We had SUCH a good Memorial Day Weekend and I just love this three day kick-off to summer! We opted NOT to do the Bolder Boulder for the first time since 2010 and it was kind of bittersweet but also pretty nice to “sleep in” and not be falling asleep on the couch at 8 PM on Memorial Day 😂 Instead, we went out to dinner, played putt putt, shoe shopped for the kids, visited the zoo, ate snowballs, had a movie night with Dempsey while Lydia slept over at Grandma and Grandpa’s and topped it all off with a really nice backyard BBQ. I didn’t want it to end, except that we’re headed to Vegas for the BTS concert, so I guess I’m okay with it ending 😜

I worked from home Friday morning, then headed out to get a much anticipated manicure now that my gal is back from maternity leave. Me and my nails missed her! Picked the rest of the family up and headed to Edgewater for dinner, where the kids proceeded to run laps around the table, try to push each other off their seats and scream, so we left without ice cream, which was sad for them but also for me 😂 Put them to bed and definitely ate some without them because I was well-behaved at dinner 😉 We started The Testament of Ann Lee too!

Saturday was just the best! Dempsey woke up before Lydia and he loves sneaking out and hanging with just Mom and Dad for a bit. I made pancakes with butter and buttermilk that the kids made with Lori earlier in the week, so how cool is that?! Dempsey said we should go play putt putt after, so that’s just what we did. Lydi made it through four holes before giving up, but she was a good sport about walking the rest of the course with us. And Dempsey played so good! Afterward, we hit up Vatos for tacos and 10/10 would recommend. Let the kids play at the park for a bit after lunch but who designed this shade-less playground with a metal slide??

Since we were so close to DSW, we headed over to get new shoes for Dempsey. These kids have never shoe shopped in person before 😅 and they were having too much fun! We got him a pair of light up Minecraft Skechers that were a size and a half bigger than his current shoe 😬 No wonder he’d been saying they were tight. And Lydi of course found a very sparkly pair of sandals that she had to have and has barely taken off since ❤️ Made a quick trip to Aunt Bean and Uncle Wayne’s so Lydi and I could lay in the hammock, Dempsey and Wayne could play and Joey could re-hang a coat rack in their house 😂 then we headed home for rest and dinner. Got the kids bathed and into bed and writing that all out made it sound like a really long and busy day but I swear it felt pretty relaxed and just so much fun!

Joey and I finished our movie and I know it was billed as a musical and it does have singing but I wouldn’t call it a musical at all. I love the big swing though and I thought Amanda Seyfried was just so perfect for the role since she’s got such a wonderful voice. I really liked all the singing scenes with her and wanted to fast forward anyone else singing 😅

We got the kids up and out the door on Sunday for breakfast followed by a trip to the zoo. Poor Dempsey is such a homebody and does not like eating breakfast out, hence his cranky face, but he hung in there. We ate and the parents caffeinated at Rivers and Roads before making our way to what was already a busy zoo. The highlight was feeding and petting the stingrays! We’d never done that before but Dempsey really enjoyed it. Lydia, not so much 😂 Made our way past the lions, giraffes, sea lions and elephants to get to the carousel and the Wild Village playground, then back tracked to the wallaby exhibit but the kids were starting to look as tired as all the animals napping in there, so we plopped them in the stroller and headed out. Joey had mentioned snowballs the day before, so we had to go! It was my first time and price aside (because it’s a little high for a snowball), wow, they nailed it!

At home, we fed Lydia lunch, then I packed her overnight bag and took her over to Grandma and Grandpa’s. Of course, she fell asleep on the way, so I tried to give her a 20 minute car nap. She was very ready for me to leave, gave me a kiss goodbye and sent me on my way. My mom said they visited the pool, watched Leap!, ate dinner and then Lydia drove my mom insane making up her bed in different places until she finally fell asleep at the foot of their bed at 10:15 😅😅 At home, Dempsey helped me make Chex Mix and kept watch over a baby bunny in our back yard then we had apricot chicken with broccoli and rice for dinner while watching Star War: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, aka Dempsey’s first ever Star Wars movie! He was acting so loopy and tired but he still seemed really into it. We only made it halfway, but he seemed very invested in Anakin’s pod race 🥹 He went to sleep just fine in his room by himself and then Joey and I watched the penultimate episode of Hacks and went to bed ourselves.

Happy Memorial Day! Joey says he saw our son’s eyes open in the 5 o’clock hour but he went back to sleep until 6:15. He came into our bed, which never happens anymore and got to make that silly photo with Joey’s arms 😂 I made coffee and we all had breakfast before Lydia Facetimed us and insisted on coming home to eat cereal. I sent the boys to pick her up and did some cleaning while they were out. I think my mom was bummed she wanted to leave so early and didn’t want the quiche she’d made for her but I think she still had a really fun time at Grandma and Grandpa’s. I’m so happy they got that two-on-one time with her. Spent the rest of the day BBQ prepping — cleaning, making lemonade, setting up my dip tray — and packing for our trip. Everyone came over around 3 PM and we just had a really nice and chill time together. Lydia and Landon sat in the grass and played together for like an hour and I don’t get to see just the two of them together very often, so it was just the best. Definitely dropped an entire jar of pickles on my kitchen floor, so it’s, as Chad called it, “a giant mouse trap” in there now 🤦‍♀️ At least I did it at my own house and not someone else’s. Everyone left around 7 and we took the kids up to bed not too long after. Both of them were overtired, so took Joey a bit of work to settle them down but he did it and I was impressed. Did some more packing and cleaning up before watching a bit of TV then going to bed.

Staving off post-MDW blues with our trip but how will I survive post-concert blues after that?? Let me know if you have the answer 😄