Weekend Fun Recap: July 4–7

Hooray for long weekends! I really appreciated having my husband off work and snuck in a little extra reading time while he hung with the kids. Keep reading to the end to find out what I couldn’t put down! But first, we (hopefully) have a new Fourth of July tradition, the kids review The Empire Strikes Back, and I beg the Internet to help me figure out my hair.

Happy Fourth!

The Fourth has always been a tough holiday for us to figure out. Our go-to community often celebrates with family, and being outside in the heat isn’t my favorite. We’ve tried various things over the years, but nothing has coalesced into a tradition. This year, though, our neighbors/church friends invited us to their 15^th annual Fourth of July homemade ice cream competition (churn-off?). I love ice cream about as much as I love breakfast food, so this was perfect.

Yes, it was hot. And yes, the toddler got into mud. But since we live right down the road, we were able to run him home to get a bath and watch Bluey with Dad while I came back for the ice cream. I was quite impressed by the delicious variety and need to step up my game! I have a killer chocolate sauce recipe (thanks GG!), but I might need to invest in a better ice cream maker and try out some new recipes. What a hardship…

New(er) Hair

Speaking of appliances, it’s time for me to crowdsource some hair tool recommendations. I’ve shared previously about my awesome friend who does my hair, and this time she helped me break away from my “usual.” I’m super happy about my new highlights, and she showed me how to style it in more of a curly/wavy fashion that I’ve been wanting to try.

But she was asking me what tools I have at home, and the answer was “none.” “But you have a hairdryer, right?” No, no I do not. I wasn’t using them, so I decluttered them. I am at the point where I’m willing to invest some time in learning how to achieve this style and some money in some tools to help. So what do you love? I need a hairdryer and a wand at minimum. The more foolproof, the better.

The kids also got (long overdue) haircuts, and I can’t get over how much older (and cuter) the toddler looks. The girls’ hair also looks so cute nicely styled! (I really need that hairdryer.) Something to know about Enneagram Ones is that we LOVE an upgrade, and the haircuts fit the bill!

Family Movie Night Strikes Back

As I predicted, family movie night is here to stay. Oldest kid was begging to leave the Fourth of July party so we could start The Empire Strikes Back. This seemed like a good trade to us instead of fighting crowds to see fireworks, so we watched half the movie Friday night and finished it up Saturday night. The toddler was once again eager to go to bed, telling me “Dawth Vadah is too scawy for you.” I assured him I was brave enough to handle Dawth Vadah. The girls didn’t appreciate that the movie ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. And despite their both having read the Little Golden Book for this movie thanks to my low-stakes collection, they were both surprised by the big reveal. I think they’ll really be shocked by the next one!

Reading Recap

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi was my book club’s selection this month. This is definitely a character-driven novel, but it was a beautiful celebration of kindness and generosity. It was perhaps slightly over the top in certain ways, but it was still a thoroughly enjoyable read. The main character reminded me of Louise Penny’s Armand Gamache (start with Still Life; these need to be read in order) and gave me a little more hope for humanity despite being fictional. The middle is a little slow but sweet, but the ending packs a punch.

How was your weekend? Do you have a great Fourth of July tradition, ice cream recipe, or hairdryer? Let me know in the comments!

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