In lieu of a coherent essay, here are some observations from the weekend:
- Late night date nights may be worth a try. Yes, I was a little tired going into a restaurant at 9:45 p.m. on Friday. But the sitter was happy to show up after the kids were in bed, and we didn’t miss any time with them. We got to go for a swim and read stories and the like.
- If the Post Office accepts passport applications from 9-11 a.m. on a Saturday, go early. We did, fortunately, to renew my oldest’s and get one for my youngest. By the time we left, the line was down the hallway.
- Summer weather is a crapshoot. We wanted to do one beach day this weekend. After studying the weather forecast, we opted for Sunday. Saturday turned out to be beautiful. On Sun, it started to rain while we were in the car on the way there. The rain stopped and we had some sun, but things were tense there in the car for a bit.
- Library trips are always fun. I’ve been getting bored with our books, so we stocked up on some random children’s stories.
- Sleep when your baby sleeps. Isn’t that the saying? I took a 90-minute nap on Saturday afternoon and it was great.
- The King of Prussia Costco closes at 6 p.m. on Saturday. So showing up at 6:50 p.m. doesn’t work.
- Running 4 miles in 90-plus degree heat feels roughly like running a marathon in 65 degree weather.
- The tomatoes are tantalizingly close to being ripe! A few have been red enough to eat, and more will turn soon. I did some pretty intricate work with the stakes to keep the tomatoes off the ground (where they rot quickly).
- I am looking forward to my children being old enough that restaurant meals are relaxed, not stressful. On the other hand, at least at restaurants we don’t have to cook.
- It’s something to see all three kids conked out in the back seat on the way back from the beach.
How did you spend this weekend?
Just gotta say, there is nothing cuter than a toddler’s passport photo (except 3 kids sacked out after a day at the beach). We got one for ours who was not tall enough for the camera, so I’m holding him up trying not to be IN the picture, and he’s pretty bald, so 5 years later he looked NOTHING like his photo; good thing it was time for a new one!
And remember, not only do restaurants cook for you, they also do most of the cleanup. Yeah, I said most. Come on now, don’t you at least sweep together some crumbs or dab the spilled milk, just so the staff doesn’t think you live this way at home?
Sounds like a lovely weekend! We rode bikes with our budding x-country kid now that the heat has broken.
@nother Barb – agreed. The little one smiled for the photo even though you’re not supposed to (I guess) – she couldn’t help herself! The 6-year-old looked more sullen. We showed him his photo from when he was 2 months old, and yes, he looks nothing like that.
We clean up a bit at restaurants…and tip well.
the running in the heat thing plus 90 degrees – I think borders on insanity and in the vein of eating disorders.. sorry I know you and the others on here love running and I could be 20 lbs lighter if I could catch this bug ! I see otherwise reasonable upper middle class folks running around in 90 plus degree weather and just don’t empathize or get it ; ) — sleeping kids in back seat of car on summer adventure is such a beautiful part of parenting righ t? !!! I ref use to upgrade from my vw cabrio b/c one of my favorite things is to have them fall asleep against me and I still fit in between them in the back seat — we can then take one of my siblings or someone else in passenger seat – I enjoyed this post more than the book about running post ! I run but am not a runner !
@Cara – I’m pretty sure I don’t have an eating disorder 🙂 Running is fun, and while I’d prefer to run early on very hot days, sometimes that doesn’t happen, and I still prefer running outside in the heat to running on the treadmill. The ‘mill is so boring, whereas running through the trails around here is beautiful…
maybe you can get me into it !?
one of my probs is that my female friends who are into it are very into it and I feel like a lxxer b/c it’s not the best sport for extroverts or folks who need t o be taught — b/c of pacing issues… .I’d like to get into it outside with other women — I’m not that trusting to run outside alone at the times it would be easy for me which is very early morning — work in progress !
I’m still scarred by the drama associated with getting my 3 year old’s passport- or really, the passport photo… let’s just say that she picked a really bad time to decide not to allow her picture to be taken!
We spent a lot of time this weekend on “spring cleaning” type things- I cleaned out my closet, my husband worked on the piles of papers and other such things that accumulate from the kids. We also had a playdate at a park and had dinner with my sister, so it wasn’t all work! But we have yet to make it to the beach this summer. Maybe next weekend. It wasn’t really great beach weather this weekend.
@Cloud – and you’re in southern California! I thought people lived at the beach there 🙂 We’ve been trying to hit the beach a lot – partly because it’s not an option at other times of the year for us. Come mid-September, it will get cool quick. So that’s when we can start doing more of our family bike trips and the like.
Well, we are spoiled. I like sun for a beach day, and it wasn’t all that sunny this weekend. September is my favorite beach month here, actually. We’ll probably try to go next weekend, though, just because it is sort of ridiculous that we haven’t been yet!
It was my last weekend before I have my second baby, so I did a last-minute Target run and we had fun cookout dinners with friends both Friday and Saturday nights. I’m hoping with my second baby I’ll feel up to getting out and about a bit sooner than I did with my first, but then there’s that whole exhaustion thing…
@Sarah – here’s hoping for a safe arrival! And less papparazzi than Kate Middleton is experiencing…
I thought about your tips on weekend planning this weekend Laura. When I thought back over the weekend, we/I:
– watched 2 episodes of the Walking Dead (new show for us)
– went to Yoga
– bought school supplies
– took 2 naps!
– had a date night at the ballpark
– did a few chores
– went to church
– had an afternoon at the pool
I was really thrilled with it after I looked back over the weekend. That’s part of the fun, right?
@Jennifer – that sounds like a great weekend! And yes, looking back over the fun and remembering it all makes all the fun just a little bit sweeter.
The other bonus of late-night date night is that you can often score a last-minute reservation at a “hot” restaurant if you’re willing to go that late. We’ve done this several times at Canlis in Seattle, which is where we got married, but is also one of the only really “fancy” restaurants here, so it books way in advance.
An afternoon nap that day helps with being able to eat dinner at 10pm 😀
I had a good weekend, though, it seems lost in my current panic — your post just reminded me that my older child’s passport is expiring in just a few days. It’s not really a panic, but I remembered in the fall (when we were travelling) and then it completely fell off the radar. That’s always a bad feeling.
Good segue into the NY Time article, where you suggested 4 to-do lists: life dreams, yearly, weekly, daily. I might need a monthly one too. Overkill? Maybe, but I always love a good list.
Also, I gave your Sunday evening dinner idea another shot (the neighbor invited us over, which of course makes it much easier). Had a great time during dinner, but it really messes with my week. I just have a difficult time last week. Perhaps it’s personality, perhaps it’s working outside the house, but I really need Sunday evening to focus on key work and household events/deadlines and logistics of the week ahead.
@WG – I understand about using Sunday night – we often use that time too. I’ve had a babysitter come a few weekends on Sun afternoons just so we could use that time to get situated for the week. That’s one way to still enjoy Sun nights (get it done in the afternoon). Another way is to make sure the party ends early! I wrote about some people who made sure their potlucks ended by 7 – that gives you a few hours to take care of other things.