Catching Up

How this is the last week of summer is TOTALLY beyond me - but a tiny little part of me is ready for the fall and the routine that it brings.

These last few weeks, we've packed in A TON. I'm going to bounce around from good, bad, interesting, and boring, but when Leo starts back at school, I am really hoping to get into a more routine posting mode. I've said this at least 18 times in the last year, so who knows if it'll stick, but that's the goal.

To pick up from the last catch up sesh here:

::: We decided to scrap potty training for a bit. It was not progressing, I don't feel like Leo was emotionally ready, and I put way too much pressure on him to have it "mastered" before school, and that was just silly on my part. We will try and again when HE is ready. 

::: Speaking of back to school, last week the elementary schools in our neighborhood started back up. For the last 12 years, our neighborhood has hosted a driveway breakfast party for all of the kids in the hood. Tons of moms and kids showed up, had breakfast, took pictures, and then all took the bus together. It was nearly the cutest thing I've ever seen. 

 

::: We also celebrated Joel's 31st birthday! On the day of his actual birthday, we hit up the last beach concert of the season and had tons of snacks, cookie cakes, beer and just enjoyed the perfect evening. 

 

 

 

 

::: We leave for Steamboat tomorrow and I wanted some kind of sneaker-y shoe that I could wear with jeans. I found these Dr Scholls shoes at Tj.maxx and they were exactly what I was envisioning for about half the price. They're crazy comfortable and I think I will get a ton of use out of them this fall.

 ::: My good friend Sara came to CL for the day with her little baby Emma. She is on maternity leave for the next few months so we had a fun day just hanging together - we literally folded my laundry while working our way through a bottle of champagne ;) 

 

20 minutes after this picture was taken, Emma started to cry. Sara thought that she must have dropped her pacifier on the ground during our walk.....but no - sweet and silent Drew had ripped it from her hands and was happily sucking on it! It was too funny. 

 

:::  I inherited some of my Grandma's furniture - and this table is the most recent addition. The top needs to be refinished, and I need to find a bench for it - but I love having it at home with me now. 

 

 ::: We had a back-to-school BBQ at our friends house which was so much fun. All of our kids are the same age, and just watching them play together is beyond heartwarming. 

 

All of August, a few of us have been having happy hour play dates on Thursday which has been really, really fun for everyone. 

::: At least once a week, a group of friends and our kids have been walking around Crystal Lake. I think it's about 4 miles....so it takes us about 90 minutes to do it - but it has been SO fun. People think we're hilarious, literally beep and wave at us, but it's literally the only way us mom's get to talk because the kids are all strapped in! 

After a walk last week, we went to our friends mom's house and Leo got to catch his first ever fish!! 

 

and he was scared out of his mind when it came flapping out! hahaha

 

::: My mom helped to host a baby shower for a family friend over this past weekend - which kept me out of the house all day on Saturday. The shower was beautiful, the mom-to-be looked spectacular, and it was really relaxing to just sit with friends outside enjoying the day.