Life Lately and Weekly Meal Plan
Rule #236: Time flies when you’re having fun.
I’ve actually already used that rule, but since it works in this post again… I’m doubling down. We’ve been crazy busy the past couple of months with beach trips, a couple of our favorite house guests, and all kinds of craziness in between. I’m working on a post about going to the beach with littles that I’m hoping to get finished up today! It will include all kinds of details about the “necessities” and “leave it at home”s for your next beach trip. For now, I’ve rounded up some highlights of our life lately and even included our upcoming weekly meal plan at the end of the post! FYI – this is a looooong one!
We started our adventures at Port Aransas with all of Jon’s family! We had a great time soaking up the sun and playing in the sand! We even introduced the Bowl Game to them and played it every night. If you haven’t heard of that one, you’re seriously missing out.
Adele (our suburban) was seriously loaded down. Jon Boy deserved a Packing Gold Star for this one. No idea how he fit everything. Corey obviously just wanted to be in style for his trek to the beach.
We stayed at the most beautiful house with a huge private pool just minutes from the beach. Click here for more info on the house if you’re looking for a great place to stay!
Little Miss Pilgrim Hat is a serious beach lover. She wasn’t afraid of the sand or the water. She’s actually so brave that it slightly terrifies me!
And she looks pretty darn good in some sunnies. She’s a definite beach babe.
After about 3 seconds of being unsure about the water, she was very happy to be in the ocean in Daddy’s arms!
Big Man however only wanted to play baseball (no shocker there). He had zero interest in going in the ocean, but it’s all good. He had fun and that’s what matters! Pick your battles, ‘m I right?
Jon Boy and I even got a WHOLE HOUR by ourselves at the beach while the kids slept and family watched the monitors. It was pretty glorious. You know, you never call going away with your kids a vacation… it’s a trip. But it was an awesome trip!
Every night, the family took turns cooking. On our night to cook, we made Citrus Balsamic Marinated Pork Tenderloin…
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Glaze (trim stem off Brussels, cut them in half, toss with olive oil + salt + pepper, roast at 400 for 20 minutes, drizzle Balsamic Glaze over top, toss, serve)…
… and for dessert – THE Chocolate Cake! We were celebrating my sister-in-law’s birthday, and she said she wanted chocolate. So… chocolate it was!
Jon Boy also got a smore for dessert one night, and obviously he was a very happy camper!
On the way home, little miss got to have her very first french fry. She’s a serious fan. Now I know she’s my kid for sure!
We were home for just about 36 hours before we left for our next beach trip! We went to Galveston to celebrate the fourth of July with some of our best friends!
Obviously, we had to get the kids matching outfits for their picture session. Their outfits are all from Smockingbird. They’ve just posted their fall outfits and ohhhhhh I’m so sorry little wallet.
Sweet boys!
Definitely going on the Christmas card! Photo cred and outfit ideas are all given to my bestie, Rachel!
She’s a keeper!
Sidenote: do any other parents out there look at their kids and think, “Woah. Those are mine!?” Sometimes it just hits me out of no where that we’ve got kids. As if I could forget really, but man. Sometimes I still think I’m supposed to be playing with Barbies and eating frozen hash browns while watching The Rescuers Down Under. I realize that’s very specific, but, that’s where my head is at!
For our fourth of July dinner, we had Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Beef Tacos! We’re heading back to the beach later this month with friends, and we plan on making this again. It’s perfect beach food because it’s done before you head out that morning (and it’s pretty delicious, too).
I felt very patriotic in my little getup on our way to Galveston! Top | Earrings | Shorts | Sandals
My best friend, Morgan, came in town for the week! We had an amazing time just living the everyday suburban mom life together! She ran errands with us, dropped and picked kids up from camp, watched Harry Potter with me every day during nap time, and helped wrangle kids while I cooked. She’s one-of-a-kind! It’s always a great time when Aunt Mo is in town!
This was our spread one night: Buffalo Chicken Meatballs, Roasted Shaved Brussels Sprouts, and Chrissy Teigen’s Tangy Herb Sesame Slaw.
Jon Boy and I also celebrated seven years of marriage this month! Hard to believe! I feel like I’ve known him my whole life and yet also that we just met yesterday. We celebrated at our favorite local spot: Red Fish Seafood Grill.
Corey got to have his bestie stay with us for a couple of days, too! The boys had fun swimming in the pool in the backyard, watching movies, eating yummy treats, and living their best slumber party life!
Corey got to experience his first “big boy” movie this weekend! We saw Toy Story 4, and if you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it! We laughed, I cried, and Corey was absolutely entranced.
This outfit is brought to you by Amazon! Dress | Earrings | Shoes | Necklace (not Amazon, but still a fave)
Little Lady was all dressed up for the occasion, too! She stayed behind because I doubt her attention span would be longer than say… 45 seconds. She sure did look cute though! Dress is from Presley Couture | Bow is from Willow Crowns.
Weekly Meal Plan
Monday: Chicken Piccata, Cauliflower Mash, Roasted Broccoli (broccoli tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper – roast at 400 for 20 minutes)
Tuesday: Taco Stuffed Peppers, Mexican Cauliflower Rice, Mexican Veggie Medley
Wednesday: Steak with Piquillo Peppers + Capers, Twice Baked Cauliflower, Frozen Veggie from the stash
Thursday: Whiskey + Sugar Salmon, Black Bean Salad (recipe coming soon – there’s a theme here…), Roasted Cauliflower (same as broccoli above)
Friday: Cauliflower Pizza (sooooo good) from Locatelli’s – Door Dash delivers! Praise!
I hope you loved this Life Lately and Weekly Meal Plan post!