Apparently I am only updating this every 2 weeks now. After our covid week of nonstop together time/work full time/parent full time, I was very happy for the boys to head back to school! I LOVE a routine. I think everyone was happier being back to normal. We had one nice day so everyone in the neighborhood headed outside after work for a winter happy hour. We are all ready for the weather to warm up! We had swim lessons, Xander had after school enrichment (he’s taking a drawing class right now).
Last Friday, Christine and I hopped in the car and road tripped our way to Dubuque for Mom’s Gone Wild Weekend! Abby is having a baby and I was excited to go to her shower and celebrate! Originally, I was just going to get up early and spend Saturday night in Dubuque, but I am super happy I invited Christine as my plus one, and we made a weekend of it. I didn’t take nearly enough photos- we stayed in an air b&b with Meghan and Shayla. The main floor layout was exactly the same as both my old house and new house (what can I say, I’m consistent!) and so cute. We all had our own rooms and it was very cute! Christine and I chatted the entire 4.5 hour drive down, we out to dinner, visited Abby’s house, and then sat quietly drinking tea on Friday night. Saturday we got up and headed to Galena, a little town nearby for the most amazing pastries I’ve ever had followed by several hours of shopping in the cutest stores of all time. We went to the shower (I’d brought some macs) which was WONDERFUL. Abby and Michael started a BBQ business this summer and they catered it. Incredible food! I was so happy to be able to be there to celebrate their future baby. It was fun to hang out with all my favorite ladies! After the shower, Christine, Shayla and I went out to a nice dinner and then all snuggled in warm blankets on the couches, drinking hot tea and relaxing. We all love our children dearly, but also all LOVED a quiet night at home.
While I was having fun in Iowa, Nate and the boys had a great weekend (although not a lot of photos!). Xander had the day off from school on Friday and he and Nate went to an indoor golf simulator and out to lunch. On Saturday, Nate, the boys and my mom went to a dinosaur exhibit at the convention center. We all had a busy weekend!
This week was another routine week- Nate and I busy working, the boys at school. Xander lost another tooth! I made Valentine themed lunches for Xander this week. I also went to 6 different Dollar Trees on the ultimate wild goose chase for boxes. Dollar Tree has 3 packs of boxes that PERFECTLY fit a dozen macarons. I buy them all the time. Except that I was out. And the boxes were out of stock EVERYWHERE. I nearly cried when I finally found some.
On Friday night, Christine and I went out to dinner at Joan’s in the Park. It was a 4 course tasting menu and it was UNBELIEVABLE! I nearly licked the plate several times.
On Saturday, the boys went to my mom’s house- they swam, went to McDonald’s and played nonstop. While they were gone, Nate and I went out for a romantic sushi lunch. Saturday night, we went over to our neighbor’s house for pizza and hanging out. The kids played, decorated cookies and ran around like crazy people. It was so normal and also so wonderful. Covid has prevented this for so long, I was so happy we could just hang out inside someone else’s house.
It is the week before Valentine’s Day and I was a cookie factory- full time job+full time cookie baker was not great. I was not feeling joyful by the end. 35 dozen cookies later, I never want to see another macaron again…
Today was Monster Jam! I bought these tickets 6 months ago. For weeks, I have been begging the universe to keep up all healthy for this day. Augustus is OBSESSED with monster trucks. He asks about Monster Jam all the time. This event happens once a year (except last year- covid). We had front row seats (actually row 9, because they block off the first 8 rows for safety). The boys ate all the snacks. We were actually dirty by the end of it. Before kids, if you’d told me I was going to be into monster trucks, I would have rolled my eyes. But actually, it’s pretty cool. And Gussie was so happy. A magical day!
