Things We Loved: August

We should know by now that planning a Things We Loved post in early August is going to be a scramble. It’s the end of summer, both sets of twins have their birthdays, and school just started. While it’s not hard just to go recap into our Amazon orders, those lists are all crayons, school supplies, toiletry refills, and packs of new socks because our kids have outgrown everything. But here are a few other things that stood out.

Mary’s Loves

Over the summer, my son wanted shoes that had some heavy tread like one of his classmates because he believes that it will help him run faster than his friends. We purchased these K-Swiss Tubes Trail Sneakers for this school year. Who knows if they will really help his cause, but he says he feels quicker and more agile.

The girls are also going back to preschool, five days a week this time. This round, they are required to bring their own lunch bags and water bottles that they’re able to open/close independently. These Contigo Water Bottles are great and easy to open with just a push of a button.

In the last days of kindergarten, my son’s teacher talked about “summer slide”. So during the summer months, we did an hour of Kahn Academy Kids online lessons or Summer Prep workbooks each day to keep his brain working. Additionally, I got Brain Quest 1st Grade Smart Cards to refresh what he’s learning in school. I know this sounds extra. The girls have also become fans of interlocking puzzles, so we added these to their inventory: Floor Puzzles and Self-Correcting Matching Puzzle Sets.

As for me, I’ve been listening to the American Glutton podcast, and I loved this episode featuring Tom Kier, a tactical training expert. I became motivated to get more sleep because I have not been making it a priority (as per usual). So far, it’s allowed me to be more effective with my time, more personal time throughout the day, and a lot more patient with my kids.

Currently reading The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum.

Patti’s Loves

Two weeks ago, we took A&Z to Dollywood Splash Country to celebrate their 5^th birthday. I had it in mind because they successfully learned how to swim this summer and this was a little like a reward for all those lessons and time put in. We picked Splash Country first of all because they had a lot more kid-friendly (and short-friendly) attractions. I didn’t want to bring the girls somewhere where they could only experience a tiny portion of the actual rides because they are under 42’. Another game changer are the canopies and retreats scattered around the park. These are private spaces that you can reserve, instead of keeping your dry stuff in a locker or carrying it with you. Our canopy space had two lounge chairs, shade, and a lock box to keep all of our stuff. The bigger retreats could serve a whole extended family, complete with TVs and mini-fridges. One of my friends reserved one this summer and it was the perfect spot for her younger kids to take a short nap or have a calm down during the day.

My grandparents also introduced the concept of “Mad Money” to the girls for their birthday. They each got cash to do whatever they wanted (pending parent approval, of course). We had to get them to focus a bit, but they both wanted this dress from crewcuts. And because they are emo, they requested these pink Doc Marten boots.

The girls also discovered Taylor Swift this summer. I won’t tell them that we got waitlisted for presale codes, sadly. But, I picked up stuff to make friendship bracelets (similar) and they’ve loved showing them off at school, in addition to singing Cruel Summer very badly.

I just finished Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld. This is the third book from her that I’ve read and enjoyed. Now on my Libby app is The God of Endings by Jacqueline Holland and Momfluenced by Sara Petersen in on my Audible.

Mary and I had a blog retreat in early July and we are so excited about new content for the fall. For the rest of August, we’ll be sharing two weeks of new Back-to-School posts before our Labor Day break, including After School Meltdown and a new Child(ish) Reads.

We hope you all had an amazing summer!

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