What's Up Wednesday

I decided that taking part in another "What's Up Wednesday" would be a great way to catch up on all the posting I've fallen behind on in the last month...I love a good shortcut! Here we go!

1.  What we're eating this week....
Nothing worth posting!  We'll have some of the usual...pasta/salad, baked chicken, tacos....last night we ventured out with some friends to Max & Erma's (turns out they have a kids eat free night every Tuesday!) which was delicious.  There were 3 adults and 7 kids, ranging from ages 4-7 and I have to say, the kids were all angels!  It was a nice night out for the 3 mamas.  The kids were so good, we splurged on some fresh baked chocolate chip cookies for everyone. This little tag speaks the truth:

2.  What I'm reminiscing about...
The beach!  As I've mentioned before, we are doing a vacation this year, but we're changing it up and going to a lakehouse in Montana, so no usual beach trip with the besties for us.  I've been thinking back to last year with these water-loving kiddos:

 

 

3. What I'm loving....
How much fun these kiddos have been having at their camps this summer!  Liam has stayed at his regular daycare/preschool, but they switch over to an informal summer camp format for June-August. He's been loving all of the sprinklers and weekly themes, and he's pretty much a hot, sweaty, tired mess when I pick him up everyday.

Jake goes to camp at our church, and it's an awesome program that has swimming twice per week and a field trip each week.  So far this summer, they've gone to the movies, a hiking trail, the science center, a Just Ducky tour, and the aviary!  He's there with a few of his friends from preschool days and his baseball team, so he's having a blast.  They do a "star camper" award each week for a kid who demonstrates the values they talk about at camp (mostly respecting the rules of camp and being kind to other campers and counselors)...Jake won the award earlier this month!

4.  What we've been up to...
The usual summer stuff, really! Riding bikes, the boys have been in the treehouse a lot, playing with neighbors, going swimming....now that it's not raining 6 out of 7 days a week, we've been out a lot more! This past weekend was busy, I went to a baby shower for a family friend (where I got to hog my nephew, Luke, again!)

 

And on Sunday, the boys had been invited to a birthday party at a friend's house with a pool....these two didn't get out of the pool for a solid 3.5 hours.  I take that back, Liam got out to have a piece of cake (of course) but that's it!  They were WIPED that night.

 

5.  What I'm dreading....
Right in this exact moment, I'm dreading 11:30am today, when I have to go to the dermatologist for my yearly check up.  I know it's a necessary evil, and after having a number of suspicious spots removed in recent years,  I will preach to anyone who will listen that they should go get skin checks...but that doesn't mean it's a fun thing!  But, it will be over with by the end of the day, and hopefully I'll be off the hook for another year.

Consider this your friendly PSA that if you haven't had your skin checked this year, call now to make your appointment!! 

6.  What I'm working on....
Vacation 2016.  I haven't really been working on it as much as just contemplating options.  I know, we haven't even taken our vacation this year!  But of course, I'm already thinking of next year....we've been tossing some ideas around....back to the beach as we usually do?  Disney cruise?  Disney world again? There's so much we want to do and see, and we feel like the kids are only little once so we want to do the fun kid things with them while they're young enough to appreciate it...if only we had unlimited money and vacation time!  


7.  What I'm excited about....
Booties!!  No, no, get your mind out of the gutter.  Not that.  I'm talking these kind of booties:

BP. 'Trott" - Nordstrom 

Ivanka Trump "Taren" - Nordstrom

I've been eying up those two from Nordstrom (thanks, Pinterest Told Me To!), but I hope to be able to hit Marshalls before fully committing to buying the boots at full price.  Any other cute shoe suggestions?  Preference between the two I posted?  Leave them in the comments!

8. What I'm watching/reading...
I'm just finishing up What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (love it!) and up next is Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand.

 

We've been watching Big Brother, So You Think You Can Dance, and of course, I just finished watching The Bachelorette! (and definitely looking forward to the trainwreck that is Bachelor in Paradise)

9. What I'm listening to....
I've been throwing it back when I turn on Spotify and listening to Dave Matthews and Counting Crows a lot (or the 90's hip hop/rap station if the kids aren't around...shhh don't tell them!)

10. What I'm wearing....
Over the past week, anything that keeps me cool!  It has been HOT here, into the 90s nearly everyday.  The flip side to this horrendous outside temperature is that while the number on the thermometer continues to climb outside, the thermostat temp in my office continues to drop.  So, basically this....

11. What I'm looking forward to next month....
VACATION!!!! :)  I'm sure that I will find myself saying something along these lines when we get back, but we are really looking forward to going!

12. What else is new...
We made an effort this summer to continue going to church whenever we can, even though there's no Sunday School.  They do offer a children's church program during the regular service so we've been able to go a few times over the past 2 months or so.  We'll register the kids for Sunday School again in the fall....Liam loves going and gets excited every Sunday....Jake seems to dislike it slightly less at this point :)  I think his main complaint is that they all sing songs for the first 10 minutes or so, and he REALLY dislikes that portion of it. Oh, and the fact that I won't let him wear athletic shorts or sweatpants. Mean mommy!

sun in their eyes, but looking handsome (and coordinated) on our way to church last sunday!

 13.  What I'll miss most about summer...
Not going to lie here, I love a lot of stuff about summer and I'll miss it for sure, but what I'll miss most is the lack of nightly homework!!  There is something to be said for simply coming home from work and getting to hang out with the kids, instead of having to factor in homework time :(  But, we'll get into the groove eventually....

What I'm Reading Wednesday

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty 

This is the 3rd book from author Liane Moriarty (The Husband's Secret and Big Little Lies) and I've really enjoyed all of the....I just started this one, but I have high hopes!






 *This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase from one of the links above, I'll receive a small monetary compensation.

What I'm Reading Wednesday: Nantucket Sisters by Nancy Thayer

After finishing up Elin Hilderbrant's Nantucket Nights, I'm continuing my obsession with reading books set on beaches (and apparently, Nantucket specifically) by reading Nantucket Sisters by Nancy Thayer.

What's on your summer reading list?

Summer Bucket List/Goals/Hopes

image courtesy of  iloveitallwithmonikawright.com

Ahhh.....summer.  We aren't quite in that season yet, but it's close enough that I'm starting to think about how to make the most of it.  I'm sure everyone feels like this, but sometimes it's frustrating that summer gets filled up with so many obligations and chores that we run short on time for the fun stuff.  I thought maybe writing it all out would be helpful this year.  Here we go!!

1.  Go to Kennywood.  

This is non-negotiable.  It's shameful that my kids are 'burghers and have never been to this classic park!  The rides, the food, the atmosphere (the, um...people watching.  Ahem.) it's all so great and I have no idea why we haven't made this a priority yet.  We went to Idlewild for the first time 2 years ago and they absolutely loved it, so I feel like they're definitely ready to "graduate" to Kennywood.  It should be slightly easier this year, too...while Liam still needs a nap most of the time, he's a bit more flexible having to go without it....which means that we could potentially stay at the park into the evening, which is my absolute favorite time to be there.

2.  Finish the treehouse.

It's coming along quite nicely, and I'm sure Brian will be working on it when he can over the upcoming weekend.  The kids are so excited to use it, and I'm so excited to see the look on their faces when it's finally complete.  They're really hoping for a sleepover out there in the summer, so we'll see how that goes!

3.  Enjoy our space with friends more.

This isn't exactly something to work towards, but I'd just love to have people over more often.  Nothing formal, even if it's just last minute, ordering pizza and letting the kids run around.  Again, with Liam being more flexible with his sleep schedule (lately he's actually been doing that crazy thing where, if we let him stay up later, he actually sleeps in later the next day....BLISS!!!) it makes it easier to do things in the evening. Up until recently, if we let him stay up later, he would somehow manage to wake up even earlier than usual the next morning--I'm talking like 5am!  Needless to say, he was a bear the next morning, so it was not fun to let him stay up late!  Do you know that my kids have never caught lightning bugs?  That must be remedied. Nothing says summer like good friends having some drinks and enjoying the night on the patio!!  (it would also give me an excuse to try some of the delicious looking drink recipes I've been pinning lately!)

4.  Summer Reading

This goes for both me and the kiddos.  Our local library has a summer reading program, so I definitely want to get both of the kids signed up for that. I'll be the first to admit that last year we didn't do a great job of making sure he was consistently reading over the summer, so I want to do better this year.  Maybe he'll want to read in his treehouse once that's done? :)  Here are some books on my summer wish list (I'm a sucker for anything that relates to the beach May-August):

5.  Go to a drive in movie

This one may be ambitious, considering the fact that I have trouble staying awake through one movie in my own house, but we'll see.  There are a few cute kids movies coming out over the next few months, so maybe we can make a night of it and try to see at least one under the stars!  The Minions and Inside Out are definitely on our must-see list:

6.  Pirates Game
 I still haven't figured out if Liam is ready to sit through a full game yet (I'm not, but I guess I could suck it up for the sake of the family), so if not all of us, then Brian and Jake will definitely go to at least a game or two over the summer.  They always have such a great time there!

June 2014

 7.  Water Stairs on the North Shore 
Again, another very Pittsburgh thing that my kids haven't experienced. The water steps are part of the North Shore Riverfront Park, the area near Heinz Field and PNC Park. They loved the fountain at Point Park when the giant ducky was here a few years ago, so I'd love to head back there again, too.

Water Steps - North Shore Riverfront Park

Point State Park - October 2013

8.  Go to the Blue Slide Park
Again, another Pittsburgh thing we've not yet done!  The Blue Slide Park is part of Frick Park (which we've been to before, we just never managed to hit up this particular part of it); most of the playground is just your standard playground equipment, but then...there's this:

image courtesy of playpittsburgh.com

image courtesy of playpittsburgh.com

It doesn't look like much and it requires a piece of cardboard, but everyone who has taken their kids there has raved about it. All images above courtesy of playpittsburgh.com and a full review of the Blue Slide Park (and MANY other Pittsburgh parks and playgrounds!) can be found here: http://playpittsburgh.com/playgrounds/#.VVYCGvCVEYU


What am I missing?  What's on your summer bucket list?

What I'm Reading Wednesday

Currently reading: Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand

*I love, love, love reading this author's books in the summer...I binge a few every summer, then go on a hiatus during every other season of the year.  They're pretty much all set on a beach in New England somewhere, and there's something about reading about quaint beach houses and towns in the warmer months that makes my heart happy.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

If you haven't read this book yet, do yourself a favor and GO READ IT NOW!!  I'm about 3/4 of the way through, and I'm counting down the minutes until my lunch break when I can shut my door and read some more.

What are you currently reading? 

2014 Reading Recap

image courtesy of thegirlwithgreatexpectations.wordpress.com

 Here is the full list of books that I read in 2014:

• "The Rosie Project" (Graeme Simsion)
• "If I Stay" (Gayle Forman)
• "Safe With Me" (Amy Hatvany)
• "Goldfinch" (Donna Tartt)
• "We Were Liars" (E. Lockhart)
• "The Tao of Martha" (Jen Lancaster)
• "The Vacationers" (Emma Straub)
• "The Island" (Elin Hilderbrandt)
• "I Didn't Come Here to Make Friends" (Courtney Robertson)
• "The Honest Toddler" (Bunmi Laditan)
• "Summerland" (Elin Hilderbrandt)
• "Happily Ever After" (Trista Sutter)
• "Me Before You" (JoJo Moyes)
• "Allegiant" (Veronica Roth)
• "Insurgent" (Veronica Roth)
• "Divergent" (Veronica Roth)
• "Sisterland" (Curtis Sittenfeld)
• "The Storyteller" (Jodi Picoult)
• "The Husband's Secret" (Liane Moriarty)
• "The Interestings" (Meg Wolitzer)
• "And the Mountains Echoed " (Khaled Hasseini)
• "The Girl You Left Behind" (JoJo Moyes)
• "Emily and Einstein" (Linda Francis Lee)

 I would say of the ones listed, my favorites were:

 

Don't laugh at my last pick, it was one of the most entertaining reads of the year for me!! :)