Another Weekend Already...Woohoo!

We kicked off our weekend a bit early once again last weekend by getting things started on Friday. And suddenly it's already Thursday again and I'm just sitting down to computer...signs of all the fun we've been having...

Like movies and lollipops...

...beautiful long runs in the mornings...

...open gym at YMCA Sportsworld thanks to the Family Place...

...Mason's getting his forward roll now too...

...adventures at Target (can you tell we can't wait for Christmas??) ...

...fireplace s'mores with the A?C on...

...a little home fitness with Mommy...

...building fun at Lowes...

...a birthday party where we devoured our cupcakes like puppies... 

...and wore ourselves out on the bounce house...

We also tested out some experiments with the new science kits we built...

...watched church from the comfort of our own home in our pajamas (gotta love TC3)...

....added a few things to our Christmas wish lists, such as disco balls and remote control cars...

...took a rest from shopping in some adorableb each chairs... 

...and discovered a newfound love of helping Mommy clean... 

....gonna milk this for all it's worth while I can...

...they even dust base boards for lollipops or stickers on their charts :-).  Sorry folks, they're not for hire!

We also made a visit to our favorite ducks and turtles...

...check out how gorgeous the sunset was that night...

...I'm finally not complaining about the weather any more :-).

We also made sure to celebrate Veteran's Day with a visit to the parade... 

...our favorite was the old fashioned fire truck and the lollipops we caught, of course... 

We love our Veterans, especially the one we call Dad :-).

I had some time to get a little crafty with the boys...

...and we discovered the joy that is Candy Land as well... 

...I'm thinking we're ready for some other fun ones like Cootie and Don't Break the Ice too.  

With two extremely busy boys, our days are filled with things that make me want to pull my hair out (I try to focus on the positive here) and thing that make me giggle.  This was one of my favorite giggle moments this week...

...another perk of being a twin is having enough matching shoes for your hands AND your feet.  

I've also discovered a newfound love of napping with my boys...

...in my quest to hang onto naptime as long as possible, the only way I can get them to lay down long enough to fall asleep in the afternoons is to lay down with them.  Needless to say, most days I'm pretty sure I fall asleep before them.  They always fall asleep too :-)  I forgot how much I love a good power nap.  

Time to take advantage of the rest of my sacred quiet time while it lasts.  Happy Weekend...remember, we start early around here :-).

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Fall

 It's beginning to feel a lot more like fall around here...at least in the mornings and evenings.  It's a good enough improvement for me.  It's fun to see so many people out and about again now that the temps are becoming bearable again.  We were cooped up way too long this summer!  

Cooler temps mean much more outdoor adventurizing for us.  Check out these fun turtles we've been visiting this week...

...I'm still trying to figure out what kind of turtle the one in the water is.  Anyone know?

We've made several trips to the park too but have also been loving our back yard.  I discovered the boys' secret stash of baby coconuts in their castle yesterday...

...it's good to know they're prepared to defend their castle, right?  While wearing my pink flip flops of course...

...fitting for breast cancer awareness month though.  Real men wear pink!

We've also been huge fans of all the halloween decorations people are putting up.  So far the boys' favorite is this cat...

...it's huge and has a head that rotates back and forth.  We have to stop and watch it every time we run by it.  Never gets old for the boys :-).  

Speaking of Halloween, we've been making some fun stuff around here for the holiday too.  We had a return of the toilet paper tube frankenstein...

...and we made a couple of cool haunted houses at Lowes today too...

Cooler weather means even more enjoyable evening story times on Wednesday nights.  This week's featured stories were... 

...it's so nice to want to linger outside afterwards instead of making a mad dash for the AC.  

We even hit up Blue Door a second time on Thursday night for a little happy hour before the homecoming parade which was a HUGE hit with the boys... 

...pretty girls, fancy cars, loud bands with drum corps, policemen...what's not to love??

And speaking of things to love, what's not to love about dancing Christmas toys in the stores already... 

...I'm not gonna lie, I'm getting excited myself for the holiday.  It is the most wonderful time of the year after all.  Happy Saturday!

Still Waiting on that Fall Weather...

So it's officially fall but for those of us in South Florida, other than the pumpkin spice lattes that are available at the coffee shops, I feel like the season hasn't arrived yet.  The thermometer is still edging close 90 during midday at our house and the AC is still running most of the day.  I'm quite certain I've complained about this time of year in the sunshine state every year I've lived here and this year is no exception.  I'll be honest, I'm jealous of all of you northerners who get to wear sweaters and boots these days, or even just jeans instead of shorts being a necessity, and I'm especially jealous of your changing leaves and open windows.  Give me a couple of months though and I'll be one happy mama again.  I sure do love winter in these parts :-)  In the meantime, I'll suffer through the heat for a little longer and maybe crank the AC so I can sip a hot latte and pretend I'm somewhere cooler for a bit :-) 

On the flip-side, this part of living in Florida isn't too shabby...

...you'll never find this mama complaining about play-dates at the beach.  This is most definitely going to become a regular thing once the cooler temps are here.  Breezy days at the beach are the best if you ask me.

In other news, Mickey and I kicked off my second Whole30 (his first) this week.  I'm relaxing the rules just a bit for myself and allowing myself the occasional single glass of red wine.  I'm remaining strict (so far at least) about the rest.  Here's to hoping a little blog accountability keeps me on the straight and narrow.  Meals these days has been including tons of veggies, plenty of healthy fats, and a good dose of protein too...

...the thing I love about this plan is how it includes only real, whole foods and I never feel like I'm starving myself.  I'm on day 5 and haven't made it over the cravings hump yet but am definitely settling into the routine and feeling good about it.

We had a couple of fun story times this week.  Tuesday morning's group enjoyed stories about embracing our unique qualities and being a good friend...

...and Wednesday evening's group got to snuggle up with some cozy books about animals in those lovely, colder parts of our planet...

Thursday we got some great news from the Orthopedic doctor.  Mason's broken clavicle is healing perfectly and he's able to go back to being a "boy" which for him means riding his bike again...

  

...and jumping on the trampoline.  We're still waiting for the nighttime rain to quit so we can make it to a dry park one early morning in the near future.  You know us, we like the place all to ourselves and not too hot yet.

The return of all that energetic play must be wearing Mason out again because he's still napping these days while this guy refuses and insists on snacking instead...

...he even tells me he doesn't need a bowl cause he has two hands.  Of course!  What was I thinking???

Our weekend kicked off with an incredibly hot and sweaty stroller run...

...I sure do love my running buddies, but the extra weight of the stroller made me feel extra sluggish this morning.  Gotta do it more often so it doesn't tire me out so quickly.  Did I mention some cooler temps might help too??  ha!

The boys kicked off their fun at Lowes today building these lovely firetrucks...

I'll be honest.  There are no photos of the building process because this one was way harder than it looks.  I think I had to help the boys take it apart 3 times...times two trucks.  I'll blame my inability to follow directions on the excitement of everything else going around there while we were building.  

It was really a lot of fun there with all the vehicles they had brought in...

...we even got to test out the simulator for the race car.  I had to help out since it was designed for people larger than 3 feet tall and quickly discovered I'd never make it as a race car driver with my cautious driving skills.  Oh well!  Better safe than sorry...even in a simulator.  HAHA!

The firetruck was huge hit too...

We celebrated the completion of that big morning with some treats.  Giant lollipops for the boys...

...and a newly discovered favorite larabar for me...

...time to stock up on these delicious bars the next time they're on sale.  They are incredibly good and satisfying with only 3 ingredients...dates, almonds, and dried cherries.  Maybe I'll even try my hand at making my own.  

The rest of our day included some other errands along with some necessary entertainment for the boys in the form of Christmas wish-list making...

...and silly hat wearing :-).  It's not even October and the Thanksgiving stuff is out at Target.  Good grief!!

...makes me wish for cooler temps even more.  Come on, fall!!

Operation wear everyone out was successful, it seems, only for me.  The boys are still chock-ful of energy and I'm ready to curl up on the couch.  Time to help them burn off some energy :-)  Peace out!