We are OFFICIALLY in the dog days of summer here in Iowa. It always seems like once Memorial Day hits, Mother Nature decides to crank up the thermostat, and it becomes HOT. Like Hot HOT. I always joke that being a native Iowan(Midwesterner honestly) we're used to only having three nice days a year, and we're used to the extremities of the bitter cold Iowa winters and the melt your skin off and still be drenched in sweat Humid, Hot Iowa Summers.
The original plan for the weekend was to go over to our friend's house and have a pool party to celebrate his birthday; however, the party ended up needing to be postponed due to a couple of the kiddos catching a summer cold, and we all thought it best to hit the pause button since we'd have littles there.
We might not have a big pool, but we invested in a little $8 hard plastic pool from our local Family Dollar to get us by until we get our blow up pool in the mail(Thanks MIMI!). My Sister-in-Law was in town for a Bridal Brunch downtown, so my brother-in-law brought the girls over for a little play date with Liam. Liam absolutely loves his cousins and had a blast playing with them. We had the girls bring their swimsuits so that they could play in the sprinkler and the kiddy pool while Hubs and his brother got to hang out on the patio. I made sure to quickly stock up on ALL the necessities for having an impromptu play date, which included juice boxes, goldfish crackers and OF COURSE bomb pops!
Bomb Pops are totally a summer staple in my house, honestly any popsicles really!
After their mom was done with her Bridal Brunch, they stayed over for just enough time to chat for a bit and then they had to make their way back home in Newton. By that time it was nap time for little man, so we grabbed our Tiger(his lovie he cannot go to sleep without) and a sippy cup full and milk and laid down for a nap.
As you can see here, I enjoyed the pool myself. By then it was pushing close to 90 degrees F and I needed a way to cool off. Needless to say, outside play time was really short-lived and the two of us went back inside to finish Finding Dory. Liam and I hung out until lunchtime, and we made heart shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and watched Blippi(the bane of my existence).
Having the girls over must've worn me out, because if you know me I DO NOT NAP. I told Hubs I was going to lay down for a little bit....which ended up being a couple of hours. Liam himself had had a bit of a late nap(5:30 PM...YIKES) so we knew we were in for a bit of a late night. I needed to make an Aldi run for some basics we were out of and decided to pick up some hamburgers for dinner since we didn't have the time to thaw out any of our meat that was in the deep freeze. While I was out a friend messaged me to see if we were doing anything tonight and if she could come over to hang out for a bit and of course I said yes and asked her if she would like to stay for dinner.
I ended up picking the premade burgers(I couldn't find any of the 80/20 in regular hamburger), the sesame seed brioche buns(they're honestly the best), lettuce, tomato, pepper jack cheese and a premade pasta salad for Hubs and my friend(I'm a weirdo and don't like vinegar salads...or any cold salads if I'm honest). There might've been a chance that four bottles of Winking Owl Moscato wine fell into the cart as well(who's counting!).
It ended up being a pretty relaxed evening. We ate outside on our patio while Liam nibbled here and there(yay picky toddler stage) and played in his yard. Liam, my friend and I headed back inside to get him ready for bed and settled in for the evening. We put on Disney+ and chose Finding Dory and made it about three quarters of the way into the movie before Liam was ready to get tucked in for the evening. Once he was taken care of, my friend and I went back out to the deck where Hubs was sitting with one of his friends(K-Bear came over to hang out for a bit) and just shot the bull, which felt nice. We've all known each other since we were 16 years old and have been friends ever since.
Sunday morning came(a little too early if you ask me, but hey, that's raising a toddler for you) and after I made sure to get a decent amount of caffeine in me, Liam helped me make breakfast for all of us. Liam's really been loving helping us out in the kitchen lately, and I think it's a great skill to have. Chef Liam decided on cheesy scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. I had Liam help me break open the eggs and assisted him in throwing a little bit of milk in with the eggs(makes me extra fluffy). He whisked the eggs up and then put as much cheese as he thought we needed in our eggs. His next task was putting the bread in the toaster and pushing down the button.
After breakfast was ready, I woke up Hubs and he came out to join us. Mealtimes on Sundays are BIG for us and we really started pushing the importance of it when Liam was old enough to start consuming hard table foods. Life is crazy busy, especially with both parents who work and it'll only get crazier once Liam is in school so why not find the simple joys and enjoy these nice, quiet moments with one another?
Once breakfast was eaten, cleared away and my kitchen was put back in order, Liam asked me if we could go outside to play for a little bit. I lathered him up in sunscreen and got him into his swim attire so that he could go back out and play in his pool if he would like to.
Meanwhile, Hubs started seasoning a rack of ribs to smoke on our grill. He's gotten so good a smoking meats and even has been told we should open up a stand and sell(we just do it for fun and for family). To go with our ribs I planned on making my famous baked beans and this cheesy corn noodle casserole that is a staple at ALL Midwestern potlucks.
We ended up getting invited to go swim at K-Bear's for a little bit, so Liam and I packed up and headed across town to take a dip in the pool. We had a floatation device from last year that Liam still met the weight requirement for so we brought that and his life vest just in case. I grew up around pools and have always been incredibly comfortable around water;however, now that I have Liam I'm always watching him like a hawk to make sure he is safe and he doesn't fall into pools or bodies of water. Water safety is HUGE and he will be attending swim lessons once he is old enough, for now? He gets a life vest or his swim ring. This is the one we use and offers mobility and helps them become more comfortable swimming. Unfortunately, we couldn't stay for too long because someone turned into a grumpy-gru and it was WAY past his nap time. Let me just say this little boy loves to sleep and if you interfere with his nap time he basically because a Gremlin.
Liam got his much-needed nap, it was time for dinner. To say that I stuffed myself to the gills is an understatement of the year! Let's just say Sundays are my cheat day because there was no way I stayed within 1600 calories for that day!
We went back outside for a little bit to let Liam play before it got too dark, then finished up our night with a bath and some air popped popcorn accompanied by the "Fish Movie" (Finding Nemo). We have one of those Nugget Comfort couches and I always make what I call a 'snuggle nest' for Liam and me to hang out on while we watch the movie. We actually ended up watching that movie and Wall-E before it was finally bedtime for bugaboos.
How do you like to spend your weekends? Do you have any special traditions for you and your family on a certain day?
-xoxo
Midwest Mommie
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