Staying Dry

It's been fun around here in Plankerville these last couple of days. I feel like we spend most of our time trying to stay dry, either dry by avoiding the rain, or by trying to avoid sweating when not exercising.  Neither kind of wet is fun for very long if you ask me.  

Tuesday didn't really go as planned, but we made it fun nonetheless.  My regularly scheduled early morning run fell through at the last minute but since the weather was a bit cooler, I decided to head out with my other running buddies, the kind that ride in the stroller :-).  We decided to multitask and spent our morning on foot, tackling our to-do list for the day.  Our first stop was story time for some fun with our adorable little friends.  The featured stories were...

...I gotta say, Jane Simmons writes some cute stories.  What's not to love about adorable ducks who do things toddlers can relate to?

Our next stop was the library where we had some fun restocking our stash and playing on the computer a bit.  We always manage to have a great time when we're there.

We made one more stop at the Fresh Market for some Tuesday specials...chicken and chocolate are our top picks this month :-)  When we headed back outside, I immediately regretted not keeping an eye on the weather while we were out and about.  We raced the storm and won, (who knew I could run a 7 minute while pushing that beast of a stroller?)  getting to our front door just as it began to pour.  Lesson learned I'd say.  Whoopsies!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful after that...fine by me!  And we all slept well that night...

...love how I caught Mason sleeping with a pillow over his head while Colton snored right next to him.  So funny!

Wednesday we did our usual produce thing and all this deliciousness passed through our house en route to lots of organic-loving families...

...I always love getting my produce drawers restocked for the week.  Yum!  

We also managed so squeeze in a park play date that morning, as well as a killer PiYo workout.  I love how it continues to be challenging even as I get better at it.  I can't believe it took me so long to do consistent flexibility and balance work.  And the fact that I can multitask and work on my strength while I'm at it makes me love it that much more.  It's the perfect compliment to running.  (Shameless plug...if you're interested in trying it out, I just happen to be a Beachbody coach and can help make that happen for you.  I'd love for you to see what I've been raving about!)

We finished up our Wednesday with a fun Story Time...

...followed by some luscious wine in the courtyard while listening to the accordion tunes.   We finally got a day with no rain...just lots of lovely summer heat.  Is it fall yet??

Today got started on the right foot with an excellent 7 mile run with my non-stroller running buddy.  Afterwards, we had big plans to finally hit up one of the summer movies that everyone raves about.  I was having such a hard time finding ones that were rated G and showing on days when we were available.  We finally succeeded today...

...Rio 2 completely captivated the boys, and me :-), and we had a fantastic morning beating the summer heat.  We made sure to pop in Whole Foods while we were down there...who can resist??  I wonder what the checkout worker thought of me as she rung up my purchase of wine, almond milk, eggs, coffee, nuts, chocolate and olives...obvious staples for a mom of two 3 year olds, right?!

We headed home for lunch and just beat the storms again.  We've been doing the books and lunch thing lately around here.   After reading a story that had a monster in it, we got a little carried away pretending we were a three-headed monster...

...the friendly kind, of course :-)  Selfies always lead to more selfies in this house when the boys are involved.  As a result,  I've got some two-headed monster pictures to share with you as well...

...Happy Thursday!!!

Summertime Fun

It's funny...I thought this summer was going to be nice and relaxing, you know, laid back like summers used to be...it's not happening around here though.  Guess that's the way things go when you have two busy three year old boys.  What our summer has lacked in down time, it's more than made up for in adventure.  Last week was no exception.  

After a few trips to the chiropractor, lots of PiYo and stretching, and listening to my body, I'm back to my regular, regular for summer that is, running routine.  Woohoo!  That makes me one happy mama!  We always seem to find something exciting on our stroller adventures...

...this was the highlight of one of our very hot afternoon runs last week.  Fun stuff!  I welcomed the break to stop and watch it in action :-)

We've been knee deep in delicious summer fruit this season thanks to Annie's Organic Buying Club...

...oh pluots, how I've missed you.  We can't wait for more sweet cherries tomorrow too.  Yum!!!

On produce day, I usually play around in the kitchen too since I'm stuck there all afternoon.  Last week's experiment turned out to be the best gluten free cookies I've made so far...

...this recipe is a winner!  I subbed coconut oil for the butter and added maple syrup instead of molassas since that's what I had on hand.  I'm trying it with chocolate chips next time.  They are three year old approved too which is a definite plus in my book.  

Despite the heat, we made time for some outdoor fun, making sure to do it earlier in the day.  Last week we had fun at the bouncy bridge park.  It had been a while since we'd been there...

When we got too hot there, we cooled off with some dollar bowling...

...we were a little distracted by the cartoons at the end of the lane...

...oh well.  $2 well spent in my opinion :-)

Our air-conditioned indoor fun has included lots of blocks lately...

...and multiple trips to the library as well.  Check out the new computer game we found that taught us about the human body...

...gotta love the loud 3 year old comments coming from learning about organs...haha!

Of course we always stock up on books when we're there too...

...you better believe we read this entire stack over lunch as soon as we got home.  Love that they love books as much as I do.

Of course no summer week is complete without a trip to the water park.  Last week's discovery...

...learning how to splash the person that's trying to squirt you by putting your hand on the squirter :-)  Funny stuff!

On Saturday, we had some fun building a taco truck at Lowes...

...they were pretty proud of their work and figured their fish bob would enjoy looking at their handiwork too...

...obviously, we was impressed but wanted to make sure there were no fish tacos being made on that truck ;-)

Sunday was the perfect mellow ending to our weekend.  We took a ride to the Green Market and got some honey sticks and a dragonfruit...

...spent lots of time outside, climbing trees...

...jumping on the trampoline...

...feeding the ducks...

...getting work done...

...swimming, and relaxing...

There were no complaints about our evening entertainment...

...what's not to love about a sunset like that and entertaining music like this...

...it was the perfect ending to a perfect family day.  Hope your week was fantastic as well. 

I Like Our New Style

This was our first full week with our new laid-back attitude and I have to say, I like I our new style.

Monday, the boys made an adorable craft with their playgroup while I tackled some back-to-reality chores...

We had a very chilly, but very fun story time on Tuesday.  The featured stories were...

...these became favorites of my boys over the holidays.  We had a leisurely play date with friends afterwards.  It was LOVELY!

On Wednesday, we squeezed in an early morning trip to the park and had the place to ourselves...

...the first time on the tire swing was a huge hit!

We also had some delicious produce back in our lives on Wednesday from Annie's Organic Buying Club.  What a gift that little gig is to our family!  Thanks to them, we eat fresh, organic, delicious meals like this daily...

...talk about love in a bowl.  YUM!!

Thursday gave us some time to play at home...

...before heading to music class...

...bouncing balls on the drums was incredibly fun for the boys.  Balls AND drums...what's not to love??

Friday was our homebody day.  We enjoyed some winter crafts like these penguins...

...and some marshmallow snowmen... 

...two thumbs up for entertaining, delicious fun!!

We also squeezed in another trip to the park and got to check out a train along the way...

...another added bonus to our week.

I've continued my love-hate relationship with Tony Horton and his P90X-3 workouts.  I especially love to hate the challenge workouts...

...one day I'll master more than one pull-up.  6 sets of 13 pushups isn't too shabby though...no knees either.  Baby steps!

Saturday I worked with a catering company at a beautiful shower that included this lovely cake...

...pressure's on for planning Abigail's shower.  I gotta tackle that ASAP!

Since the boys decided they weren't interested in a nap, we headed to Starbucks instead...

...I love that they love that place as much as I do.  

Now we're at the end of the weekend.  Some sleepy boys kept us from getting to church this morning so we went for a run that ended at the park again instead...

...what can I say, we love the park.  I'll catch church online once it's posted.  Gotta love that!!

The beautiful day continued with lunch and ice cream with some of our favorite people including the boys adopted "big sister" ... 

...not a bad way to spend a Sunday at all.  Time to enjoy a little more quiet before the boys wake up and we get ready for another fun-filled week to come.  Life is good!