Good morning from my scratchy throat and runny nose, just in time for our kid-free vacation at the end of the week! 😣 Demps came down with something on Thursday and was not feeling his best that day or the next, but he seems fine now, so I’m hopeful that Joey, Lydia and I are all better just as quick. We still had a fun weekend! My aunt and uncle — who I hadn’t seen in eight years! — were in town and we hosted a big family BBQ at our house. It was such a good and fun visit with everyone and it made my heart so full and happy 🤍 Followed it up with a down day on Sunday. It was so hot outside, so we all hid inside and had cabin fever but we did get all our chores done and Joey cooked us a good, uh, soup for the 96 degree day 😂

Joey had a golf tournament on Friday, so I got the kids up and dressed and fed and over to Grandma’s for the day. Lydia left Bitty Baby in her car seat and it made me do a double take when I looked in the rear view mirror. I got my nails done and grabbed a few things at Whole Foods, including the Barbie Olipop and I thought it was delicious! Back at home, I worked and then Joey came home and we both went to pick the kids up. Ate some leftovers for dinner and I had a few moments of dinner peace when they both wanted to sit on Joey’s lap 😂🥰 Got them both bathed and to bed before firing up a movie. We finished this on Saturday night and I thought it was just okay. Bordering on funny but not quite there for me.

Dempsey slept 7-7 and seemed so much better on Saturday! And I was asleep at 9:15, so I felt pretty good too! Went for an early morning run and then Joey made us some banana oat pancakes and gosh, I love a good dense pancake with some texture. Spent the rest of the day hanging out, playing and cleaning up the backyard so we could have people over at 3. Demps helped me melonball a watermelon and he was very dedicated to his task 🥺

Stole a bunch of my aunt’s photos and she got some good ones of us all hanging out and catching up. My brother and his family came down as well and it was so sweet seeing his older kiddos hang out with my younger kiddos. The cousin bond knows no age difference, I guess 🤍 My niece had had a birthday earlier in the week, so we celebrated with Chantilly cake. We got the tripod out for that group photo and then Dempsey used it for the rest of the night, which was very funny. He doesn’t have a bad eye! The kids were up later than usual and I guess Lydia was ready for bed 😂 I’m so glad we were able to have this get together and I hope it’s not eight years before we do the next one 😊

Joey made us egg sandwiches (hashbrowns and waffle for Lyds) for Sunday breakfast and then it was laundry, cleaning the humidifiers, making salads and putting Lydia down for her nap before I headed out to get a pedicure. Joey made us a really good tomato-bean soup and cornbread for dinner and both kids skipped the soup and only ate the cornbread 😂 Got the kids to bed and watched some Olympic trial coverage before getting into our own bed.

Happy Monday!

What a weekend we had! Highlights being Inside Out 2 with our boy, throwing out Cracker Jack during the 7th Inning Stretch at the Rockies Game and a Father’s Day celebration that started at the pool and ended with a really good family dinner. All exhaustingly the best!

Took Dempsey to a 3 PM showing of Inside Out 2 at The Big Show (aka the Alamo Drafthouse’s ginormous theater) and had so much fun. Taking your child to the movies is one of my very favorite parenting experiences. Every time I do it, it feels too good to be true. I thought the movie was good and at an hour and a half, somehow still too long 😂

Saturday started with banana waffles and playing around until it was time to walk over to the park for soccer. Dempsey had a much better time this week! He still put up a fight staying out there the whole time and wanting to be held, but he also participated in a good amount of the drills so I’ll take it! It was so hot 🥵 We went home for popsicles and lunch, then put Lydia down for her nap.

While one was napping and the other was watching a movie, I made salads for the week, pesto (Demps helped and he did so good!) and lemonade and later on, we had illegal Pete’s for dinner and headed to the Rockies game. We were selected as the season ticket holders that get to throw out the Cracker Jack during the 7th Inning Stretch and it was such a cool and fun experience! Lydia looked right into the camera and waved and it was the cutest thing I’ve ever seen. And Dempsey threw out a couple of bags himself. It was a late one for the kids and they weren’t in bed until 10:30 but I think it was worth staying up late!

Happy Sunday and Happy Father’s Day to all the dads who spent the day golfing and left their wives to fend for themselves with the kids 😋 I got the kids up and ready and fed and then we headed out to the Farmers’ Market. Got a handful of stuff and none of it was produce. Also some 9 AM popsicles for the kids and Lydia made an absolute mess 😂 When we got back, my kids played with the neighbor kids and then we all went into our respective homes for lunch. I got Lydia down for her nap and sat down to hang with Dempsey and not too long after, Joey made it back home. Once Lydia was up, we opened cards and presents then got changed and packed up to head to my parents’ pool!

Dempsey was so excited and went right into the pool and tried to jump on his floatie then fell right into the water, followed by me in all my clothes to pull him out 😳😬 I think we were all a bit freaked out but he was okay it didn’t seem to scare him off of going back in with an adult. Took Lydia a bit to warm up to the water but I think she had fun too. Back at my parents’, we had a really good spread of pulled pork sandwiches, potato salad, pasta salad and fresh corn on the cob. Then a lively game of “monster in the closet,” that entailed Dempsey checking my parents’ closet with a flashlight and Lydia standing in there in the dark waiting for him 🤣🤣🤣 At bedtime, Dempsey told me that was his favorite part of the day! We had dessert then headed back home to clean up, get the kids to bed, sit down for 10 minutes then go to bed ourselves. Summer is always so go, go, go but summer with kids is a whole new level. It’s been equal parts exhausting and exhilarating and I’m really loving it!