Day In The Life - Summer Edition - July 21, 2021

I thrive on structure. 

So, I've found a lovely morning routine for myself while the girls are in summer camp. I wake up around 6:30 and have a quiet house to myself for like 1.5 hours. I make coffee, put on my makeup while watching/listening to my shows on FB or YT. This usually takes like 20-30 minutes depending on if I want to straighten my hair or not.

I get out to the kitchen around 7:15 and get going with breakfast for the girls.

Bacon.

Fresh strawberries.

Grapes.

Frozen pancake, waffle, or bowl of cereal.

Go wake up the girls around 7:45am.

Leftovers from breakfast

Pack lunches.

Feed the dogs.

Do some general picking up. 

Vacuum for the first or second time. 

By now, it's around 8:10am. 

I then log on to my computer to do a little work while the girls eat and watch their morning shows (#sorrynotsorry #itssummervacation)

They need to get dressed around 8:45 (35 minutes is MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME TO EAT).

Mila helping get ice packs ready 

Then they need to brush hair, brush teeth, ice packets in lunch boxes, bathroom, sunscreen, feed the piggies, and off we go. 

time to get in the car

Success! 

I made it home in time for my 10am meeting.

I had a couple of meetings and deadlines for this morning, so I got settled and got to work. 

I had lunch plans with an old client of mine, but she ended up canceling at the last minute. She had a good reason, so no big deal. 

I was already dressed though...so what to do? 

I checked in with Steve and asked what he was doing for lunch. We had been meaning to hit up this chicken sandwich place, so we decided to meet there. 

The "Why are you taking a pic?" face

Chick Magnet. SO GOOD. 

I got the Classic Chick Magnet.

Potato Basket

I love getting to grab lunch with Steve. We used to do it more often when I worked in an office since it was much closer. Now that I WFH full-time, it's not as convenient. 

Now it was time to get back to work. I had a video shoot for a client and it was only about a 10-minute drive from where we had lunch. 

And the bonus is that this is all in the town I grew up in. So it's all very nostalgic when I drive down that main drive. 

I even stopped and got an iced coffee at the Dunkin I used to go to DAILY. 

Ah, memories. 

Ok, back to work.

Creative Director setting up the shot

It started out a chilly day...hence the jacket...

Cinematographer

Not mad at this.

Dylan from Captivate Media

The clouds cleared and it got HOT. I started stripping. lol.

#bosslady (my client)

Trying to get the shot. LOL the talent's face. 

I spent a few hours at the shoot before needing to head out. Steve left his job to go pick up the girls from camp for me. Then we met at his work to do the hand off. 

The girls and I got back home around 5pm. It felt so weird to be out of the house for most of the day and get back at dinner time - seems so normal. 

I got them settled with dinner and then got to relax a bit myself. 

Obsessed with my shakes lately. My dinner. 

A little screen time to wind down the day

Can't forget a snack, too! 

Omg my turn to sit down! 

Steve works until 8pm, but he was also helping a friend out after work. So I knew he'd be home late.

I went to bed shortly after putting the girls to bed around 8:45pm.

I failed to capture any pictures after finally sitting down and relaxing. 

It was a very busy day. A much busier day than normal. It seems as though the days are just flying by.

Trying to soak it all in. 

The Random Days Are Always The Most Fun

My mom moving back to town has been life-changing. I know I say that a lot, but it's crazy just how true that is. 

The girls spent the weekend at my mom's. 

We didn't plan for it to be the entire weekend...it just kinda happened. 

We had planned for them to spend the night Friday night and we were going to do dinner and stuff with our friends, who also didn't have their kids (my friend's parents took them camping for a WEEK), so we decided to take the opportunity to hang out sans kids for the first time in forever.

I actually didn't end up taking any pics that night. 

I guess I was having too much fun!

It ended up being a kinda late night for us, getting home around midnight.

Remember when we were on vacation and Rich's boat shit the bed? Well, he got it back Saturday morning and when we left Friday night, he mentioned possibly going on the boat Saturday for the first time after getting it fixed.

FUCK YEAH.

Steve and I had a very lazy Saturday morning. Well, I worked out first then just hung around. Not exactly sure what the plans were for the day.

Then Rich texted us and asked if we were interested. Yep. Let's go. 

Packed our boat bag and off we went.

It was a decent day, with a little rain expected in the afternoon

This was the start of the day...I think it was noon.

They told me this boat is like stupid fast. So the big boys went on the boat and even drove it. 100mph. Insanity. Cost $100,000. $2,000 in fuel for a weekend. Just crazy.

To prove we're all old as fuck now, we decided to get an early dinner. 

It was 3:30pm. 

It was at this point that I texted my mom and asked if the girls could spend another night. 😂

Let's just say we were having way too much fun.

What a freaking cute couple omg.

Nice pic of me and Babe!

At the end of the night, trying to get a selfie

About 10 hours after we started drinking. We sexy.

It was one of those random days/nights that turned into the most fun. No expectations. NO KIDS.

We completely enjoyed each others' company and laughed so fucking much.

We promised to do it one more time before summer is over. 

Sometimes us parents just need time away to recharge. And relax. 

So grateful we have good people to do that with. 

Summer Camp

This is the first "real" year our girls don't have full-time care over the summer.

Last year was the "Pandemic" year and we had stopped daycare in March when the world shut down.

We never reinstated daycare after that.

We juggled last summer (no camps were opening due to COVID) and then I lost my job.

So it kinda worked out in that sense. 

From July 21 - September 7 I was home with the girls. 

Even though it was nerve-wracking not to know about my employment, it was 7 weeks that I know I'll never get again (or I hope not to get again, unless it's by choice!)

I got to spend time with them at an age when they love spending time with me and doing things. 

My mom was also home (in town) so we spent a good portion of our time with her. 

However, this summer is different now that I've landed an amazing job.

We didn't want to do full-time care...well, because I'm still working from home. And it's fucking pricey.

And if it's not "camp-like" I feel like my kids won't LOVE being at someone's house or whatever at their ages. 

So I'm grateful that our community has opened up summer camps again! As soon as I received the first email in May, I signed the girls up for 2 weeks. 

It's not expensive, $100 per week per kid. So $400 total for the summer. Not bad! 

Except that I'm an idiot and did the most embarrassing thing ever on the FIRST DAY.

Steve dropped them off Monday, July 12. We had their bags packed, lunches ready to go, medication forms, etc. All the things. 

But, for some reason, my work and personal Gmail calendars were not syncing and one calendar said they started this week and two other calendars said next week. 

HM.

I checked the online community recreation page and OMFG. 

I did NOT sign them up for this week!

HOLY SHIT.

We literally dropped our kids off with people who have no record of them needing to be there.

CUE PANIC.

I called and emailed the recreation supervisor immediately and apologized and then went online and paid for this week. Thankfully they had enough spaces this week to include both girls. 

I did get an email back and they apologized as well for not catching it at drop-off. I'm not at all mad at them, I'm sure they saw their names SOMEWHERE on paperwork and thought they looked familiar - they wrote their names down and that was that. 

OMG. Mortified.

ANYWAY.

Other than that, Day 1 was great and they had a great time. 

Except for the fact that there is one little girl at camp who is a bully. 

She took beads off of a bracelet Ava was actively working on (there were other beads available) and then when they were standing in line, she apparently dumped some of her drinking water on Ava's head.

Ok, so we let the girls deal with it with their camp counselors.

Day 2 (Tuesday) - great day! But again, little bully girl was still being really mean. Not just to my kids, but to other kids as well. 

They told Steve when he picked them up and boyfriend turned the truck around to talk to the camp counselors. He told me he said something along the lines of "listen, I get it, kids are kids, but this is the second day in a row that my kids are saying one girl is being mean. I don't want to pick them up tomorrow and have the same thing happen. It's not fair to my kids to have this experience." 

If any of you know us IRL, you know Steve is not that guy. It takes a LOT for him to say something. 

So we'll see how Day 3 goes. In the rules that all parents are given, it clearly states that if a child cannot be at daycamp, they will be removed. This isn't school. They don't have to keep her there if she's causing too much trouble.

I told my kids that perhaps she's dealing with stuff, although they tell me her sister is very nice. I still tell them to stay away from her and if she touches them, hurts them or whatever, to say loudly "LEAVE ME ALONE AND DON'T TOUCH ME"

Other than this little girl - it seems like they are having a good time.

Monday they made slime. 

Tuesday was slip and slide day.

Wednesday is "Wacky Wednesday" 

Thursday they go to the beach.

Friday is tie-dye day! 

So because of MY goof up with the dates, weeks, whatever, the girls are now going to 3 weeks of camp instead of 2. 

Then my dad comes for 10 days, then we have a break of nothing for two weeks before school starts. 

Holy shit summer is going to fly by! 

Vacation's Not Over Yet! At least not for Mom and Dad!

We got home from vacation around Monday at noon. My mom had the house cleaned, food cooked, and animals fed and happy. It was AMAZING to walk into that. (THANKS MOM)

We took the rest of the day Monday to decompress, do a shit ton of laundry, and just you know, get back into life a little bit. 

The girls were spending the night at my mom's house Tuesday and Wednesday nights, one because my mom freaking missed them, and two because Steve and I were going to enjoy a couple of days without kids. 

We borrowed the Jet Ski and got to go on a day date and spend some time on our lake.

Having lived in this town and near the lake for almost 7 years...we were a bit surprised at ourselves for not having been on our lake together before. 

Lake view of The Lakehouse hotel. Super cute boutique hotel. 

We got caught in a storm, but when it passed, it turned into a beautiful afternoon/evening. 

We decided to stop for a soft-serve ice cream at this super cute little mom-and-pop ice cream stand. 

It was a lovely day, spent with the one I love. We were also preparing ourselves for the carnage that is known as Blow Off Day.

Blow Off Day is always the Wednesday after July 4th, for all the restaurant workers and staff who had to work over the holiday weekend. It has just gotten bigger and bigger over the years.

Rich has asked me to go several times, but always the day of (IE: why they call it "blow off" day) but I could never do it. I just didn't think I could pull it off.

But this year? I planned on it.

And we were so excited about it.

And then Rich's boat broke. 

BUT, we ended up making other plans and brought the Jet Ski with us.

People arrived at our friend's house at the Point at like 9am. We were drinking by 10am.

Boats starting lining up pretty much as soon as we got there. 

His name is Blanco

Dope fucking fire pit in his garage. To the left of this pic are 3 Harley's parked on the marble floor.

#mytwoboys

Her name is Nauti

Pic taken from inside the boathouse.

Here we go!

my Pot Leaf pasties are peeking out lol

This was AFTER my two-hour nap on the boat. I woke up alone, came back up to the house and Rich told me his wife was coming. Made my day! Love this girl. 

I'm so grateful that I thought ahead and took the following morning off of work. I have a post-op appointment at 11am and then I logged into work in the afternoon. It was NOT busy so I did a lot of catching up of emails and following up with people. 

Vacation is now officially over. Sigh. It always goes too fast.

The next time I take a few days off is when my DAD COMES TO VISIT! YAY! He'll be here the first two weeks in August. 

Then I'm taking a few days off after Labor Day. Maybe I'll get lucky again and be on a boat.