Weekending: 4th of July Edition

We are coming off of the most wonderful five day weekend! Since getting married, I aside from long weekends over Christmas I don't think we have taken more than a four day weekend as a family, and it felt so good to recharge and spend quality time together! It is back to the grind of the work week today, but three cheers for a three day work week!
On Friday, Mike and I dropped the kids off with my parents in the morning and decided to have a golf date. I cannot golf to save my life, but I rode along with Mike in the cart, and just enjoyed the peace and calm of the early morning. I just love early mornings in the summer, they are so beautiful!

After our golf date, we ran a few errands (how does that always end up being what we do on our dates!?) and then picked up the boys around lunch time. Mike smoked a chicken for dinner, and we had my brother in law and his wife over for dinner. Her due date was last Thursday, and we are still waiting on the little man to arrive! So, we saw them plenty this weekend. I kept thinking maybe a full social calendar would cause the little guy to decide to arrive, but he is still snug as a bug I guess ;-)

After dinner, Mike snuck off to my little brother's bachelor party! I got the kids to bed, and just enjoyed some peace and quiet. I threw a frozen pizza in around 10pm, which I haven't done in forever! There is something so amazing about late night pizza, isn't there!? Mike got home while I was still up, so he shared pizza with me, and we chatted before calling it a night.

I snagged this sweatshirt from Old Navy and am kind of obsessed.

On Saturday, we were up and at em and Mike tackled cleaning out the garage. Especially since we moved last year, it seems like we constantly have boxes because we are constantly having to buy things, and the clutter just builds up so fast! It looks so amazing in there and feels so clean!

On a whim, I gave both boys some haircuts. Lincoln has the most precious curls, and while it made me sad to cut them, they were getting kind of out of control, and with putting sunscreen on nearly every day and all of the messes he gets into, his hair was collecting a lot of things! I basically just trimmed it down and he still has his precious little curls. He looks SO cute, I could eat him up!

I ran some errands with the boys, which resulted in Jackson skipping his afternoon nap after a five minute snooze in the car, which NEVER happens. Our afternoon was pretty uneventful as a result; honestly it was one of those lazy days where I can't even remember what we did! I do know that Jackson played in his pool a little bit; the sun never really came out so the water was absolutely freezing! But he was as happy as could be. And after dinner, he crashed. I came down from putting Lincoln in his crib and he was on our ottoman like this.

It was only 7pm, and most nights we are lucky if Jackson is down and out at 8:30. We were so baffled with having both kids to sleep so early that we felt out of sorts! So I poured a drink, we watched the movie Logan, and had another late night frozen pizza in peace and quiet. I now know how much more sanity we would have if both kids would go to bed at 7pm, so if anyone has tricks to making our night owl go to sleep earlier, I am all ears!

On Sunday, we swung by to visit my in-laws, and when we left brought my nephew home with us while his mom was at work. He and Jackson played in the pool all morning, and had so much fun!!

Once Jackson went down for nap, I was able to bring Lincoln out in the pool. He loves the water, but usually gets overwhelmed by the bigger kids splashing and playing rough. So, he sat in the water with mama and had the best time!

I am so in love with Linky's swimsuit; so precious!

After everyone had another round of naps, people started coming over for dinner. We made smoked pork, corn on the cob, and enjoyed more pool time and sunshine.

Lincoln's first popsicle! We love Squeaky Pops-these are coated in chocolate but still come in at less than 100 calories and are made with such good ingredients. It took in awhile to get the hang of it, and then once he finished it he cried hysterically because it was gone ;-) You can find his rashguard here!

On Monday, Mike went golfing in the morning and both kids were..being kids. So once he got home, I ran to town solo with nowhere to be and nothing I needed..except a breather. ;-) After naps, we went over to my in-laws for yard games and a fire! Lincoln was pretty persistent about getting out on the court and helping daddy ;-)

Melt my heart!

Seriously with this kid. He is getting so big so fast, and so darn handsome!

Linky took a dip in the pool, is there anything sweeter than a baby wrapped up all cozy in a beach towel!?

Anddd a bottle to relax in mom's lap.

We grilled hotdogs and brats on the fire, and had fresh fruit and potato chips. The All-American summertime meal. I threw the boys into their PJs, and Lincoln once again tried to crash everyone's games.

These may be my favorite jammies ever.

Jackson's jammies are up there, too!

We made some smores, and made our way home around 8:30. Both boys went right to bed; these summer weekends are kind of the best, they wear the kiddos out!

On Tuesday, we once again spent some time over at my in-laws. It was hot and humid, and just kind of yucky outside despite the sunshine, so we played some board games inside, snacked, and took it easy. Lincoln vetoed his afternoon nap, so we decided to head straight to my parents for our 4th of July dinner rather than going home in between. Go figure, he was crabby as could be! We fed the boys, and the poor baby was literally sobbing into his food he was so tired. I layed him down upstairs and he rolled right over and zonked out, he was so relieved to shut his little eyes!

The guys played a quick card game, and we captured the obligatory family photos in our red, white and blue.

We made our way home around 6pm, and once again, Jackson crashed on the couch a solid hour before he usually goes to bed. Mike and I cuddled on the couch and watched The Office, and called it an early night with work the next morning. No worries though, our backyard neighbors set off big (illegal) fireworks until 11pm to keep us entertained ;-)

I hope you all had the best weekend! Going back to work is never fun, but a three day week makes it a little big easier!