We celebrated the end of third grade, kindergarten and the 4-year-old preschool class on Friday night with dollar store silly string, colorful smoke wand and pop-its!
Saturday
Saturday morning was nice and slow. Two of the three boys slept in until 7:30 a.m. and we eased into the day with einkorn flour Greek yogurt pancakes.
My brother-in-law’s recipe makes a TON of pancakes which I appreciate because we freeze a bunch for easy reheating during busier weekday mornings.
Ryan arrived home from a bike ride soon after the pancakes were ready and after eating breakfast together, I headed out on a 3-mile solo walk with Pepper — one of those little things that brings me big joy.
Eventually our whole crew piled into the car for something that won me a lot of cool mom points!
(Tee: Old Navy / Jeans: Target / Jelly Shoes: Free People / Bag: Clare V / Bag Strap: Clare V / Super-Thin Large Hoop Earrings: Amazon — only $10 and the perfect hypoallergenic super-thin hoop)
We were invited to an early screening of the new live-action version of How to Train Your Dragon to give feedback on the movie and since the original version of How to Train Your Dragon is one of our boys’ absolute favorite movies, I could not say yes fast enough.
Our thoughts: We LOVED it. It stayed very true to the original movie with all of the humor and tender-hearted moments and the incredible background music that elicits so many emotions throughout the film. The actor who plays Hiccup absolutely nailed his role and Toothless, the night fury dragon, is just as funny and lovable as he is in the original. The short version: If you loved the original movie, you will love this one!
Also worth noting since our boys are not particularly brave when it comes to movies and shows: This movie has some scarier moments that had two of our three boys covering their eyes and ears in a couple of parts but it wasn’t enough to make them dislike the movie or scare them too much. (All three truly said they loved it!) The scary moments in the new How to Train Your Dragon movie are identical to the scary moments in the original version which I think helped our crew because they could anticipate everything and know it all turned out okay.
After the movie, we spent some time wandering around the mall where the boys added more than a few Lego kits to their summer birthday wishlists when we browsed around the Lego store.
Once we arrived home, we ate a late lunch and then biked (me and Ryan) and dirt biked (the boys) to the pool.
The dirt bikes were all three of the boys’ “big” Christmas gifts this year and have been worth their weight in gold for our family. The bikes were easily all of their favorite Christmas gifts by a mile!
The water temperature at the pool was freezing and that mixed with the breezy, overcast weather meant our crew didn’t last too long. After about an hour, we made our way back home for hot baths/showers to warm up before Ryan and I headed out.
We had plans to attend River Jam at the Whitewater Center with friends and had a blast! We met up around 6 p.m. and grabbed dinner and drinks at River’s Edge, the on-site restaurant that overlooks the (manmade) whitewater river and the concert stage, before making our way down to the lawn to hang out by the water enjoy the live music.
(Red jumpsuit: Anthropologie / Tank: Target/ Shoes: Adidas)
It was a great night with great friends and, as always, we left the Whitewater Center saying we need to come back very, very soon. It’s the coolest spot and a must-visit if you like outdoor adventure and find yourself in the Charlotte area.
Sunday
Sunday was a good one from start to finish. It began slowly and as the boys played and Ryan worked out, I made some headway on the kids’ summer chore charts.
We’re implementing a system where the boys have daily responsibilities and earn one point per completed chore chart. After seven points (aka one week of completed chore charts), they may redeem their points for a prize of their choosing. The boys helped me brainstorm prizes and they mostly look like a visit to a trampoline park (2 different ones), a weeknight movie night (something we typically save for weekends only), 15 minutes of computer time, a visit to an indoor play place, a visit to a local farm, etc. One major caveat: Mom and Dad will not be reminding them about their charts (with the exception of Rhett who may need some help to remember everything as we first begin). Also worth noting, I think so many different systems can work well for household responsibilities for kids! Typically we do not reward or pay our kids for things we believe they should do anyway as a member of our household, but thought this might be a fun and more organized way to keep everyone accountable over the summer and also let them do some fun things they’ve “earned” through tasks we hope will become second nature (and some already are). As of right now, enthusiasm for this method is high!
And because stuff like this always interests me when chatting with other parents, here are the daily “chores” each kid is responsible:
Chase (9yo): Make bed, food/water for Lucky, let Pepper out, wash his own dishes, refill bird feeders (if needed), make sure garage is picked up at the end of the day, tidy boys’ bathroom sink/mirror (holy heck it’s always a disgusting toothpaste/water splatter mess), do at least one helpful thing for someone in our family
Ryder (6yo): Make bed, food/water for Pepper, let Pepper out, wash his own dishes, refill bird feeders (if needed), put seatbelt on in the car without reminder (forever a struggle for him), tidy boys’ bathroom sink/mirror, do at least one helpful thing for someone in our family
Rhett (4yo): Make bed, get himself dressed before coming out of his room, food/water for Pepper (with Ryder’s help), laundry helper (matching clean socks/spraying stains, etc.), do at least one helpful thing for someone in our family, bring plate to sink, help brothers refill bird feeders (if needed), try one new food (as applicable as we won’t have something new on his plate every day)
We also have a list of weekly responsibilities they’re all responsible for completing as needed every week.
We’ll see how this goes!
Eventually we made our way to the morning service at our church which was a good one.
(Dress: Amazon / Shoes: Target / Bag: Clare V / Bag Strap: Clare V)
After church and a pit-stop for doughnuts, we drove to the Davidson College campus for some trail time!
The Davidson Cross Country Trail is a fantastic find as its rarely busy and offers both an 8K and a 5K loop option. We always do the 5K route with the boys and they fly around on their mountain bikes (and dirt bike for Rhett so he can keep up) while Ryan and I follow behind and enjoy some one-on-one chatting time!
The boys are definitely faster than us but know to stop and wait for us or loop back around to us and not get too far ahead.
Eventually we made it home for a late lunch and spent the rest of our Sunday hanging out by the lake, kayaking and splashing around.
Check out Rhetty in his green kayak in the above picture!! He’s getting so, so good at navigating his little kid kayak and even made it all the way around a little island himself yesterday. He talked all about how proud he was and how he didn’t even need “any boost-es” from Dad.
We ended our night with movie night (the animated version of How to Train Your Dragon because apparently the boys could not get enough) and headed to bed for stories and sleep!
As for this Monday, I’m kicking off this week with a trip to the DMV for my RealID. Yaaay. I have travel plans on Friday so it has to happen! Other than that, we’re hoping to spend some time at the pool and make the most of our first week of summer break. I hope you all have a fantastic Monday!
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