Staycation Day 4

Brass Tap for after dinner drinks

Well...I have no pictures from Cade's Staycation Day 4. Because he is having a party with Nana and Grandpa Jack.

But I do have a picture of us on date night. Does that count?

Rumor has it that while Mom and Dad are out for dinner and drinks, Cade is wow-ing Grandpa Jack with his phenomenal number recognition and coloring pictures to cover Nana's fridge. Win-win I'd say.

Staycation Days 2 & 3

The big news of Staycation Day 2....a FORT!

Ross put up Fort Cade in the corner of the gameroom with a stylish shower curtain and bowed rod. Inside lives a nightlight, little rug and a pillow. Soon to come is the Fort Cade sign, book rack and pillow. The wee boy is pretty excited about his fort.

And today on Staycation Day 3 we were BUSY. It started with an early morning (6:15a!). I took the morning off to hang out with him so we went to the duck pond, Starbucks, by the office to say hi to my coworkers and then on a playdate with Rowan.

The afternoon was equally exciting though not quite as successful. Naptime was a no go which is entirely the wrong kind of exciting. But despite that, Jenny said he was very well behaved on his afternoon playdate at her house with Holden. Then later in the evening we went to the gym/Kids' Club and had an evening swim. He LOVED the gym's pool with its bubblers, sprinklers and shallow kiddie area.


He was the cutest little frog there, just jumping around in the kiddie area.

Staycation Day 1

Cartoons in bed, swim lessons with Dad, library with Mom, painting with Mom, play time with Holden.

Also tried to eat a Nerf football and some sidewalk chalk but...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger right?

Summer Staycation Day 0

As of 4:56p today, Cade is on summer break! His summer staycation lasts 9 days and includes the July 4 holiday.

We kicked it off with a serious/celebratory discussion about the legalization of same-sex marriage. (Isn't that how every kid starts his summer break?) I told him that today some very powerful and important people decided any adults who love each other can get married. Like how Mommy loves Daddy and Daddy loves Mommy and they are married. His reaction "I love Mommy too." Good deal. (Obviously I know he won't remember this conversation but I thought it was still important to have with him, being that he's alive for this significant event.) Then I said "It's a big day!" to which he replied "Big day! Choo-choo store!"

And even though that wasn't the big day I meant, he was right. We kicked off summer staycation with a trip to Barnes & Noble so he could play on the train table. Then home for cul-de-sac play time, a late dinner, cartoons in Mom's bed and off to sleep.

This year's staycation doesn't feel quite as organized as last year's. But when I think about it, even if it doesn't feel organized, it probably is pretty awesome if you are two.

Swim lessons, library and Daddy time this weekend. Playdates with Rowan and Holden on Monday. Tuesday afternoon/night and Wednesday morning with Nana. Thursday playdate with Holden. Friday TBD, July 4 on Saturday and next Sunday TBD. And probably near daily trips to the gym to hang out at the Kids' Club (which he likes so much he asks to go to) while Mom works out.

Am I excited to have him home? Yes. Am I excited for some extra work-from-home days this week? Yes. Am I excited for a short holiday week? Yes. Am I excited to work out more than I have in at least 3 years? Yes. #StaycationForTheWin

Cade's Weekend

Mr. Cade is having himself a heck of a weekend and it's barely lunch time on Saturday!

Last night he played catch with Holden using the velcro paddle things I found at Target. They did so well! I wasn't sure if they'd be quite old enough but they definitely were.

And then this morning we were busy busy busy. Gym and kids' club at 8:30a, then on to the preschool carnival where he had his first successful bouncey house experience. It took him a while to warm up but then he LOVED it. I literally had to drag him out of it eventually. But for good reason, I knew he was dying to see the animals before we left and it was now or never.

We played with bunnies, briefly petted a goat and then were on our merry way to swim lessons.

Cade did much better at swim lessons today than he did last weekend. He couldn't jump into the pool enough! Eventually I bribed him into blowing bubbles and practicing kicking by promising jumps in return. It totally worked. As the icing on the cake, the pool is right by the railroad and we saw TWO trains go by during his 25 minute lesson. Best morning ever.

This afternoon hopefully we'll play outside with Holden. Then this evening it's gonna be movie time because I have a feeling all this fun will at least have worn me out, if not him. Tomorrow it's Father's Day breakfast and then the afternoon with Nana while Ross and I go check out a new (to us) bar featuring a bazillion games. Right up Ross' alley.

Good Behavior Board

Cade has had some terrible twos sass lately. We've been doing time-out and verbal scolding but it just wasn't seeming to work. So about a month or so ago we implemented the good behavior board. He gets a sticker for every day that he 1) does not hit 2) does not throw food and 3) shares nicely.

The first board, which was five days, took three weeks to complete. The second took two weeks. We've been on the third with zero stickers so far. But admittedly, I'm also getting stricter. Today he didn't hit or throw food but he was SASSY. No sticker.

But back to the good stuff. On Wednesday, after being given an final thumbs up from my biz trip by Nana and Dad, Cade got sticker #5 on that Good Behavior Board. His reward: a Dumbo book!

We've read it every day. He is totally in love. And I am in love with my kid being in love with books.

DC Surprise

Even though I've been to DC on business several times over the past however many years, it's been a good long while since I did anything touristy. Usually I work and grab a meal with Ben & Anna. But this time, since Anna's travel conflicted with mine, they were out of the picture. But I did get a nice change of pace with a visit to everyone's favorite White House.

It was my co-worker's first time to DC so we took an after dinner walk to bring her face-to-face with one of our country's favorite icons. She was not disappointed (and neither was I!),

#DeltaNashville

Three best nights of the year!

I spent Friday-Monday in Nashville with 12 Deltas (husbands included) and we had SO MUCH FUN. In pictures...

Friday night we had a big family dinner at the house

Saturday we did some day drinking, including this one at Tootsie's

That night we hit up the Opry. Check out the new boots on three of the girls

Sunday we woke up...and did more day drinking

On a pedal pub. That's right, a bar on wheels and powered by pedaling.
Meg D, Jess and Rob made the trip for the first time since 2012!

Standing next to me is Kristin's beau, Matt. He fit right in :)

Monday we went to the Ryman and then Matt, Kristin and I hung out on Broadway before our flights.
The set-up for the CMT Awards had started and we caught this promo filming with acts Big & Rich and Macklemore right outside of our final bar stop.

ThisClose

The little boy's language continues grow leaps and bounds. He loves repeating new words. Just this week he started saying "Daddy's coffee." With the repetition though comes some kinda funny things. He's thisclose on so much.

Pronouns kill him. He doesn't get them at all. He tells me...

"Mama I want carry you."

and

"I want sit in my lap."

How do you explain to a 2 year old that what he means is I want you to carry me and I want to sit in your lap? I have no idea! So I just go with it and we do "carry you" and "my lap" regardless of who is carrying who and whose lap is being sat in.