Hey friends! How are you doing? I have a feeling a lot of my American readers are checking in for the first time today after the long weekend. Just in case you missed it, I shared a deceptively challenging mini band booty workout on the blog yesterday if you’re looking for a low-impact way to target your glutes and hip abductors.
Our weekend was a good one! My father-in-law, Greg, arrived in town on Thursday to celebrate his birthday with us (just like last year!) and while we spent most of the weekend bundled up in plenty of layers and avoiding the windy 30-degree weather, we still managed to fill our days with plenty of fun.
Saturday
Saturday was our most active day of the bunch and we kicked off our morning with a big group workout at the gym. Chase hung out in childcare while Ryan, his dad and I spent the next 45 minutes or so working up a sweat. I stuck to a simple total body workout and kicked things off with a 2000 meter row.
My workout went by quickly and looked like this:
I’m not going to lie, I showed up at the gym 100 percent unmotivated to work out, but after warming up on the rowing machine and blasting some music on my favorite Pop and Hip Hop Power Workout Pandora station, my energy started flowing. Sometimes simply getting to the gym is the hardest part of a workout!
After the gym, we piled into Ryan’s car and made our way to the local aquarium for a lovely heated indoor (<—key!) activity. Chase is still our marine life-lovin’ little man, so he was all about our adventure and made sure to point out all of the important things to Granddad, including the rays, sharks, sea turtles and fish that looked like Dory and Nemo, of course.
We probably pushed our timing a little long and made our way back to the car with a toddler on the verge of a meltdown but thankfully it seemed to dissipate once we were all buckled in thanks to mom’s back of snacks. By the time we made it home, we were more than ready for lunch and filled up once Chase was settled in his crib and napping.
After lunch and much-needed showers, Ryan, Sadie and I headed off to a local park to shoot some quick workout pics for yesterday’s blog post while Greg offered to keep an eye on Chase’s monitor while he slept.
(You guys, Sadie turns TEN years old on Saturday. Or should I say 10 years young because she will live forever and ever?)
We were back within 30 minutes and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at home, watching football and entertaining Chase once he was awake again.
On Saturday night we booked a babysitter so Ryan and I could treat Greg to an adults-only birthday dinner!
Ryan and I have been dying to grab dinner at Hello Sailor, a new-to-the-area restaurant owned by the same husband-wife duo who own Kindred, our favorite spot in Davidson. Hello Sailor lived up to the hype and we had the best time chatting over seafood and drinks.
Ryan’s drink had all of us laughing when it came out served in a fancy schmacy shark cup.
Ha!
Sunday
Ryan planned a morning of father/son fun with his dad on Sunday morning, so while the two oldest Fagans headed out on their adventure, I took Chase to church for a mother/son date of my own! The service was so, so good and 100 percent what I needed to hear on Sunday morning. (In case you’re interested, the service is titled “Stay Committed” and speaks about God being with us through the hard times. I found myself in a puddle of tears at the end.)
Chase and I hit up the grocery store for some lunchtime essentials and then he helped me prep the marinade I needed to make for Monday night’s dinner before I tried to get him to nap. My efforts were futile but thankfully Ryan and Greg arrived home in time to hang out with Chase so I could get some work done since I had a 3 p.m. deadline looming over me. We spent the rest of our Sunday around the house, playing frisbee outside with Sadie, watching football and ordering Thai takeout for dinner.
Monday
Monday was a great mix of our usual weekday craziness and birthday fun! Greg’s birthday landed on a Monday this year and since he had plans to run into Davidson in the morning, he encouraged me to do my usual morning thing with Chase while Ryan worked and reconvene with him around lunchtime.
Chase and I headed off to boot camp and I went through an upper body tabata workout that was AWESOME.
(Capris: Fabletics / Shoes: Nike Free Flyknit)
Yesterday’s workout is detailed below and had my biceps, shoulders and chest burning:
We followed up our gym time with a play date with my friends Lauren and Laura and their girls at a local trampoline park.
On our way out, Chase spent a solid 25 minutes staring at an excavator truck in action in the parking lot before we headed home. (File “excavator truck” under the list of things I never knew the proper names for before I had a toddler.)
We made it home before Greg so Chase and I quickly got to work making his favorite chocolate cake in the kitchen as a small birthday treat. Greg arrived home just as we were pulling the cake out of the oven and Chase was way too excited to tell him about his special birthday surprise.
Chase refused to nap again yesterday so the rest of our afternoon included more kitchen activities as we prepped dinner and made buttercream icing before Ryan arrived home from work.
We spent the evening digging into pulled pork tacos, guacamole, roasted sweet potatoes and chocolate cake before opening presents and enjoying Greg’s final evening in town before he heads back to Florida later today.
I hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by the blog today!
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Oh my gosh, that photo of your father in law looking at Chase with Sadie sitting there like “why am i getting no attention” is SO my vizsla whenever my mom, dad, or mother in law come over and don’t pay attention to her. haha Vizslas are the best and so human!
YES!!! She absolutely loves when we have visitors and she especially loves my father-in-law and follows him everywhere (as you can tell by that pic)! They’re so sweet together!
What a wonderful weekend! Sounds like Chase was having too much fun with his Grandpa in town to nap for most of the weekend.
Will you and Ryan be conducting Sadie’s normal birthday routine of racing towards food?? I think it’s such a fun tradition! Enjoy the last bit of time with your father-in-law Julie!
Absolutely!! We’re currently trying to figure out what her birthday challenge will be this year!
That last picture of Chase, Greg, and Sadie is SO adorable!!
Aw I love that last pic. Sadie’s gray old face is killing me. I feel like I’ve been reading your blog forever and remember her when she was younger. My “pup” is pushing 16 years old now and I can’t believe how fast the time has gone!
I love these type of posts. Thanks for sharing.
Your cake looks so pretty! I love the little sprinkles on top!
I love the giant giraffe casually sitting in the background of that last picture ?
LOL! He’s part of the family. 😉 Yes, this is my life now. Haha!
Happy birthday, Sadie! I can’t wait to see the food challenge! I feel like we just saw one. Time does fly!
Something about Sadie makes me laugh everytime I see her pictures! That last picture is adorable!
She is SUCH a character! She honestly makes me laugh every single day. <3 Glad she makes you smile, too!
Julie- just noticed our dogs have matching lumps on their chest! My (almost) 9 year old German Shorthaired Pointer, Abby, has the exact same lump in the exact same spot. Twinkies! Happy early Birthday to Sadie from Abby!
Aw!! LOVE that you have a GSP — personality-wise, I’ve heard vizslas and GSPs are such similar breeds. And yes, that lump seems to be there to stay! We’ve have it checked out and the vet says it’s nothing to worry about but that it will continue to very gradually get bigger over time. Part of the aging process, I guess! Love our lil’ lump twins! <3
They do seem VERY similar in personality. Mine goes nuts-o for the tennis ball, but is perfectly content cuddling up on the couch also. We joke she is the saddest dog that ever lived because of her mopey facial expressions sometimes, and I’ve seen Sadie give that look in pictures! They are the best. Our vet says Abby’s lump is fine and refers to it as her “little friend”.
Oh my goodness I can’t believe Sadie will be 10 this year! She seems like she still acts so young … I’m looking forward to her birthday challenge. I love the picture of her sitting next to Ryan and Chase..my little V has to be in the action all the time 🙂
Sounds like you guys had a fun weekend together. Happy birthday to Ryan’s dad!
Girl you have been killing the workouts lately! I hope you are doing well mentally and emotionally these days, friend 🙂 Sweet Sadie! She’s getting so grey!
Thank you, Sarah! <3
Haha- so true on the excavator truck naming! I had to look up all of the different types of construction vehicles the other day, to make sure I was being accurate. 🙂
It wasn’t a long weekend for me but at least work has been pretty busy making the day go by faster. I forget that you aren’t covered in snow in your area. I was wondering when you took those workout photos. 30 degrees in NY now feels like a heat wave after we were in the negatives for like 5 days. Funny how my perspective on what is cold changes in winter. It looks like you had a wonderful weekend though. Stay warm
Julie, I normally come to your blogs for updates on Chase, your recipes and workouts. I wanted to thank you for sharing the link to your service/church. I’ve never been a church goer, however, something told me to click on that link today. Which led me into past services, I listed to the anxiety one from November. I can be as my husband days “doomsday’er” sometimes. This service really spoke to me and I took notes and have a few other in my sights I will be listening to. Just wanted to thank you for sharing other areas of your life with us and being so open!
I’m so, so glad you found a service that spoke to you, Samantha <3 Thank you for taking the time to listen and also to leave this comment.
I know all the names of trucks now that I have a 2.5 year old boy! Excavator, bulldozer, backhoe…you name it. Ha. Being a boy mom is the best!
Hi Julie! I’ve been checking out your activewear posts and just wondering what sneaker you would recommend for general circuit workouts and something you can do light running in? I’d love to just have one shoe for both if possible since I don’t do a ton of running.
Thanks!!
Sorry I’m jumping in to comment, but I love Nike Free RNs for these type of workouts. I do circuit, body weight stuff with running 3-6 miles sometimes and they are perfect for me!
Thanks for the recommendation!! I’ll check them out!
hey! fellow 2.5 yr old toddler mama here, jumping in to give you something that’s worked for us when my daughter went on a WEEK nap strike after moving her to a big girl bed AND taking away the dreaded pacifiers! We simply moved her naps up! she used to go down at 1230 or 1p now it’s as late as 3pm and we don’t let her sleep past 4pm and it’s worked out beautifully!! hope this helps!
Where do you put your phone when you work out??
I usually just tuck it into the side of my leggings or into the back of my sports bra… I need a better method though!
i LOVE that last picture. It needs to go in a frame!
What do you mean by the “oldest Fagans” ?
Ryan and his dad are older than me, Chase and Sadie. 🙂 Didn’t mean it to be anything odd/weird!
That last photo is fantastic!
omg i have been eyeing up the learning tower forever and can never bring myself to take the plunge! do you use it often? Any tips for getting it for a discount? thanks!
We truly use our every single day! Chase is ALL about helping in the kitchen to the point where I have to think of recipes I want to make just so we can “cook” together. He’s so into it!! As far as discounts, I’m not too sure. Ours was actually the “big” gift surprise from my parents for Chase’s second birthday. We LOVE it.
That last photo is so precious!!! Sadie cracks me up.
Oh my gosh, my little boy just turned two yesterday (cue the mom tears) and is obsessed with all things construction. I too had NO idea that the truck that “digs” was called an excavator until about 6 months ago! Did you also know that there several types of dump trucks?? 🙂
The things you learn as a boy mom!!
Wow! Love all of the Sadie photos. Especially the last one where she’s staring right at the camera. So good!
Also, just downloaded The Cove Messages via podcast and it’s so good! We are not local so it’s nice to be able to listen remotely.
Hope ya’ll are staying warm this week! : )
One of the best parts about Christianity (in my opinion 😉 is that the world is constantly telling us, especially women, to “be strong”. But God says, “You don’t have to be strong, because I sent my son to be strong for you”. I know you’ve had a hard year- so glad the sermon was meaningful to you. ❤️
I need to find a good bootcamp like you have!
I really love witnessing the relationships you all share with all three sets of your parents and in turn to see those relationships continue with Chase. It’s such a blessing, truly. Not everyone has that and it just brings me joy to see that type of love exist in the world. 🙂 Great pics, Julie! Hope you’re having a great day!
I’m glad I’m not the only Mom out there having nap issues. My daughter (who is a few mo the older than chase) never seems to want to nap anymore 🙁 I’m kind of getting scared that nap time is over for us. The horror!
I am, too! It’s SO unpredictable around here right now. Phew!
Hi Julie – Where is the sweater you are wearing in the picture with you and Ryan? Love the grey sweater!
Thank you! The brand is RD Style but I got it from thredUP!
Thank you for sharing the link to that service. I just finished listening. It was very powerful ?
I’m so glad you liked it! That service was truly one of the most impactful ones I’ve attended at my church. <3