Mommy Camp {Life Lately}

Here’s what we did while the kids were home from camp for two weeks!

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Both boys are looking so big and tall these days!!

Mommy Camp

After we got home from the beach, I intentionally kept the boys home from camps for another week for a couple of reasons, the top one being so we could all have a week to just chill out.

I am grateful that I am able to work when I want to work and take time off to be with them when I need to. We had a great time during “mommy camp” week.

I asked them for some ideas of activities of what we could do together, but instead of listing all the activities, they said they really just wanted to stay home and play. In this over-scheduled modern life that we live in, that’s exactly what we did!

And over the course of the week the most magical thing happened: they became friends.

While they’ve always played well together when we travel or occasionally when we have a third kid in the mix, they really played this week. It could be the time freedom, but I think it’s mostly that Birch is able to play more “big boy” games – mostly Legos! Mazen finally let Birch hold some of his most prized ships (after some lessons in how to hold them).

By the end of the second weekend, they had played Legos for 4 entire days straight (with a few breaks for screens and meals!)

Everyone was happy about it!

Lazy Mornings + Wild Babies + Smoothie Bowls

We all loved the lazy mornings with nowhere to be. We lounged in robes and slippers.

Birch saw me eating a smoothie bowl and was excited to try one!

I let him eat it on the coffee table so we could watch Wild Babies on Netflix. We loved the series, which was generally not sad or too scary (except when the baby sea turtles get eaten.)

We discussed lots of life lessons the wild animal babies learned:

Always listen to your mother
Do not talk to strangers
Stay close to home
Lean on trusted adults in your family
Don’t wander off in public

An Extra Camper

We had an extra camper for a day when our cousin Nash joined us! They boys made bubble hair and beards with the Disney wand.

And we went to Kung Fu Tea for a treat!

Nature Lessons

Lesson number 1: don’t wander off at Nona and Grandpa’s house or you might run into the owner of this snake skin!!!

We also made friends with a friendly praying mantis!

Physical Fitness

I started doing a little packing as we edge closer to our move out date from our rental (first week of August).

We visited a playground….

…and did this awesome HIIT workout from YouTube since Birch had a meltdown at ACAC Kidszone the day before. I LOVED this format! (And also miss having a Peloton at home sooooo much).

Oh and there was pool time!!!

Rest Time

And rest time after playing too hard.

The Entertainment

When I needed a break, the entertainment arrived after his workday.

I went out with friends for pina coladas at Tonic.

And took Lauren out for her birthday <3

Field Trip

We did have one very important field trip I strategically scheduled: the dentist! As usual I held my breath and the boys had a cavity-free visit. Locals we love our dentist – Charlottesville Pediatric Dentistry. They’re so good with the boys.

Afterwards we went by Target for a few supplies, and I went crazy looking at the organizing bins.

We also went by Bricks + Minifigs for a few Lego accessories, including a Darth Vader helmet that was lost at the pool (oops). The store is owned by my friend Nick, and they buy-sell-trade all things Lego!