s class. Hadley also danced in the opening and finale numbers as well. My mom was in town to see Layla and Hadley’s Saturday performances.

Then, Saturday evening, Hadley had six dances overall! All the family was there, including Hayden! 😆

Recital Recap:

The opening number was one of the competition routines with all of the competition team members at the studio. It’s a fun, action-packed performance.

Then, Hadley danced in her other competition routine which was a small jazz ensemble performance. It’s one of my favorite dances, and Hadley has the opening turn to start the performance.

Great group of girls with their amazing teacher.

This was my favorite costume and Hadley wore it for jazz and ballet performances.

They did an awesome job.

Then, Hadley had her ballet performance before quickly changing for the finale.

Performance Photos:

Hadley and Layla after their routine on Saturday…

Lots of fun memories and family….

Of course we had to get flowers for our dancing queen!

…and a family photo…

Hayden obliged for a photo after Hadley’s final performance.

(Halfway through the Saturday evening performance, Hayden did ask for money for the concession stand…😂! (There were no snacks at the recital!)) Also, when Hadley asked which dance was his favorite, he mentioned “the tap routine with no music.” That was a great acapella performance by the older girls…but Hadley wasn’t in that one. Oh, brother!

Well, you’d think we’d have a bit of a dancing break, but Hadley signed up for hip hop and ballet conditioning this summer. It is only one night a week, and she loves being at the studio and dancing with her friends.

I always say that I’m not sure where Hadley got her rhythm and grace, but that she also has the heart of a dancer. She loves being up on that stage.

Thanks so much for reading.

Posted in Not Just a Mom, Travel

Not Just a Mom: Dream Travel Locations

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! How was your weekend? We had a great one that was mostly centered around Hadley’s dance recitals. Hayden also had a basketball game, and we enjoyed some family time too. The weather was great, and we savored our time outside because this week the temps are definitely cranking up a notch into the upper 90’s!

It’s the second Monday of the month, so I’m co-hosting our Not Just a Mom link-up with these fun bloggers:

So far this year, we’ve discussed:

This month, we are sharing dream travel locations.

I wrote this post in March because I think I was getting excited about Spring Break and summer being right around the corner!

My “bucket list” is on there, but my top five dream travel locations include:

  • Hawaii
  • Nantucket
  • Europe, especially London and Paris. I’d love to get to Italy and Ireland too. (I went on a 10-day tour of Europe when I was in high school, but obviously that was a long time ago, and I’d love to take my kids)
  • Virgin Islands
  • Pacific NW
  • ….and one more: Mexico. We haven’t been since 2005 (on our honeymoon)…and we are crossing that one off the list this summer!

Where is somewhere you’ve been that I need to go? I’d love to add it to my list.

If you are a blogger, mark your calendar for next month when we share family food traditions.

In the meantime, we hope you’ll link up and/or read the other posts about dream travel locations.

I hope your week is off to a great start!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter
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Posted in Friday Favorites, Homer, Kids

Friday Favorites {#116}

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello and Happy Friday.

We had a good but busy summer week. Personally, it was nice to not get up and think about school, but I still had to set an alarm every morning due to Hadley’s activities.

Also, I’ve felt “off” all week. I guess it’s a summer cold, and Hadley has been dealing with congestion too. On top of having a sore throat and drainage, I was tired and sometimes achy. I did test neg for the Vid, so who knows! Maybe the hustle and bustle of the end of the school year caught up with me.

I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.

Here are some favorites from the week:

I mentioned in Tuesday’s post that what was supposed to be a couple of hours at the pool Sunday turned into many hours at the pool and a Pina Colada with Trav.

Hadley has decided she wants to play volleyball again, so we signed her up for a camp this week with a friend. That meant 9-12 camp four days this week!

Hayden left on Monday to go to the lake with a friend, so I had lots of Hadley time this week.

After camp on Monday, we hit the mall for a few things and lunch in the food court. What is it about kids and the food court?! It seemed like a treat to her. haha

She has had dance recital practice three nights this week with the recital this weekend. It’s nice that she’s old enough to handle costume changes, but I definitely sweep in at the end to make sure she has everything!

Wednesday night’s recital practice included Hadley (and her friend) helping cousin Layla’s tap class up on stage. Super cute group of little ladies.

While at the lake, Hayden had so much fun with two of his friends. With limited WiFi, they had all kinds of good old fashioned fun. They swam, ran around, went in the kayaks and fished.

Hayden was so excited to catch a few fish (a first for him) including this large mouth bass.

On Wednesday, we celebrated our 3 year Homer-versary! Since we don’t know his actual birthday, we celebrate him on his “Gotcha Day,” and he obliges for a few photos in his birthday scarf thanks to a few treats!

6/8/19

He’s calmed down since we got him and is overall a pretty good boy (even though he destroyed a roll of toilet paper this week!)

Travis and I finally finished Season 4 of Ozark. I love me some Jason Bateman, but man, that show is intense! I wish it ended a bit differently, but I’m glad we finished the series. Now Travis and I need to find something else to watch together. Let me know if you have any recommendations!

Favorite Clothing Item:

Is anyone shocked that my favorite clothing item is a new pair of pjs?

I bought these a couple of weeks ago when both the top and the bottom were each on sale for $8. I’d pay full price for them though! They are cute and light-weight…perfect for summer!

I actually have this pair ready for pick up too. I will let you know how they are once I get them.

Favorite Mom Meme:

Me…all week!

Flashback Friday

In honor of Hadley’s dance recital this week, here’s a throwback to her first-ever dance recital in 2016! #pinchycheekcute

Weekly Recap:

I had a couple of link up posts this week as well as one other one:

June Amazon
Let’s Look: lunch
Baseball Wrap Up

Not Just a Mom

Also, before I go…we have our Not Just a Mom link up this coming Monday. The topic is dream travel locations.

If you are a blogger, we hope you join us! It’s the perfect topic as we dive into summer!

What are your plans for the weekend? We don’t have tons going on today, but Hadley will be a busy dancer this weekend! I can’t wait to see her routines!

Thanks so much for reading!

Posted in Kids

Baseball Wrap Up

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello!

Well, this is probably a post that’s more for me than anyone else. I want to have all of my baseball memories in one spot!

Hayden headed into this spring baseball season with some hesitation. I think he was worried about juggling both track and baseball. I will say there weren’t any other kids on the middle school track team who played baseball. We got “lucky” with the schedule as he only missed one baseball game for a track meet, but it was a lot to juggle.

I did encourage him to finish up baseball with his 12-year-old season because I knew he’d have fun with his team, be a leader for the younger kids, and, honestly, I knew he still had some baseball left in him.

As the kids have gotten older, of course they’ve had to make decisions and start cutting out sports or activities because we can’t do all the things all the time! Hadley did gymnastics for a couple of years and stopped with Girl Scouts once she got to middle school while Hayden played soccer off and on for a few years. Hayden has really found his groove with running, and I think that will be a focus for him moving forward.

Baseball is the one sport that stuck with Hayden…for the past nine years.

Like many sports, baseball was an outlet for Hayden to temper his anxiety and shyness.

Like most things in life, Hayden started baseball with his sister by his side and some of his best baseball memories include Trav as his coach.

I will never forget seeing him on the pitcher’s mound for the first time. I texted Trav and said, “What (the heck) is he doing out there?” Trav said, “He wanted to try give it a try.” As an introvert on the mound, he blossomed with confidence after hearing, “Strikkkkeee!” for the first time.

From digging in the dirt to striking out batters…From t-ball to the Majors…From losses to wins and all the memories in between…Hayden has accomplished so much and made us very proud.

While he accomplished so much on the field, our hearts swelled with pride when he was given the Sportsmanship award last fall. I’m not entirely sure what goes on in a baseball dugout, but I love hearing him cheer for his teammates and give tips to the younger players.

Through the years…

…from the Mud Hens…

…to the Timber Rattlers…

…to the Twins…(how fitting!)

….to the Mariners…

…to Turkey Feet…

…and Crush in the summer…

Team Crush. Photos by Chet White

…to the Reds as an 11 and…

…12 year old…

Hayden has had quite the baseball “career.”

The last game:

Honestly, I’ve been a bit emotional this season…not necessarily tears, but just more about savoring each baseball moment. Every at bat, every play at first, and every pitch meant something a little bit more this season.

We snapped a photo before his end of season tournament game because you just never know when the last game will be.

Hayden played first which is where you’d usually find him if he wasn’t pitching this season.

He had a couple of great hits to do what he could for his team.

Ultimately, they lost, so Saturday was the end of the season. And…we were all ok! While a win would have been nice, it just wasn’t in the cards for the Reds that day.

A few fave photos through the years…

During one of Hayden’s coach pitch seasons, the Twins won the end of the season tournament.

Lots of memories with Hadley playing on the same team, digging in the dirt, Trav coaching third base, and post-season awards.

This is one of my favorite baseball photos that my talented brother-in-law snapped after a game when Hayden was 8 (I think!)

So many at bats, so many strike outs while pitching, and so much advice from Trav through the years…

Quite a few stolen bases too!

He played through many hot summer games and usually had a smile on his face. Those games provided additional memories for us as a family, more laundry for me, and a few rings and trophies for Hayden.

It’s been an honor to watch him grow, mature, and flourish on the field.

Hayden…We are proud of you. We’ll always be your biggest fans. No one supports you like your dad or loves you like your mom.

It’s been quite the ride, and there’s nothing better than seeing your kids have fun, learn life lessons, make choices, and grow into who they are supposed to be.

If you need me, you can find me clapping for Hadley after her upcoming recital and cheering for Hayden as he runs track, cross country, and up and down the court for basketball.

See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites.

Posted in Let's look

Let’s Look

Posted on by jgalvinwhite

Hello! I hope you are having a great week so far!

Well, yesterday was the first Tuesday of the month, so I shared my Amazon purchases, and today is the second Wednesday of the month which means that I’m linking up with Shay and Erika for Let’s Look.

So far this year, we’ve looked at:

  • How you organize for the new year in January.
  • What you eat in a week in February.
  • Your faves from high school/college in March. (I didn’t have a post that month.)
  • How you plan/do date nights in April.
  • Your hometown in May.

Well, this week I’m trying to get us into a summer routine. Sometimes lunch is chicken tenders and fries at the pool. I do try to have us eat at home most days and then just pack snacks for the pool. On Fridays, I usually let the kids pick somewhere to drive-thru which usually means Chick-fil-A, Raising Canes, Sonic, or Taco Bell.

I’ve shared some lunch posts before, but here are some fave options when I’m at home:

Shrimp tacos are pretty easy to make. I just sautee some shrimp in EVOO and the Chile Lime seasoning from Trader Joe’s. I add lettuce cabbage with a sprinkle of cheese and a drizzle of Ranch dressing.

To me, nothing says summer like a snack plate. I just love that I’m home to have more than 18 minutes to eat, and can just put together a plate of favorites based on what we have at home.

Anything can go on the plate: cheese, fruit, almonds, pickles, lunch meat, prosciutto, sausage, etc. I usually have one meat, one cheese, one fruit and then go from there.

I eat this Cheeseburger Bowl on repeat! I just cook ground turkey and add in taco seasoning. Then, I put the meat on top of some lettuce and add a few chopped up pickles, a sprinkle of cheese, and then a drizzle of the Magnifisauce from Trader Joe’s.

Other quick lunches we have often: quesadilla, grilled cheese, turkey sausage with sides like fruit, pretzels and hummus or peppers.

This recent Not Just a Mom post has some lunch ideas and links back to some previous posts I’ve shared as well.

Truly, one of my favorite parts of summer is not packing a lunch, picking and choosing what to eat based on what I have at home, and having some extra time to eat as well.

What are your “go-to” summer lunches?