I took the comments a few of you left to heart the other week when you encouraged me to step away when I need to right now.
(Baby Rhett and Nona! We are so grateful to Diane and Les for making the drive up from Florida to meet our little man.)
I admittedly put pressure on myself to blog multiple times a week and while it’s truly something I enjoy and an outlet for me, the fact that this blog and my corresponding social media channels also function as my job undoubtedly add to the internal pressure to work. (This is NOT a complaint. Believe me, I know I am incredibly lucky to do what I do.) What I am trying to say is that I very much appreciate the gentle encouragement from you guys to take time away when I need it during this postpartum phase. There’s very little downtime around here right now, that’s for sure!
But now that a little work window just popped up, let’s chat! My in-laws left this morning and I just got back from dropping Chase and Ryder off at preschool. I managed to settle Rhett down for a nap so now feels like a good time to share some highlights from this past weekend before I forget everything in this newborn haze.
Superhero Car Races
Within 10 minutes of Diane and Les’ arrival, they surprised the boys with an assortment of superhero cars. To say these cars were a big hit would be a serious understatement. Chase is getting really into superheroes lately and even though he’s never seen any superhero shows, he seems to know a lot about them from the kids at school and from lots of superhero talk with Ryan. (My mom gave Chase this Marvel superhero A to Z book a while back and he LOVES reading it with Ryan and asking him all about the characters. All I know to say is that Iron Man is funny based on the movie. Ha!)
Every single day since the cars made their debut, the boys have raced them all over the house! We also set up lawn chairs at the top of the driveway on Friday night and raced them down the driveway for well over an hour.
Everyone got so into it and it reminded me, yet again, that simple things often prove the most fun when it comes to spending time with kids and family.
Rainy Pumpkin Patch Visit
On Saturday morning, we decided to brave the rain and headed to Patterson Farms to see farm animals and visit a local pumpkin patch.
It wasn’t busy at all and I’m not sure if this was mostly because of the rain or the fact that a limited number of tickets are available for purchase ahead of time but whatever the case, it was a great social distancing activity.
On the drive to the pumpkin patch, we sang multiple rounds of “We’re Going On a Bear Hunt” with Chase and Ryder which ended up being the perfect anthem to our pumpkin patch visit because when we were faced with lots of puddles, we sang, “Oh no! A puddle! Can’t go over it. Can’t go under it. We’ve got to go through it! Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!” To be totally honest, singing the silly song over and over again breathed some life back into what could’ve been a soggy, not-so-fun experience.
Feeding the farm animals was also a huge hit and we all loved the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. Rhett was not a fan of the car ride home at all (please oh please don’t let this be the start of miserable car seat battles with our baby!) but he and Ryder both napped like little champs when we got back so that was a small victory!
Walking Around Downtown Mooresville
On Friday morning, our crew wandered around downtown Mooresville which looked awfully festive for fall.
We popped into an antique shop, bakery and Urban Grind, a local coffee shop where I had my very first pumpkin oatmilk latte. I thought the oatmilk might be a little watery like almond milk lattes (I prefer whole milk or coconut milk from a can in my lattes) but the oatmilk was definitely creamier and so delicious! I loved it and will absolutely order one again!
Pumpkin Carving
After all-day rain on Saturday, we were hoping for a sunny Sunday but the rain didn’t let up and we found ourselves facing another dreary day. We made the most of it and kept things nice and cozy at home with good food, pumpkin carving and some outside time in rain boots and rain jackets.
We had grand visions of pumpkin carving family fun but after the boys and I found kid-friendly templates online, we taped them to the pumpkins aaand 5 minutes later, the boys lost interest. Ha!
Ryan and Les took over and carved some pretty awesome Elmo and shark pumpkins!
Chase and Ryder’s interest picked back up when we took the pumpkins in the laundry room, placed a candle inside and closed the door so they could see them glow.
So cool! Let’s just hope these pumpkins don’t rot before Halloween!
Good Eats
On the food front, Sunday was a very tasty day. It began with Diane’s homemade zucchini bread and some RoRo’s cinnamon rolls. The cinnamon rolls were perfectly doughy and sweet and our group had no trouble polishing them off in one sitting.
For dinner, we made skirt steak on the grill and served it with chimichurri, a chopped salad and my favorite cornbread and honey butter.
Dessert looked like birthday cake!
Chase and I made chocolate cake for Les’ birthday which we were lucky enough to celebrate together on Sunday! We made two different kinds of icing — a white glaze and buttercream — and had a taste-off! The glaze won which admittedly shocked me! Ryder and I were the only two votes for buttercream. Always and forever my favorite!
And now Rhett is beginning to stir so I need to wrap this blog post up before nursing him and heading back out to pick the big boys up from preschool in 30 minutes. I hope you all have a great Tuesday and enjoy the rest of the week!
The post Weekend Highlights with Nona and Papa appeared first on Peanut Butter Fingers.
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