Category: vacation

& I don’t even know.

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Eating nachos at 10am is a totally normal Sunday morning thing, right? Because that’s what I found myself doing this morning and gosh, I would really just like some normalcy this week. I was so exhausted by the time we put the boys to bed Friday night that I didn’t even have the energy to make or drink a much-needed and well-deserved cocktail. It’s been a week here, friends.

I put the boys down for a nap this morning, even though they don’t take morning naps anymore. It was partially because they needed it and partially because I needed it. Because after this doozy of a week I was just looking forward to a leisurely Sunday with shared parenting duties, as weekends should allow. Maybe a solo grocery shopping trip, some food prep for the week ahead, stuff like that. But just after midnight, Justin woke up with the stomach flu…

But let’s back up to Tuesday afternoon when Nolan started vomiting. A lot. The dog ate it. Theo played in it. I wore it. I was home from work because it was too icy for my mom to drive in that morning. I also had to miss work Monday (but worked from home) because we were iced in at my parents’. Oh, and I also had to miss work Wednesday (I normally don’t work Wednesdays but was trying to get in some hours since I had to miss Monday & Tuesday) because I didn’t want our nanny to be exposed to the stomach flu & I felt like I was coming down with it too. Ohhhh, and I also had to miss my scheduled work-from-home hours Thursday because 2/3 of our daycare provider’s kids were sick. Friday was somewhat normal. I was absolutely beat, but I got a lot accomplished. Nobody was sick, and everyone got to where they needed to be for the day. I made dinner. Everyone ate and kept it down.

Saturday was sorta normal too, except Nolan was super fussy, then ended up being awake most of the night. Theo slept through the night (which is unheard of) and then took a 3 hour nap (also never happens), and is currently napping again (NEVER happens) so with any luck he’s sleeping off any chance he has of getting this flu bug.

I suppose I might even start vomiting at some point too, huh? Not that it matters. Moms don’t get sick days. My husband was in bed for 19 hours straight, minus getting up to barf, but if I get sick I’m sure he’ll just go to work and I’ll just have to mom and be sick at the same time. That’s how it works, right?

Okay, my bitterness is starting to show. My exhaustion. My defeat. My NEED FOR A VACATION. It’s showing, isn’t it?

What I came here to say is that we had a yucky week. A week I’m not sad to send off. But it could be worse. It could be SO MUCH WORSE. We are, despite this double round of the stomach flu, healthy. We are happy. We have a roof over our heads. We have clothes on our backs and food in our bellies (some of us more than others). And even in the midst of the crappiness of our week, there were shiny moments.

I washed all the bedding, hung some pictures, and cleaned two rooms. All in the same day. Nolan had to test out the fresh bedding for me.

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I sort of accidentally agreed to renew my HelloFresh membership and a box showed up on our doorstep Wednesday. We had this yummy beef stir fry for dinner Friday night and I was reminded of just how easily these meals come together, no matter how intimidated I am.

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We’ve been talking about vacation a lot. And it got the best of us yesterday. A late lunch of Coronita and nachos was necessary. Obviously these were pretty good since I had them (albeit a much smaller version- and no beer, but that would’ve been a good idea) for breakfast again today!

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Nolan was so happy to see Theo when he woke up from his nap, that he basically forced his Cheerios on him. Theo isn’t one to say no to Cheerios, so he ate them while half sleeping. It was probably a lot sweeter in person than it is appearing in this photo, huh?

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And lastly, Nolan was looking just so sweet in his grey knee socks & Packers jersey combo!

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And you know what, there were so many other shiny moments I didn’t catch on camera. We’ll get over this flu bug. Life will continue as normal some day soon. I’m sure of it. Heck, we might even get to go on that vacation. I’m choosing eternal optimism in my head, even if I’m not really showing it right now. Tomorrow is a new day!

Summer Vacation 2016

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Saturday we returned from a wonderful week in the glorious Northwoods, just outside of Minocqua, Wisconsin. We made the trip last year when the boys were just seven weeks old and as you might assume, it was a vastly different experience with two toddlers, as opposed to two tiny infants.

With the second year under our belt, we hope to make it an annual tradition with our next door neighbors (my parents’ neighbors now, but are your childhood neighbors ever not your neighbors?) and their growing family.

We’ve been visiting Minocqua since the late 90s but sort of took a break from it in recent years, and now I cannot fathom why we ever did such a thing. As much as it feels good to be home, I easily could’ve spent the rest of the summer there.

We were largely disconnected from  “the real world”, with no wifi and very limited cell service. We didn’t watch one second of tv and I touched the newspaper only for crossword puzzle purposes. There was likely some sort of madness happening in the world, but I was blissfully unaware and that’s exactly what I needed.

Our days were spent watching bald eagles soar over the lake, listening to the loons, boating, playing cards, and enjoying one another’s company. 

I ate my weight in tortilla chips and drank enough Summer Shandy to put at least one Leinenkugel through college (yet never got drunk- the best part about slow, all-day, vacation drinking, right?!) so you can be certain I spent a good chunk of my Sunday healthy food prepping, but there are no regrets from this trip. ‘Twas a lovely time with some of my favorite people. 

Here, have a look!


Oh, and the boys had Hand, Foot, & Mouth so the first couple days they had fevers, which then turned into rashes/sores/blisters all over their little bodies but they were SUCH troopers!

Nolan went from walking to running on this trip, and also really came out of his shell in public. He’s been sort of a momma’s boy as of late, which is totally fine by me, but it’s also great for him to not be so shy in public settings.