Hello and Happy Monday! I’m guessing most aren’t posting today, but since the 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays, I threw together this post of favorites.
This is our “go to” 4th of July breakfast:
Frozen waffles, Cool Whip, and fresh fruit. I’ve been serving it to the kids since they were little.
Easy and delish!
This meme is definitely me with the kids when they were younger. I’m that mom.
I love pinchy cheek cute kids in red, white, and blue.
My favorite 4th of July family photo…taken in 2015.
Sparklers are always a “must” on this holiday.
….as are fireworks!
We have a favorite spot in Lex to see some of the best fireworks in town.
Homer is usually pretty festive on the 4th as well:
I mean, of course he’s a patriotic pup!
What do you do for the 4th of July? Growing up, we always got together with family. Then, when I was older, I have wonderful memories of watching fireworks by the lake in our neighborhood. Kind of like driving through the Christmas lights at the park, I won’t miss a fireworks display!
Hello! How was your week? I can’t believe we are in the full swing of July! Up next will be school supply displays. Actually, I think they are already out…but I just close my eyes when I see the words “back to School!”
Anyway, as always, I’m linking up with Andrea and Erika for this week’s Friday Favorites.
My first favorite for the week:
My traditional red, white, and blue waffles for the 4th! I made them for the kids, and I even had one! So good.
We had a great 4th of July. I spent most of the day unpacking from vacation and going to the grocery store. Travis took the kids to the pool for a few hours in the afternoon. We had steaks for dinner and watched fireworks at our favorite spot.
Then, we shot off a few fireworks and sparklers before heading to bed.
The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays.
Another favorite for the week was Travis didn’t work on Monday, so we decided to celebrate his birthday a couple of days early. We went out to lunch at one of our favorite places and then went bowling at the new Lex Live. We had lots of fun.
We had cookie cake on Tueday (a day early) because we all barely even saw each other on his birthday (Wednesday) because I was with Hadley at her swim meet while Hayden and Travis were at baseball. Anyway, our neighbor bakes cookies and cookie cakes, so I ordered one for Trav’s birthday.
I laugh every time I look at this photo because Homer was desperate to be included in the pic…or maybe he just wanted to get near the cake! (Remember when he ate our anniversary cookie cake last year?! 😂 )
We did presents and cake eating Tuesday evening when Hadley got home from dance.
The cookie cake was so good! The buttercream icing was the best part.
Hadley’s final swim meet of the season was another favorite of the week. She swam her fastest times of the season in all strokes.
I was a bit hesitant about the 8:45 practices during the summer, but with the help of other swim parents, we’ve carpooled and made it work. It’s been a big adjustment after not swimming last summer and now she moved up an age group and swims 50’s. I’m proud of her commitment and determination. Hadley proved that you show up to the things you love…and donut days on Thursdays! 😉
Favorite Mom Meme:
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Bonus Fave: Flashback Friday
Since I’m on the topic of swim team, how about this flashback to the kids’ first ever swim season in 2017? My oh my how they have grown! Hadley’s swim cap and goggles slay me!
If you are a blogger, we’d love to have you link up with us for a tour of your home!
We’re thankful for those who read our blogs, so we hope you’ll check out everyone’s posts on Monday! I can’t wait to see what others share!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! Baseball is back for us after having last weekend off. So, we’ll be at the ball fields off and on! Hadley is thrilled 😉
Today, Trav and I are celebrating our 16th wedding anniversary. Y’all, S I X T E E N years is hard to believe! Time sure does continue to fly by!
It’s also hard to believe that it’s already almost the end of June which means it’s time for this month’s Monthly Musings post.
As always, I’m linking up with Patty and Holly for this post.
This month’s topic is End of School and Summer Plans. Believe it or not, we’ve been out of school for over a month, so we are definitely in full summer mode over here!
1. Last Day of School Traditions:
While I have lots of traditions to begin the school year like Back to School Breakfast, a book to start the year, first day of school photos, walking to school and more, we don’t have many last day of school traditions. The kids let me take a last day of school pic, and that’s about it. I also get a photo of them in front of school on the first and last day. (I’m not sure they will let me do a photo in front of their middle school next year) 😩
2. Summer List:
We made our Summer Fun list a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve been able to cross a few things off the list!
3. Vacation Plans:
While we typically go to Florida for summer vacation, South Carolina is another favorite summer vacay spot for us. We are heading there soon.
4. Summer Outfits:
If I’m not in workout clothes, I’m usually in a swimsuit and coverup at the pool. I do like to wear light weight dresses as well as…
shorts and a tank or t-shirt.
These shorts from Target are a favorite! I have them in green, pink and black.
And…I’ve shared about my favorite Amazon swimsuit and cover up a couple of times this summer.
I recently shared some quick dinner ideas. During the summer months, we grill out a lot and have baked beans, pasta salad or fruit as side dishes. Quick, easy, and light meals.
6. End of School:
We are usually scheduled to be out of school around Memorial Day. Some years, we go past Memorial Day if we have snow days to make up. That being said, our district seems to do whatever it takes (like adding time to the end of the day) to ensure we are out by May 31st. We occasionally get out rather early, like this year…we were out May 18th which was amazing!
When I was a kid, I feel like we were out around Memorial Day, but didn’t start back until after Labor Day. I wish it was like that now as well!
7. Swimsuit Type:
I used to love a tankini but the past few summers, I’ve really embraced the one piece. I just feel more comfortable in them, and there are so many awesome options in fun patterns and stylish designs.
I’m not sure what our plans will be. I always start the 4th of July off with red, white, and blue waffles for the kids! Sometimes, we go to the pool or the parade downtown. We usually grill out with family or friends or sometimes just our family of four.
We always get a few firecrackers and sparklers for the kids. Then, every year, we make our way to our favorite spot to watch fireworks. The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays.
9. Red, White, and Blue Clothes:
I’ve always put the kids in some kind of red, white, and blue! Sometimes, Travis and I will do so as well.
They usually let me take a photo or two 😉
This is one of my favorite family photos of the four of us…July 2015. We were settling in to watch the fireworks, and we all were dressed in some form of red, white, and blue.
10. Charcoal or Gas Grill:
We have a gas grill, and Travis does all the grilling!
He typically uses this platter for the food that my mom painted for him in 2003! It’s basically an antique!
So, that’s a peak at our end of school and summer plans. Next month’s topic is summer fashion!
I hope your summer is off to a great start! See you back here tomorrow for Friday Favorites.
Happy Monday! How was your 4th of July weekend? We were busy. I’m so tired! Thankfully, this week we don’t have much going on besides a couple of ball games.
I thought I’d do a little Top 5 recap of our busy weekend.
Canoeing:
We are adventurous, y’all. We started our holiday weekend on Friday canoeing. Kayak/canoeing was one of the activities we had on our Summer 2020 Fun list!
We went with a few friends and got our canoes from Canoe Kentucky in Frankfort. While I was excited, I was a little hesitant because I didn’t know what to expect. Long story short, about four years ago we had a tense and sometimes scary creek tubing experience in North Carolina. I figured a canoe is more substantial and the kids are older, so the canoe trip should be fine…and it was! It’s a great outdoor and socially distant activity. Win win.
We all met to get our life jackets, instructions, and canoes and then we rode on the bus (while wearing masks) to the entry point on Elkhorn Creek. Then, we canoed back which was about 6 miles and took us about 3 hours. We did stop 3 times to let the kids swim and to kind of regroup. Altogether, we had 11 people in 5 canoes and 1 kayak….and we all stayed together! Of course, it was a hot day, but on the water, it was fine. There was shade and the water was cool.
When the instructor dropped us off he said we may see turtles, a bald eagle, deer, and more. We did see the bald eagle, deer, and even a little water snake.
There were a few rapid points that we could easily navigate and there were even times I wished the water would move more! 😂
The adults sat in the back of the canoes to steer while the kids paddled (adults paddled too)—but definitely needed to be in the back to steer.
We really had a great time, and I definitely hope to go again (or make this a summer tradition!)
Hadley was my co-pilotThe littlesThey enjoyed swimming more than paddling 😉Travis and HaydenOur crew
After we canoed, we headed to one of our favorite spots for dinner…Wallace Station. It’s the perfect spot with picnic tables and shade…and easy to social distance from other diners.
I got the shrimp wrap with orzo side and it was so good!
Festive Food:
I ordered some red, white, and blue cookies from a local baker, L’oven Cookies, and picked those up on Friday. We enjoyed them throughout the weekend.
On Saturday, we had our traditional red, white and blue waffles. This year, Hadley made the waffles using a mix and our mini waffle iron. (I usually just use frozen waffles and the toaster ;). She’s become a big help in the kitchen. I put the toppings on!
4th of July:
We actually did have a relaxing day with not much on our plate on Saturday. We lounged around, watched tv, the kids biked with friends, I hung out and read in our pool and that was about it…until it was time for dinner.
The kids did oblige with a red, white, and blue outfit pic with Homer and his new scarf.
He’s good at posing for pics if he knows he’ll get a treat.
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Then we grilled out with another family in our neighborhood. The kids see each other pretty often these days to ride bikes and know they can play but to keep some space, and we keep up with the hand washing, of course.
After dinner, we set off a few fireworks before heading home to go to our favorite fireworks viewing location.
Sparklers are my fave.
The 30 minute fireworks display from a local country club did not disappoint.
Then, we came home, set off a few more fireworks (I had just bought a few things at Kroger) and then we headed to bed.
Netflix:
Friday night after we returned home from canoeing, I was exhausted. By 8:00, I was showered and in bed. I turned on Netflix, and The Babysitters Club popped up. I had forgotten that they were doing a series on the books. I swear, as a kid, I read every single one. I remember going to the book store to buy the books one at a time as they were released.
Hadley’s only read a few of them, and enjoys them. I knew she’d love the show and was excited to watch a couple of episodes, so we did. Then, we watched a couple more episodes throughout the weekend.
The show is an updated version that touches on modern topics while also including plot elements from the books.
Sunday:
Sunday was a lazy day mixed with a bit of productivity. We changed all the bedsheets and I made my grocery order for the week.
Hadley and I watched a couple more episodes of the BSC. I snuggled with Homer while the kids played outside.
Then, we met some of Trav’s family at The Stave for an early dinner.
Sunday ended with showers and early bedtimes for everyone. I’ve tried to make Sunday nights a good time to reset for the kids (& myself!)
Tomorrow is Trav’s birthday, so we have more celebrating to do tomorrow.
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