Surviving Summer (with Toddlers)

I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that we'll have TWO very wild and crazy toddlers this summer to entertain. 

The one thing my kids absolutely hate is being stuck inside on the weekends so we usually do our best to be out and about or try to spend as much time as possible outside playing. We're currently trying to spruce up our backyard in preparation for lots of outdoor entertaining and play time. We also just power washed our tried and true favorite toys from last summer and it got me thinking that I should share our top 10 items (in no particular order) with y'all today. Most of the toys are inexpensive and we'll get mileage out of them for years to come...

1. Mini Pool: We picked up a plastic pool last year and have filled it with water for some activities and sand for others! An easy way to cool down, we get so much use out of this pool!

2. Sand Tools: To go with your water or sand play in the mini pool! Caroline also uses hers to "garden."

3. Contigo Water Bottle: Pretty much the kiddie version of the Yeti.

4. Tree Swing: The popular and most fought over backyard toy for our kids. 

5. Radio Flyer Grandstand 3 in 1 Wagon: Y'all know my love for the wagon so I won't even go into a long explanation as to why it's worth every single penny. See this, this, and this.

6. Water Activity Play Table:  A gift for Caroline's first birthday that has been one of our favorites!

7. Gazillion Bubble Hurricane Machine: Cheap entertainment!!! Bubbles are always such a hit.

8. JJ Cole Picnic Blanket: We've used this at the beach, at the park, in the backyard and more! See this previous post for more information! 

9. Velo Balance Bike:  Caroline is just starting to get the hang of this but she loves her bike. Right now she's still just walking with the bike between her legs but by the end of summer I foresee her going 15 mph down the sidewalk. 

10. Pop Up Play Tent Set: This toy is so versatile. We love busting out the tents inside the living room on rainy days or popping them up outside for play time. I love that all 3 pieces fold up into a tiny circle for easy storage and transportation.

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Also, not toy related but I wanted to share a game changer popsicle my friend Lisa introduced to us last year - Slow Melt Mighty Minis. These popsicles stay frozen longer than regular popsicles which helps cut down on the number of destroyed shirts, sticky fingers and stained furniture around our house. I stock up the second these suckers go on sale at the Teeter. They are also a wonderful bath time bribe tool for us.

And one more thing - Natives! We love Natives shoes for daycare, outdoor play, splash grounds and more during the summer! In fact, I wrote a whole post on these shoes here and am always getting questions about Caroline's pink shoes! Keep an eye on Amazon because they run sales all the time. Sometimes as low as $11!

Okay, seriously the LAST thing and then I'm done - skin protection. I highly recommend grabbing a ThermaCell for your backyard fun this summer to avoid mosquito bites and Blue Lizzard sunscreen to prevent sunburns. The ThermaCell is the only mosquito repellant we've found that works and it does not require spraying our kids down. We use ours for parties, picnics and other outdoor fun.

Now tell me, what are some of your mini's favorite outdoor toys?! We are always looking to add to our collection!

A Florida Wedding Weekend!

We are back from a beautiful long weekend in Florida! My best friend, roommate and sorority sister from college got married and the wedding festivities could not have been more perfect!

 

We arrived on Thursday afternoon so I could spend some time with my family before the wedding events began. Also, the kids did surprisingly well on both flights (despite delays) so I feel they deserve a shout out for good behavior.

Within seconds of hugging Grandma and Grandpa (G&G) this little fishy was begging to go swimming in the pool. In typical fashion G&G had purchased one of every pool toy from the store for the kiddos so they were in absolute paradise for the weekend.

Uncle Ian was so pumped to see the kiddos.

 And so was my bestie Shannon.

Moments before bedtime Grandma surprised Caroline with an early birthday cake. They won't be able to make it to her upcoming birthday party but still wanted to have a little celebration with presents and dessert. Of course this meant the kiddos went to bed waaaaaaaaay later than normal but it was totally worth the few extra hours of high pitched squeals from tornado-Caroline. 

SO MANY ICING FINGER DIPS.

Caroline loved all of her presents but her absolute favorite gift from G&G was the Toddler Cosmetics Set. Oh my goodness, Caroline is SO in to my makeup these days so this gift totally stole the show. In second place was a new set of Chef Cookware for her kitchen.

On Friday morning Lindsey, Ryan and Jackson arrived and joined in on the fun for the rest of the weekend while I was off doing wedding things.

It was a crazy, loud weekend at G&G's house but my parents were just so dang happy to have all their grandbabies under one roof. And we were all very thankful to have dad HOME for this visit instead of the hospital. I don't think he stopped smiling all weekend.

 Aunt Lindsey & Uncle Ryan with all the babies!

For real, is there anything cuter than babies in a sink tub? No. The answer is no.

Meanwhile, back in wedding land I was busy having the best time with the girls. On Friday morning we got manicures and pedicures, lunched together at Prato, rehearsed for the big day and then celebrated with dinner at Cask & Larder.

It was so nice to be able to break away with Matt both evenings for fun wedding events too. On Friday night we had such a great time at the rehearsal dinner.

Bright and early on Saturday the wedding prep was in full force! May surprised us all with the sweetest rompers to wear while we got ready.

 Such a stunning bridey!

{the dress}

It took three of us to put her veil in...backwards. Oops. She was the most chill bride of all time though and wasn't even phased when we announced to her that we needed to fix it seconds before we walked down the aisle.

Such a beauty.

 

Finally married (after dating for longer than a decade)!

The wedding venue was unreal - right on the water with the most gorgeous sunset.

And there is almost a full can of Big Sexy Hair Spray in my hair.

One of my favorite wedding details was the place settings. Each seat had a picture of the guest with the bride and groom. I loved it. The photo for our seats was from the time May and Justin came to visit us and we went hiking (post here).

The perfect finale to a great weekend! (May promises to send more wedding detail pictures as she receives them from her talented photographer so stay tuned for an update to this post)