It’s the last day of “Dempsey Summer” and I’m big sad about it. He and I had a farewell tour today with a haircut, trip to a park of his request, lunch and a stroll through Toys “R” Us ☺️ And this weekend, we threw a surprise “Summerween” Party, the boys took a trip to Water World and Sunday included a trip to Home Depot and a blueberry cake. I have one more week of summer with Lydia but I can tell it’s getting darker earlier and we are winding down. Wahhhh. Good thing fall has so many good things to look forward to too!

I had seen someone post a “Summerween” Party earlier this summer and immediately knew I’d throw one for Dempsey while he was out of school. I had it mostly set up by the time he got home on Friday and the smile on his face was ✨everything.✨ We also invited my sister and Wayne, which Dempsey couldn’t have been happier about. He put out all his skeletons and set up a display with his new blow up tree and the gravestone he had made at Chaddy’s earlier that day, plus I got leis for all his skeletons. It looked great and we seriously had the best time. S’mores with ghost marshmallows for dessert, of course! Got the kids to bed and watched Big Brother before putting ourselves to bed. That party will be a core memory for all of us ❤️

Those kiddos were still tired Saturday morning but Dempsey perked up after breakfast. Shortly after, the boys headed out for Water World. I got a voice memo from Dempsey that said he cried a little bit on the way in because there were too many people but then it got better from there and he said he was having a good time! Meanwhile, the girls went back to school shopping! My girl had so much fun filling her basket with outfits and trying them all on in the dressing room. I seriously cannot relate, I have always hated shopping but taking her was so fun and I’m so glad she had such a good time. Maybe bought a few impractical things but you try telling her no when she looks that happy in a pumpkin dress! Afterward, we had lunch at Edgewater then went home to relax and make her All About Me poster for school. My kids could not be more different — Dempsey looooves a craft/art project and Lydia could not have cared less. She indulged me in some stickers at least. Turned out sooo cute!

The boys came home just before dinner and told us all about the fun they had at the water park. Dempsey’s favorite part was the kids lazy river and slides. He has grand plans to take his sister and I next summer! I made fish nuggets for dinner and both kids were a hard no on them, plus my house has smelled like fish ever since, so can’t say I’ll try those again any time soon. Got the kids cleaned up and into bed before watching Caught Stealing which I’d rate somewhere between mediocre and terrible. What can you do?

Sunday started with a workout and then I walked to get coffee and got that quick shot of the clouds — I love when they look like that! Once the kids were up, we all had breakfast and then I begged Joey to take the kids out of the house as everyone was hanging from me and I was desperate for some autonomy. He took them to HD, the park and the carwash before heading home for lunch. I made salads and then while Joey and Dempsey were building things in the garage, Lydia and I made a blueberry cake. We had some after dinner and an evening bike ride and it was so good! I’m like 8/8 on recipes from one of my new Ina Garten cookbooks! A very good way to end the weekend, in my opinion.

I hope everyone has a good week! Dempsey seems genuinely excited for his first day of school, so may we have a smooth transition into the school year with him ❤️

We are still plugging away at our Summer Bucket List before Dempsey starts school next week and managed to check off Belleview Park on Sunday, plus we watched a bunch of movies, had a kindergarten playdate and took our first trip to Spirit Halloween!

Joey took the kids to Grandma’s on Friday morning and I had nothing planned so managed to watch The Devil Wears Prada 2 while working and made some really good peanut noodles à la Ina for lunch. Joey and I had tickets to Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma that afternoon and what a movie! I’m still trying to put my thoughts into words but I was not expecting it to be as funny as it was. This was the same feeling I had while watching I Saw the TV Glow but Jane Shoenbrun’s films are just so singular. Hard to tell which pieces of the plot are actually happening and which are happening in the imagination of the character and I’m not really sure it matters either way. Afterward, we picked our crazy kiddos up and got them home and into bed before watching Thursday’s episode of Big Brother.

Spirit Halloween is open! So after breakfast (some very good vanilla shakeratos for Joey and I and whole wheat buttermilk pancakes for everyone), we headed out. We went to a different store than last year and they didn’t have as much space for animatronic set up, so Dempsey’s already begging us to visit another one 😅 But he got some neon skeletons and Lydia got her Halloween costume already! How cute is she as cheerleader Addison from Zombies 3? 😍 The rest of the day involved chores and rest time and then we had a park playdate for incoming kindergarteners. We were all a little shy at first, then ended up making friends. Dempsey is already asking when he will see his friends again 🥹 Back at home, ribs, tomato salad and French fries for dinner before shower/bath and bed for the kids. Lydia asked me to take that photo of her in her crib and then Dempsey needed to take one too 😂 Joey and I started Blue Moon afterward and one of us fell asleep like eight different times but I’ll let you guess who 😋

Sunday, featuring breakfast and a cup craft, Joey’s first braid, a trip to Belleview Park and dinner/ice cream with Grandpa Steve and Lorna. It was a very good day! The kids had so much fun riding the train, petting the animals and playing in the creek. Plus Joey had never been and I thought it was so sweet that Dempsey wanted to go on a weekend so he could join us ❤️ We only pulled a few pieces of glass out of the sand in the creek 😮

We had dinner at Acova and I think it’s been something like eight years since we’d been there. I thought it was really good! Lydia was acting insane and climbing all over because she was tired, but what can you do? Afterward, we drove down the street to Little Man for ice cream. It was early enough that the line was short and the kids had so much fun playing afterward. It was a really nice night. Got the kids home and to bed before finishing our movie and honestly… I really liked it! It was more or less Ethan Hawke talking the entire time and he was amazing!!! I’d never even heard of Lorenz Hart so it was educational too.

We are diving back into our last full week of summer with both kids and I’m hoping to make the most of it. I hope you all have a good week too!