What a week. The boys were at a cabin with my mom all week, so Nate and I called it our DINK week. For those that don’t know that term, it means, Dual Income No Kids. That was us. For the week.
My mom and the boys had a blast at the cabin. They were right on the lake, the weather was gorgeous, there were plenty of snacks, and much to do. We weren’t sure how long they would last before they got homesick, so this was an experiment. They were supposed to be gone Sunday-Saturday, and they made it until Thursday, which was pretty good. My mom sent regular photos, so I was able to follow along on their adventure. It was very quiet at our house and I didn’t have to do laundry or make any meals or snacks. It was fantastic.
I took one photo during our week- the first night, when Nate said, “we should have puppy chow” and I made a giant bowl and we ate that and drank cocktails. One night we ate a charcuterie board on the couch for dinner! We ordered thai food. We went out to drinks on a patio and dinner with our DINK neighbors Andy, Heather, Aaron and Melissa. It was all very relaxed.
A customer who bought cookies from me made a random post in the neighborhood facebook group, and as a result, I got a TON of new orders. So I was busy baking while the boys were gone.
By Thursday, the boys missed us a lot and so they came home (sporting new snazzy matching shoes). I really enjoyed our child-free week, but I missed them so much and I was happy to have them home. Thursday and Friday were casual days- a trip to the batting cages, lots of playing with toys, video games, scooter-ing, and early bedtimes.
The boys will both be playing lacrosse and so on Saturday, we had to go and get all their gear. Luckily, our next door neighbor Aaron played lacrosse and so he gave the boys a lesson in throwing and catching. They are both very excited for practices to begin.
Sunday has been the day we’ve been looking forward to for weeks now- Augustus’s birthday party AND the Sorenson’s corn boil.
Corn boil was first. I know I’ve said it before, but my neighbors can cook! We had a delicious lunch and hung out (not for as long as I would have liked, but what a great start to the day!).
Finally it was time for the birthday party. Poo Augustus has been SO patient but so so excited. He’s asked every day for 2 weeks if it was his party yet. The theme was Plants vs Zombies, which is a book series and a video game. Gussie and I have been reading all the books this year (there are 25 I think) and everything was based on the books.
We had super fun treat bags that included chocolate brains, “popsmarts” which are a brain flavored treat for the zombies (in our case, poptarts), zombie squish balls, slime, and stickers. I also had a big planter filled with stuffed plants and zombies as prizes. We had a three layer cake covered in zombies and brains.
The kids started with a little project, which was using little planters and they filled them with chocolate pudding and crushed oreos (dirt) and then added their “pea shooter” spoon.
I had 3 theme games- the first was using marshmallow shooters to shoot at targets I had hung all over the yard. The targets were pictures of zombies. Eventually, the kids just shot marshmallows at each other and the yard was filled with mini marshmallows.
Next up, we headed to the front yard to walk the tight rope. Once each kid got to the end, they got a balloon that they had to pop and inside was a clue. Every kid popped a balloon and then they sat together to go over the clues (which were 10 different pictures of random objects).
Once they had their clues, they returned to the back yard to find those 10 items that were hidden around the yard. Once they collected them, they had to follow a diagram I had made to build a sun vacuum. In the books, Zomboss (the leader of the zombies) builds a sun vacuum, but it explodes and their parts go everywhere. The good guys rush around trying to collect all their pieces before Zomboss can rebuild the machine.
I had a very loose design from the book. I attached everything with velcro and little hooks. Everything was color-coded. The kids followed the diagram and assembled it very successfully! Once they did that, we awarded their prizes and then had birthday cake.
After cake, it was time for the run around and be insane portion of the party. The kids were sugared up, excited, and ran wild for about 20 minutes until parents arrived and we handed out treat bags and sent everyone on their way. Success!
The party ended, but, like this entire summer, it wasn’t the end of the fun. Sam and Abby stayed and the 4 kids went right into the pool. Kelly, Silas, Nate and I sat and had drinks, then we ordered pizza and had dinner in the backyard. After dinner and more cake, the kids played a little longer, but then it was inside for showers and early bedtime. They were exhausted!
We have 2 more weeks of summer fun and while I never want summer to end, I am looking forward to a little less nonstop fun and a little more routine. But until then, 2 weeks of summer ahead!