Memorial Day at the Bowl & Pitcher {Camping}

Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is easing back into the swing of things after a long restful Memorial Day Weekend. We spent our holiday weekend taking Lincoln on his very first camping trip! Little man was so excited and spent all of Friday at school telling his his teachers, "mommy, daddy, me camping!"

We had very low expectations for this first big trip, and as a result wanted to be fairly close to home in case our first big camping adventure was a complete failure. I'm happy to report that it wasn't a failure at all! We did end up leaving early to head home but I truly think that was more because of the heat and lack of activities more than anything else.

Because we wanted to stay close to home, we booked our reservation at the Bowl & Pitcher in Riverside State Park. We originally booked 2 days and had planned on staying Saturday afternoon through Monday morning. The first 24 hours were awesome. Lincoln had so much fun helping set up camp, explore the area around us, dig in the dirt, and playing in the hammock. I had also brought a long paints, and a couple of different crafts for him to do during the downtime which he got a huge kick out of! I also bought him this book to really get him in the mood and to try and alleviate any potential night time fears about sleeping outside. He LOVED the book and the sounds it made and was so comfortable sleeping in the tent.

We did end up leaving Sunday evening, instead of spending the last night there. This was mostly due to the heat (it was HOT HOT HOT) and by about 5PM, we were all getting a little testy with one another. We had planned on spending a lot of time hiking and exploring to take up most of our day on Sunday, but little man was so enamored with the tent and campsite itself, that he didn't want to do much exploring (which is unusual for  our little dude). As a result we spent a lot of time sitting around the campsite, which limited activities (other than the paints and a few toys we had brought along). Because of this, our usually happy camper (ha!) was not his normal happy self by Sunday evening and asked to "go home."

By that point, I was desperately wanting a shower and was not looking forward to another night of sharing a twin size blow up mattress with my wiggly little due, so we decided to pack up early and head home.

The rest of the weekend was spent spending time playing in the backyard and getting our patio "summer ready!" All in all, it was a really great weekend!

2017 Summer Bucket List

Does anybody else out there consider Memorial Day Weekend to be the official kickoff to summer? We we definitely do around here! And with that, I thought it only fitting that I write up our summer bucket list, so without further ado, here are a few things we are hoping to do this summer!

Camping! We'll quickly cross this off our list as we have a Memorial Day camping trip planned for the long weekend. 

Lots and lots of lazy evening walks to The Scoop! 

Elkfest down in Browne's Addition is another yearly favorite. 

What's summer without cracker jacks and a baseball game? I'm hoping to introduce Lincoln to his first minor league game this summer. 

4th of July Fireworks! 

While it's no Disneyland, I'm so excited to take little man to his first theme park! Silverwood is a must for the Alexander family this summer. 

It's not summer without a trip, or two or three to Hat Island! We're headed there toward the end of June and hopefully again in August for a girl's weekend and a family trip for Labor Day. 

You can find past Hat Island recaps here, here , here, here , here and here!

Splash Pads! We're lucky to live near to one of our favorite city parks, complete with a splash pad. I can picture us here on plenty of hot weekends. 

Pig Out in the Park! A Spokane staple...we'll definitely be hitting up Pig Out for yummy eats and delicious treats at the end of the summer. 

Movies in the park! Another favorite from last year...I'm really hoping we can make it to Grease, Ghostbusters, Moana and The Princess Bride!

Greenbluff! It is always so fun to visit during the fall and winter for pumpkins and Christmas trees, but it's also such a great place to pick summer peaches, blueberries and other treats! 

And of course there will be plenty of sunburns, sprinklers, BBQs and ice cream cones throughout!

Mother's Day Weekend Roundup

Happy Monday and Happy Belated Mother's Day to all you mama's out there! I hope everyone had a wonderful, restful weekend surrounded by lots of sticky kiddo fingers making you breakfast in bed ;0)

We had a full and fun weekend! Friday evening, Lincoln and I headed over to our friends house for a playdate. There toddlers, babies, and even the older next door neighbor kids came over to get in on the action. The kids ran around the yard like the little crazies they are and the moms got to catch up over cheddar bunnies and wine #classy! After a mini rainstorm we brought the kiddos inside for a little movie and more playtime before calling it a night!

Saturday morning, Kevin treated me to several hours of quiet time, while he took Lincoln to gymnastics as well as run errands. They also booked me a massage! The best gift ever for a tired, stressed mama ;0)

Saturday afternoon we got to work on putting new floors into our top floor including the living room, hallway and both bedrooms! It's still a WIP, but they are coming along. That evening I got to go out with a few friends from high school while Kevin stayed home with Lincoln (they got a guys night out!)

Sunday morning I got to sleep in and was greeted with breakfast in bed! Coffee and a fruit bowl for the win. After lounging in bed for a bit with my boys, we got up and got to work on the floors again. Slowly but surely we are making progress.

Sunday evening ended with takeout (the best!) and a movie in bed with my two favorite guys. It was the perfect Mother's Day weekend. The festivities continue this evening when my parents and sisters come over for a Mother's Day/Birthday BBQ Monday evening.

Hope everyone had a very restful and fun weekend!

Toddler Style Gymnastics

Every Saturday we take Lincoln to Gymnastics for Toddlers. It is the most adorable thing to watch and Lincoln has so much fun! At this age the parents are pretty hands on and accompany the kiddos as they go through each obstacle course.

They toddle through the balance beam, learn to do somersaults, jump on the trampoline and hang from bars. It's really amazing to see them develop physically and gain their confidence as they tackle each obstacle.

This is the second session for Lincoln (he was previously signed up last year) and it's amazing how much he's grown in the past year!

Here are a few photos from last week's class!

My Baby Sister's Baby Shower

On Saturday I hosted my baby sister's baby shower along with her friend Amanda. We did a "Where The Wild Things Are" theme and hosted it out at Chomper's Cafe in Hayden Lake, Idaho. Everything went off without a hitch (except for the 15 minutes where the alarm was set off...woops!).

She was showered with so many sweet and thoughtful presents and now we just need to wait for baby boy's arrival!

Below are a few pictures from the day:

Weekend Recap: Spring Edition

Spring is finally here!!! We took full advantage this weekend and spent each second that wasn't scheduled with some event or errand to enjoy the sunshine.

Our weekend started out how it does every weekend, with gymnastics! Afterwards, we headed home and stopped by the Manito Plant Sale. Kevin and Lincoln have been busy fixing our back yard. They've filled in divets, created a space to plant flowers and most recently built us garden vegetable boxes. We picked up several plants (lettuce, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, peas and cucumbers) to plant and got started.

Saturday afternoon I headed out to Coeur d' Alene to host my sister's baby shower. Baby Hyde is due in June and it was so fun showering the mama to be with all of the essentials. The shower was held at Chomper's Cafe out in Hayden Lake and had a "Where the Wild Things Are" theme. Everything turned out perfectly (except for the few minutes where we managed to set the alarm off) and I think Baby Boy Hyde is all set up!

Sunday morning started early with a trip over to Indaba Coffee and breakfast from The Farmer's Daughter Breakfast truck. Coffee and breakfast fueled us for a short walk through Kendall Yards before heading home to grocery shop and do more work in the backyard.

That afternoon we had a birthday party for one of Lincoln's classmates, so we headed down to Mobius to celebrate! The kiddos played, enjoyed cupcakes and sang Happy Birthday before heading home for naps! We ended the evening with dinner with nana and papa. I made the Moussaka Lasagna Rollups from Joy the Baker and they were delish!