Weekend Fun Recap: July 11–13

How was your weekend? Did you make time for fun? This weekend had ups and downs—the biggest down being that we had to come home from Disney World (though we did spend Saturday morning at EPCOT). It was, as previously mentioned, really, really hot, but it’s hot here at home, too! And we don’t have Tiana’s Bayou Adventure. I’ll share more about our Disney trip soon, so here I’ll focus on some other fun highlights—including road trip snacks and a reading recap.

Buc-ee’s

We’ve only had Buc-ee’s on our normal Disney World route for a few years, but it has revolutionized the trip. Buc-ee’s is like a QuikTrip had a 12-pound baby with a Cracker Barrell. Apparently these road trip wonderlands are only in the southeast for now. That alone means you should probably make the drive to Disney if you’re farther afield.

These gas station/convenience store combos are massive. The bathrooms are huge, clean, and private (God bless whoever came up with the “occupied/vacant” slider). The snack options are endless. You can buy a bathing suit, home décor of the “Live Laugh Love” variety, and for all I know a three-piece suit as well. It’s become our one-stop shop for gas, a bathroom break, and dinner.

Don’t miss the BBQ brisket sandwiches or the chicken fajita tacos if you want a hot dinner. For snacks, I love the candied almonds (parceling them out every few miles makes the trip go faster). I don’t like to share those, so I usually let the kids grab a Ghirardelli square from the candy section for under a dollar. And this time, I had seen someone posting about Candied Flavored Pickle Chips on Instagram right before we left. I like all those words but wasn’t entirely sure how they fit together, so I of course had to try them for myself. They were basically sweet pickle slices. 10/10 would recommend.

The downsides of Buc-ee’s are that it can get VERY crowded (hold on to your kids), and there isn’t really a good place to sit and eat. Don’t despair over the length of the bathroom line; it moves very quickly. But be prepared to eat in the car, and be extra careful navigating the gas station. You might be the only person watching where you’re going.

Re-entry

Despite my Disney love, I am a homebody at heart, so I love getting back home. The problem with this is that I can tend to hit the ground running and turn into a drill sergeant. I feel the need to catch up on all my tasks immediately, and people need to get on board or get out the way.

This time, I tried to slow myself down and be much more mindful of what had to be done versus what I wanted to get done. We needed groceries; the laundry could wait. I chose to spend the time to make jalapeno popper deviled eggs for our small group dinner and unpack later. I lingered over lunch when my daughters wanted to rehash favorites (and least favorites) from our trip. And I even let my toddler nap a little longer when it was time to leave for dinner. He was so cute and sleeping so hard I couldn’t bring myself to wake him!

Yes, my suitcase is still on the floor, and yes, I’m behind on laundry. But I was able to actually enjoy my Sunday. Maybe leaving the suitcase out (and me not being a monster the first day back) will convince my husband we should take advantage of Disney’s Bounce Back offer…

Small Group Dinner

We enjoyed another dinner with our small group Sunday night. My husband turned *redacted* years old last month, so he got to choose our cake. He went with cookies and cream, and it was another hit! We appreciated getting to be with friends, let the kids play, and share about how we see God working in our lives this summer.

Reading Recap

Since we were at Disney for the week, I wanted a short book that I could read via the Kindle app in case I ended up nap trapped like I did last year. The toddler ended up doing MUCH better sleeping on his own than he did last year. But I still appreciated having the option to read on my phone since he was in our room. He needs it pretty dark to settle down and sleep, and since we were trying to be in bed on the early side with him, it was nice to have the option to read for a while without needing a booklight.

I read Laura Vanderkam’s 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think about five years ago, so I was due for a reread. This book has greatly influenced how I think about time, informing how I set up my time budget and inspiring me to create a list of 100 dreams. Laura urges readers to think about their time in blocks of 168 hours—that is, 24/7 actually multiplied out. She explains how we really can fit full lives into those 168 hours, particularly if we have a good grasp on what we want those hours to include.

Laura wrote this book when she was pregnant with her second child. She now has five kids, multiple podcasts, and at least eight books with two more in the works. She also regularly takes her brood on local and international adventures. She’s been an excellent test case for her own material, and her ability to find time for fun in her full life regularly inspires me. This book is a great way to get started with applying her principles to your life. And since it clocks in at about 240 pages, you’ll only need about 4 of your 168 hours to read it.

I got to spend the majority of my past 168 hours at Disney, enjoying time with my family. Our drive time totaled about 16 hours, or 10% of the week. A good bit of the car time involved a screaming toddler, carsickness, and trading off driving duties. But it was well worth it to get to have a fantastic week. And when I see it as just 10%, it’s easy to keep the time investment in perspective.

How did you spend your last 168 hours? What was your fun highlight? What’s your favorite Buc-ee’s snack? Let me know in the comments! I love hearing from you.

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