5 on a Friday: Summer Goals 26/52

 1. When I feed the kids garbage at the pool, do it intentionally. This means I should pack fruits and veggies to eat a side dish (or at least order the veggie tray from the golf course restaurant) and account for these convenience nights when I grocery shop.

2. Make a to-do list every single day. If possible start this list the night before. This will undoubtedly help me get places on time and with less stress and also know what day of the week it is every single day- which is something most adults probably just do.

3. Read my backlog of Book of the Month books. IT IS A BIG BACK LOG, you guys.

4. Buy Harry back-to-school stuff gradually, so we are not scrambling all at once when it is time for him to move into the dorms. He already has a fridge and a bedding set, so we have started at least?!?!

5. Stay on top of pedicures/massages/acupuncture/hair appointments— all of these are easy to neglect when things get rushed, but I feel better when I do all of them regularly.

Can’t wait to check in with myself and see if I met these— pretty modest— goals. Late August, perhaps?

Here’s a bonus goal: wear a different dress each of the 27 days I teach my summer class. Here’s day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Do you have any summer goals?

Out of sync

 I am just so READY to get into our summer rhythm, you guys!!

 The first week of break was wonky because Dorothy had a 5-day dance camp at a studio downtown, and we were still getting our diving carpool set up for Coop, so that was off kilter. 

Then the second week saw us AT THE BEEEEAAAAACH, so we missed the first real week of summer dace. 

This week is a mess because, even though I have started teaching my in-person class, dance is out of order because NATIONALS!! Is this week/weekend. AND ALSO the diving schedule is weird because national qualifiers are also this week/weekend.

Next week, dance is normal— sort of— because the 4th of July holiday throws things off a teeny bit. Same with dive. And I am teaching. But Ben is working at home slightly different days because of the holiday.

FINALLY THOUGH the week of July 8th is NORMAL. My class meets all 5 days. Ben does his usual schedule. Dance is on its regular summer schedule, as is dive. AND! Minnie starts camp at her preschool, which is going to be YUGE because right now, the older kids are in charge of her a few mornings a week while I teach.

We have 4 weeks of this schedule before my class and preschool camp and diving and swim lessons are done. Then 2 more weeks of dance only. Then I have welcome week in advance of the fall semester starting. And then! Harry moves into his dorm, and my cousin gets married (Minnie is making her flower girl debut). THEN SCHOOOOOOL.

I know it is going to fly by, especially when we hit our 7/8-8/2 sweet spot and when August slows down (before it speeds very much up), but right now? SUMMER IS KIND OF DAUNTING.

ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU CONSIDER that Coop might do a hockey camp over a weekend and might have a dive meet cross the country and is STILL on 2 baseball teams, even though his regular season is over. **cue exploding head**

I just keep thinking rhythm rhythm rhythm I need to get into a rhythm, but even this out-of-sync epoch is a rhythm, I guess. 

On Instagram, I am counting down the 82 days of summer break with a picture of the day (or a carousel of pictures some days) and a bunch of sappy hashtags because sometimes performing motherhood makes me a better mom, you know? Join me!! For us, today is 17/82.

We Heart Sea Pines

 We had a delightful Hilton Head trip. There were jellyfish and sting rays and also a rip tide. But still! It was wonderful.

Ben did some work, and I adored solo parenting from the beach. He also took the big boys to Savannah, and I took the youngest three back to the beach one day.

Coop likely has a future in civil engineering given how amaze balls his sand castles were (he stayed through the tide coming in every afternoon to see how many waves the could withstand).

No one got sunburned. We ate delightfully terrible food. Ben and I went to Salty Dog sans kids every night. We also got to take a lovely beach walk in the mornings. It was a dream.

I always curse my fear of flying midway through a driving trip. And also, we need 3 suites at Embassy these days, so a drive is not exactly a cost savings, especially because we eat a lot you guys. But still— it’s a journey, to say the least. 

Journey pics:

(Yes we did spend HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS at Bucc-ees. And Ben was the most spendy, even though he started the whole stop out by saying we only had 10 minutes and setting a timer. And then suddenly he was CHANGING HIS SHIRT IN THE PARKING LOT. He also bought me and Minne matching 4th of July t’s. Jack got a button down (LOL), and Dorothy got Jibbitz for her Crocs AND jewelry. It was ludicrous.)

Our place was right on the beach and had a lovely pool. We went to the Sea Pines beach club every day, hit all of our favorite restaurants and shops and playgrounds. **chef’s kiss**

We got dressed up for dinner, ate Stu’s on the beach. I said fuck it and wore bikinis on this year’s body— very one had giant hair. We loved it!

One night we were all hungry and had to wait 90 minutes for a table, and Minnie was kind of losing it by the time we sat down and then! I found a random roll of washi tape in my purse, and she was happy all night. 3 year-olds are SO WEIRD.

Sea Pines is so great- it’s hard for us to leave until we have a solid plan to come back— that’s how much we love it. Can’t wait to see it again soon.