Weekend Fun Recap: August 15–17

How was your weekend? We kept things low-key since my girls went back to school this week. We love their school and their teachers, but it’s still a big transition for everyone! (Carpool lines are not fun.) I’ve got something fun planned for next weekend though, so stay tuned! We did manage to squeeze in some belated birthday celebrations (keep the fun going), games for those that enjoy them, and time with friends. Keep reading for spoilers on whether I enjoyed my book club’s selection this month!

Birthday Brunch

Surprise! I had brunch at my favorite local place again! Two of my dearest long-time friends have July birthdays, so this was my slightly belated, truly selfless gift to them. It’s hard to coordinate the schedules of three working moms with eight kids ranging from preschool to high school between us. But we persisted and had a lovely morning together. Also their sourdough cinnamon rolls can be used as currency. (I brought some home to my mom to thank her for keeping my toddler occupied while I actually had an uninterrupted conversation with other adults.)

Back-to-School Tailgate

We capped my girls’ first week of school with a tailgate before the first football game. The school put on a great event, including balloon animals, ice cream, and face paint. This is our second year at the school, and it was nice to feel a lot more connected than we did at this event last year!

The kids wanted to stay for the football game, but we knew they were too tired! We’ll wait until later in the season when routines are more established before we stay out late. (We’ll also get a babysitter because an exhausted toddler at a football game isn’t fun for anyone.)

Family Game Night

We didn’t make it to family game night this week. We tried on Saturday, but everyone was tired. An early bedtime for the kids was the right call! However, my husband did play Disney Villainous with the girls on Sunday.

This game is complicated and not my favorite, but the girls had fun! It says it’s for ages 10 and up, and I think that’s accurate in general. It sounds like my 7-year-old was able to generally keep up but had some confusion over the rules. My 8-year-old likes it, but we’ve been working our way up to games like this for a while. And she inherited my love of rules and accuracy, which helps with board games, if not for making us fun at parties.

I personally find this game immensely frustrating because you work really hard toward a goal while other players try to thwart you. If you’re not an Enneagram One, you might not find that quite as enraging as I do. My Enneagram Five husband likes thinking through the various steps of the strategy. And my kids enjoy getting to see some favorite film characters in a different context.

If you aren’t a Disney person, A) you should be, or B) you can try the Star Wars or Marvel versions. Once you master your preferred version, you can add an expansion pack. I might get this one because it includes Pete, which my daughter used to call “wegular Pete,” not to be confused with “’tinky Pete” from Toy Story 2. I’ve had a soft spot for them both ever since. The Pixar expansion pack doesn’t include “’tinky Pete,” but it does have Lotso, which might be fun.

Small Group

We had a regular small group meeting this week, so no deviled eggs or cookie cakes were consumed. However, we did enjoy our time together and had a good discussion. I also got my birthday present, which was basically made in a lab for me:

My friends saw this Kickstarter on Instagram; knew that yes, I would absolutely love a game based on gathering, organizing, and admiring good books; and pre-ordered it for my birthday back in April. It is finally here, and I can’t wait to give it a try! (I’ll have to wait a few weeks for my family game night pick, but I can probably convince one of the girls to choose it.)

Reading Recap

My book club selected The Rosie Project this month, so I knocked that one out this week. This was a reread for me, and I enjoyed it. While I remembered how it ended, I had forgotten how much language there was in the book, so heads up if that’s an issue for you. Still, the characters are likeable, and you root for them throughout the story.

Don, the protagonist, has Asperger syndrome but isn’t aware of it (though he is self-aware about his social challenges). Nevertheless, he’s determined to find a wife—via scientific questionnaire, of course. When he meets Rosie, he immediately rejects her as unsuitable. Yet he keeps finding himself drawn to her tendency to disrupt his carefully planned life—and having fun along the way.

I’ve also read The Rosie Effectand The Rosie Result. They were fun too, but the first one is my favorite. I think Rosie acts out of character in one of them (probably The Rosie Result). Good for creating conflict that creates plot; not so good for continuity. So no, these aren’t an exception to the sequel-isn’t-as-good-as-the-original rule. But check them out if you want to spend more time with the characters!

Little Golden Book

In the spirit of fun and as a nod to my favorite low-stakes collection, I’ve decided to add a relevant Little Golden Book to every post. I’m pretty sure there’s a Little Golden Book for everything, but we’ll find out! Sleeping Beauty goes along with Villainous, featuring one of the OG villains, Maleficent. I don’t have this one yet, but I think it would be a worthy addition to my collection!

How do you handle back-to-school season? Do you have any fun traditions for kicking off a new year? Do you know of a book series that improves as it goes on (the Inspector Gamache series comes to mind for me)? Let me know in the comments—I love hearing from you!

*This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase using these links, I receive a small commission, which I greatly appreciate!