Not a Lot But Also a Lot

As I sat down to type up a blog post recapping our weekend I found myself thinking we didn’t really do too much. We had a lot of downtime at home but we still managed to get out of the house for a few things. When I thought about everything we did, it seemed like a lot even though it didn’t really feel like a lot in the moment. I think that’s the recipe for a good weekend with young kids; lots of chill time with some little adventures that aren’t too draining! Not a lot… but also a lot.

Friday + Saturday

Our Friday night and Saturday afternoon looked awfully similar as they both centered around soccer. Chase had a game on Friday night as well as a make-up game scheduled for the middle of the day on Saturday and we all wanted to support him since the season ends in two weeks.

We kept our Saturday morning low key and hung around the house reading the latest Magic Tree House book (we’re making our way through the series again), coloring and more.

Eventually it was time to load up and head to the soccer fields. Since Chase’s game on Saturday was a rescheduled game, almost half of his team could not make it because of other sports-related conflicts so the five kids who showed up ended up playing the whole game. They tied the other team and Chase said he really liked playing with no breaks. (Ummm no thanks!)

The game was fun to watch but also a little stressful. Rhett and Ryder generally handle Chase’s soccer practices and games fairly well (I joke that I pack our entire living room to bring to the games for entertainment) but on Saturday nothing was working for Rhett. He was just next-level fussy during the second half of the game so Ryan and I alternated taking Rhett and Ryder to walk on some nearby trails while the other one of us watched the game. It was kind of awful to be honest but we made it through!

Given Rhett’s overall demeanor, we figured our initial plan to stop by a pumpkin patch wouldn’t be magical so we opted to grab this year’s Halloween pumpkin from Publix. Sometimes easy is best!

We bought one big pumpkin to carve and a couple smaller pumpkins for the kids to paint. Rhett went down for his nap right when we got home and then Ryan, the big kids and I carved a bat into our big pumpkin together!

After we were done, Ryan said, “This was easier than I remember,” and I said it was because we opted to only carve one pumpkin this year. Honestly, it was lovelyyyy not to juggle one pumpkin per kid and I think we might be onto something with this whole “one jack-o-lantern for the whole family” thing… at least until the kids are old enough to carve their own.

We spent the rest of the afternoon at home, playing monkey-in-the-middle with Chase and Ryder (our latest favorite game) and then once Rhett was up we drove to our friends’ house for s’mores and outdoor playtime.

Our friends Carrie and Nick are only a few weeks from moving into the new home they’re building and our plans yesterday evening took us to their new property! It’s been so, so nice to have close friends building a home at the same time we are and Carrie and Nick have been invaluable to us during this process. Seeing their home two weeks away from their move-in date was just so cool and we are absolutely thrilled for them!

We spent several hours catching up, walking through their new home and watching the kids play outside. The location of their home is so great for kids as there’s lots of woods right outside and plenty of open space for kids to run around, get dirty and just be kids.

Eventually the setting sun told us it was time to go so we made our way back home, ate dinner and got the kids into bed before Ryan and I watched the new Hocus Pocus movie. We agreed the original was better (we assumed this would be the case) but the second one was entertaining enough for us to say it was enjoyable.

Sunday

Sunday morning was another slow start for our crew. Ryan went on a bike ride and I spent some time packing up summer clothes and bringing out sweaters and cold weather clothing. The boys somehow got the idea in their minds to write letters to Fisbee, their Elf on the Shelf, and who am I to squash their holiday spirit even though it’s not even Halloween? Carving pumpkins one day, sending letters to the North Pole the next. I love the randomness of children so darn much.

We eventually made it out of the house around 10:30 a.m. for a family walk which looked like Ryder and Chase in their PowerWheels and Rhett on his Balance Bike.

I was honestly stressing about the fights I assumed would surface with our three boys over the two seats in the Jeep but thankfully Rhett loves his Balance Bike with an intensity we never saw coming so it hasn’t been an issue. (At least it hasn’t been an issue until I put this in writing on the blog but check back with me in a week when things will now explode since I jinxed it.)

Once we were done with our walk, we popped into the new house to check on something exciting!

WE HAVE FLOORS!! Our floors were installed late last week and we are so, so happy with the way they give our home some much-needed warmth.

The wide planks and finish has us feeling so excited and something about seeing floors down makes it feel like we’re a million times closer to moving in. Our fingers are still majorly crossed for sometime next month!

Our afternoon plans looked like a nap for Rhett followed by a little Trunk or Treat event at Ryder and Rhett’s preschool.

(Shout out to Rhett’s elephant costume and RIP to the elephant head from his costume that we accidentally left on the kitchen counter before we left… Oops!)

The boys raided our costume bin 10 minutes before we had to leave and Ryder was thrilled to dress up as a monkey since his class at school is the 4-year-old monkey class! Unfortunately he was a rather hot monkey and ended up looking more like a centaur as we walked back to our car after the event…

It’s been a few years since the boys’ preschool hosted Trunk or Treat due to Covid and we were all so glad it’s back! The boys loved collecting candy from their teachers’ trunks, visiting with friends, playing games and doing various Halloween crafts.

Chase was the only one of our boys who wanted his face painted and he clearly got paired with the perfect young girl who totally nailed his request for a lizard!

Trunk or Treat was a great way to wrap up the weekend!!

Now it’s time for me to get this Monday rockin’. Thanks for checking the blog today and I hope you all have a great week ahead!