We’ve had a fun and out-of-the-ordinary weekend! Sadie girl got to go on a special trip to an indoor waterpark, Splash Lagoon, for her birthday gift from my parents! After their night away, we all reunited and went to a fall festival in our neighborhood together.
It has been a great weekend, with a mix of time with our littles, special memories for Sadie with my parents, and family time together at the fall festival.
Friday Fun: Splash Lagoon & Time with Dak and Deck 🤗
On Friday morning, we got Sadie’s schoolwork done for the day (homeschool flexibility for the win!) before my mom and dad picked her up for her big birthday trip! They drove about two hours to Erie, PA, to visit Splash Lagoon.
They had a blast at Splash Lagoon! Sadie loved the lazy river, wave pool, and arcade. They stayed overnight in a hotel and Sader Tot thought that was just the coolest thing! She especially loved the dedicated time away with her Pap Pap and Yaya. I’m so thankful to my parents for taking time out of their busy lives to spend a night away with Sadie. I know these are memories she will cherish forever 🩷
Meanwhile, back in Pittsburgh, Mordecai, Dakota, and I had a chill day. We went to the grocery store—where someone asked me if Dak and Deck were twins 😂—and made an apple pie.
Dakota is now a “sink baby” like Mordecai was! It’s just the perfect spot to put her while I do things around the kitchen. Mordecai decided to climb in with her and they played until he was ready to help me cut apples for the pie.
Dakota and Mordecai got into some trouble by getting into our cabinet and playing with a bag of flour. I am in for a wild ride when Dakota starts crawling!
In the evening, Jimmy worked on our garage. We finally got a new garage door installed! This was a big project for Jimmy and it looks great. I’m so glad it’s done for two reasons: I missed Jimmy (he was working in there every evening) and the flow of our house was all mixed up because we usually leave via our garage. Jimmy finished that project… and now he is talking about re-building a retaining wall in our front yard 😂
Saturday Sunshine: A Fall Festival 🍂
We woke up tired on Saturday — we’d used the night Sadie was away as our chance to start sleep training Dakota. We figured the first night would probably be the loudest, and since the girls share a room, this felt like our best opportunity!
We made sure to treat ourselves to Starbucks as a reward for surviving the night. I had a blonde roast with extra cream and Jimmy ordered a pecan oat milk cortado!
My mother-in-law watched Mordecai and Dakota for a couple of hours while Jimmy mowed the lawn and I caught up on tidying and laundry. Malcolm intently watched me eat salmon for lunch. Don’t worry, I shared some with him 😊
In the afternoon, my parents and Sadie arrived home from Erie! We got to hear all about Splash Lagoon and the hotel stay. I made chicken wings for dinner while we caught up. Then it was off to our neighborhood’s fall festival!
The festival was lots of fun for everyone—live music, vendors, food, bounce houses, and games! We chatted with neighbors and enjoyed watching the kids play.
We walked home from the festival tired and happy from a great day!
Sunday: Church and Gearing Up for the Week ✝️
Saturday night was another rough night with Dakota. Jimmy sent me the screenshot below of all the (20!) notifications we got in the night from Dakota’s baby monitor. 80 decibels of crying x 20. Ooof! He and Sadie slept on the couch in the living room so she could get some rest.
We ordered Starbucks on the way to church to perk ourselves up. Are we sensing a theme here? Coffee cures all 😉
Just for fun, here’s a picture of Sadie below in 2019 wearing the same outfit Dakota is wearing above. These hand-me-downs are so nostalgic for me!!
After church, we headed home for lunch and naps for the little ones. Sadie hung out with a neighbor friend and I took Niva on a walk!
Once Niva was done with her walk, I did a little meal prep for the week by cooking ground beef for meat sauce, roasting sweet potatoes and vegetables, and cooking ratatouille. Then we piled back into the car and headed back to church for the evening service. Jimmy and I are taking a parenting training class and it has been great!
Other Notes and Thoughts 📝
- I wrote something in the Reminders app on my phone recently, just one word, and now I can’t remember what word it was. Anyways, I read the word and… it meant nothing to me. I was like what is this? I hope it wasn’t important?! 🫣
- I was at Walmart the other day when I saw a mom with a baby who had a hemangioma on her head and I took a deep breath and started a conversation. I showed her Dakota’s hemangioma and we both discussed how we didn’t want to put our babies through propranolol treatment and it was so nice to just vent with someone who 100% understood and was in the same position. I love how God puts people in our paths at just the right time 🙏🏻
- My sister and I were discussing how when we find a piece of clothing we love, we buy it in every color. Clothes for me are almost exclusively utility. But I love dressing my kids in cute clothes 👗
- Mordecai did his first full week of pre-reading curriculum this past week and loved it! He learned letters A through E. I’m looking forward to working with him more this week ✏️
- I got a local cake and cupcake order for a first birthday party! The family has nut allergies and dairy intolerances and I’m nervous! I don’t want to have any cross contamination issues and I want everything to taste just as good as cupcakes and a cake with dairy. There will be lots of testing before the order is due 🍰
That’s a wrap on our weekend! We have a busy week ahead with homeschool, kids club at the library, Bible study at church, and possibly attending Pittsburgh’s Oktoberfest(!).
Living My Full Life 
What a great weekend Sadie was so much fun! Grest pics thanks for sharing!
Love ❤️ You!
Dad
🙂
Thank you for taking her!! Love you!
I hope the sleep training goes well and you can all get restorative rest. I don’t know about you but I always feel extra-tired this time of the year anyway, and that’s without three children to look after.
Sadie’s trip away sounds so special. Lots of wonderful formative memories 🙂
We had a storm here at the weekend so it was mainly time indoors. I worked on polishing my CV (a “resume” in US English, I don’t know if you’d ever use “CV” there?) and signed up for a short online course in environmental sustainability. I’m trying to broaden my skills and think about new directions.
Thank you! The sleep training was a success and she is now sleeping through the night—woo hoo! I wish we would have done it sooner, lol!
We sometimes say CV here, but mostly resume!! I love hearing different words that we use. It fascinates me! I’m reading a book by an author from Scotland (Jenny Colgan) and in the novel, the characters are from Manchester and went to New York City and didn’t know what a root beer float was. I was like wait… doesn’t everyone know what a root beer float is?! Haha. I’m sure there are things like that for you, too! I always get confused with jumper/sweater and crisps/chips!
Anyways, off of my linguistic tangent! I’m proud of you for broadening your skills. That’s a huge asset to your CV, yourself, and employers! I hope all is going well with wedding planning and that your October has been lovely thus far 😊
Yay! I’m so happy for you all that she is sleeping better.
I confess I had to Google root beer float! I’ve never seen an ice cream float in the UK, but US-themed restaurants would probably have them. I find linguistic differences really interesting too.
Thank you for the encouraging words 😊 I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching about my job recently and I want to change careers, so I’m slowly working on it. I’ll reply to your letter soon with all the updates!
Hope you’ve had a great weekend!
It’s such a game-changer to be getting more sleep and having her in her own crib versus our bed!
LOL about having to Google a root beer float! This is so fascinating! Also, what US-themed restaurants are in the UK?! I’m hoping they’re not awful chains, haha.
I’m excited for you and can’t wait to hear about the career shift in your future! I know whatever you decide to do, you will do it so well! You always put a lot of thought and intention behind what you do and I’ve long admired that 🙂
Thank you for the kind words about my career thoughts 😊
The big American chain restaurants have a large presence in the UK: Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Five Guys etc.
My closest city has a few independent American-themed restaurants, mainly burgers and milkshakes.
Of course! I know whatever you pursue, you will do great! Truly.
This is fascinating about the American chains in the UK! Pretty much all of those restaurants are seen as not-so-great here. I am always curious what other countries think of “typical” American food, haha. I guess our chains speak for us 😂
I’m always interested in American-themed restaurants!! I had no idea this was a thing!
Wow, your mom looks so so young!
Hahah right!! She will love to hear that, Cheila! One time we were at a store together when Sadie was a toddler and a person thought she was Sadie’s mom!
it truly was such a fun weekend- making memories with our grandchildren is the greatest gift!! We are truly blessed to be able to spend time with them all. I’m glad Sadie had a nice time with us old peeps- snuggling in the hotel was my favorite!
Spending time with your whole family at the fall fest was so sweet —- it didn’t hurt that the country band played some Eric Church either 😎
thanks for all the great pics (also- that apple pie was delicious!)
love you,
Madre
We’re so blessed to have you and dad as part of the kids lives! Thank you, thank you, thank you!! Sadie said she liked rolling over you guys in the hotel bed and it reminded me of how I used to do that when I was scared in the night as a kid!
I really enjoyed the little fall fest and the awesome music!
Love you so much!