Day 57 stocking up and jamming out

Day 56 Quality time

Today I got a special treat. I got to hang out with my Brookie. We went shopping. We got lunch.  We talked and laughed and I loved every minute of it. I just love hanging out with this beautiful girl! 

In the afternoon, the younger kids and I had a little bit of time to kill before Hailey's dance class, so we looked for a park to visit. We ended up finding a state forest nearby and went exploring for a little while. 

The weather was cool and comfortable. There was no one around.  We drove through mud puddles. The kids ran and explored. I got to use an outhouse.  It was fun! 

 We even found a heart made of pine needles that someone else had left us and everyone loved it. ❤️

These cute shirts say it best, my kids are gonna be my friends, forever. 

Day 55 Pancakes and Pardi

Luckily, I have a fun daughter who taught me about international pancake day! Brooke picked up Hailey from school and I picked up Cameron and we met at IHOP for free pancakes!

We were do excited to eat pancakes,I forgot to get a picture of us. Boo. But I got a picture of how much we enjoyed the pancakes!

After Brooke went to work, the kids and I met John at Baytowne for a Mardi Gras celebration. While we were waiting for it to start, we looked up a little history about Mardi Gras.... 

 Mardi Gras is just French for Fat Tuesday.  I literally had no idea! It's called Fat Tuesday because it's the day before Ash Wednesday when people give things up for Lent! They get all fat on rich foods and party a whole bunch, because starting on Ash Wednesday they can't do those things for a month until Easter. . . .I feel so informed now.

So, since the kids and I indulged on pancakes for free pancake Day at IHOP,  on Fat Tuesday, we will be giving up pancakes until Easter, for Lent. ... Maybe. 😁

When a French explorer settled in Louisiana, in the 1600s, he had a little party, get together, because it was fat Tuesday back in France, and that became the beginning of Mardi Gras in North America.

Day 54 Cooking and cleaning

Ok, it's not really like super fun, but I tackled some boxes I've been avoiding in my closet today.  I've been putting it off for far too long and it was time.

 It was a lot of sorting and unpacking of things I haven't needed for quite some time, so it was a little overwhelming at times. I I actually still have quite a bit to finish putting away and sorting, but I'm glad I started. And I found some fun things too! I found a bag of homemade bath bombs that Austin and Brooke made for me that I can't wait to use when I have a bathtub again!

When I needed a break from sorting, I decided to get dinner made. Cameron requested enchiladas and I thought I had all the ingredients, but part way through making them, I realized I didn't have any corn tortillas. ... 🙄 

So, I made the enchilada filling and baked it like a casserole. That was kind of fun to try something new. It worked out ok, because everyone liked it! 

Day 53 Hammock time

After a busy few days, I enjoyed having a few minutes to chill and catch up with Hailey and Cam in the hammock while we looked at the sky.  Those relaxing times are some of the best kinds of time.

Day 52 Friends, Beach, and a double date!

We were able to squeeze a lot of fun into this day. That's because it was a Saturday and Saturdays are the best.

We met our new British friends for lunch at a place on the beach and it was such a nice day, we ended up hanging out on the beach for hours taking while the kids played.

After a fun afternoon, Hailey got to go to her first sleepover birthday party and Cameron got to go hang out at the village while Brooke worked. John and I got to go out again! This time a double date with some other new friends. Their daughter is Hailey's buddy and we had a nice time talking, enjoying good food and being grown ups. 

Then we stopped in to a couple shops  and laughed at a few of their cute decorations....

 I think we successfully made this day pretty fun. 😊

Day 51 Lunch date AND a movie night!

I got to have the greatest teenage girl in the world join me for a lunch date today! 

 The first place we went was closing but they gave us some free biscuits and encouraged us to come back another day.  Based on the biscuits, I'm pretty sure we'll be back!  

After we got kicked out of that place we got visit a little in the car while we enjoyed the free biscuits. 😁

Then we headed over to a different place for lunch but weren't really that hungry after our biscuit snack! 😋

Then we had a movie night with the family and Hailey's friend. We went to see CALL OF THE WILD.  It was a good family movie and we enjoyed getting out and having fun! 

Day 50 Best. Eye mask. Ever.

Hailey loves to make things. She often just creates art and makes games out of general household items. Today was one of the best creations she's made though. She sat down on the living room floor with some tissue, markers and tape.... Next thing I know she's made an eye mask for her little pink platypus. 

For some reason, I just couldn't get enough of this cute creation! It made me laugh so many times. I love it and I love how Hailey creates such adorable things all the time! 

It was also very fun for me to have a couple laughs with Brooke before she went out with a friend for the evening..... I sometimes go through withdrawal from all the time we used to spend together and I soak up every minute that she's around these days. 💚💙💜❤️🧡💛

Day 49 Rolling in Fun

It might look like I'm just rolling Hailey's hair, but in reality, she's talking and singing and chatting with me about all sorts of great topics. It's fun to have this time together to connect. She was also VERY excited to find this old phone case of Brooke's that fits on the phone that John connected to a Google WiFi line recently.  She feels so grown up being able to sent texts to her family and particularly loves sending emojis. 😁😘😂🧡💛💚💙💜❤️

Day 48 More sparkles and sick days

Some of our fun seems to be repetitive.... But Hailey and I had fun doing nails again today!

I also had the great pleasure of having Cameron home from school today. He is so fun. 

He makes me laugh, he keeps me entertained with jokes, deep talks about science and space and books and music. He is a really good boy and I love spending time with him.

Day 47 Swimming

I still have fun going to swim practice, after all these years. I just don't get tired of watching my kids do good things. Cameron's enjoying being on the swim team for his middle school. He's making new friends, getting great exercise and learning new skills. Hailey enjoyed watching practice with me today too.

It was also fun that today was a holiday and we didn't have the regular school routine. Yay for Presidents day.

Day 46 New Mates

Quite a while back, John met a nice family on a fishing pier and we've been meaning to get together ever since.  We finally got it planned and they came over for dinner today.
I didn't take pictures of them . . .  because that would be weird.
I did snap a quick picture of the kitchen with a bunch of food everywhere, just to capture the memory.

We had a great time hanging out with them! They're from England and stationed in the area with the Royal Navy for three years. The kids are similar ages to Cam and Hailey and they got along really well and had fun playing. John and I enjoyed visiting and laughing with the parents and we look forward to getting together again soon! It's nice to make new friends.