Weekend Fun Recap: August 1–3

Ok, I can’t believe this entire weekend is AUGUST. July flew by thanks to vacation and vacation recovery. Certain school districts near us went back to school on Friday, and our start date is rapidly approaching too. But we’re still trying to make the most of our summer vacation! The book I finished this week helped me appreciate it all just a little bit more—as always, you can find my reading recap at the end of this post.

Family Game Night

It was my oldest kid’s week to pick, and she went back to her old standby Disney Scene It? Apparently our version is several editions old, and that combined with our ancient DVD player meant it was touch-and-go for a minute getting it set up. But it did work, and we actually saw some new scenes after having been so mired in repeats that we had to ban the game for a while. Oldest kid teamed up with her dad, and they won. We had to do some coaching about both gloating and sore losing. But we always enjoy getting to test out our Disney knowledge!

Hiking vs. Shopping

Our neighbors graciously took our girls with them on a little hike. I took myself shopping and picked up a few things for the (hopefully) transitional weather we might get in the next six weeks or so. It’s been brutally hot this summer, and I’ve been living in Disney t-shirts. That won’t quite cut it at all the school events coming up. My husband took the toddler to Home Depot in hopes of knocking out a few house projects. When I got home they were both watching Toy Story 2. That’s our little guy’s current favorite, but he also finds Al scary, so I think he needed his daddy with him to power through those scenes. The house projects can wait!

I enjoyed getting out by myself and picking up a few staple pieces. I found some shoes I love but that are decidedly fall-ish. Now I have yet another reason to hope the weather cools down soon! I know I’m in the minority here, but I just really love jeans. I can’t wait for it to be cool enough for them again!

Family Movie and Ice Cream Night

Saturday evening, my husband volunteered to run to the store and grab a carton of ice cream, provided we could all agree on a flavor. (He reasoned that we could feed all of us for the price of one serving at Cold Stone. He’s right, but also now my ice-cream-eating potential isn’t limited to just the one night! Which is good and bad.) My suggestion of Moose Tracks won out, and we paired it with some homemade chocolate sauce I already had in the fridge. Definitely a summer fun list–worthy treat!

Once we prepped our ice cream, we started Attack of the Clones. Now, I’m sure I have seen this movie. I was a huge Star Wars fan when I was a kid. I could remember entire sections of dialog from The Phantom Menace. But Attack of the Clones was completely unfamiliar to me. Other than a few screen grabs that have become memes, I had no memory of having seen it before. I think it’s telling that this movie came out when I was in high school—my interests had obviously shifted by then! My own kids enjoyed it, although I think they’re a little lost by the politics and still haven’t connected the dots between Palpatine and the Emperor.

Playbook Setup

Now that August is here, I spent a little time setting up my Lazy Genius Playbook for the month. I’ve written before about how I like to use these little planner-adjacent tools. I’ve got several fun projects left that I want to wrap up before summer ends. And now that we’ve committed to our Star Wars movie nights, I want to make sure I’m planning in time for those rather than feeling frustrated when my evenings get commandeered. The brain dump helps me keep track of everything I want to do—and scheduling it out is fun (for me)!

Reading Recap

On my last library run, I picked up The Many Lives of Mama Love, one of the books I was looking forward to this year. A few months ago, my book club read The Sun Does Shine, which Hardin cowrote. We were so impressed by her ability to capture Ray Hinton’s voice and tell his story clearly. Her storytelling ability and talent for condensing years into a compelling narrative shine in her own memoir about the time she spent as an addict, in prison, trying to regain custody of her son, recovering from addiction, and rebuilding her life weighed down by felony convictions.

As an Enneagram One, I can be very black and white in my thinking. I really appreciated that Hardin took full responsibility for her choices. But she also helped me have empathy for her and understand why she made some of the terrible decisions she did. And she does a great job explaining how badly the system can be stacked against people who want to do the right thing after they’ve done the wrong thing. Her experiences are heartbreaking and infuriating. Sometimes I was infuriated with her; sometimes with the system. But I left with compassion and a better understanding of why people make the choices they do—and how to help.

How was your weekend? Have kids gone back to school yet? Are you team August 1^st or team after Labor Day? Let me know in the comments—I love hearing from you!

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