Hi friends. I hope that you are well. There’s been a lot happening lately over on this side of the screen. I enjoyed a mostly quiet and relaxed weekend with Finn before diving headfirst into this week. Here’s a look at life lately.
FRIDAY
A trip to the “gymnastics gym” as Finn calls it for tot time. There is a big gymnastics center not far from us that does a daily tot time for children 5 and under. You get an hour of open gym and access to all of the equipment in the gym. Finn LOVES it! It was our first time going in a few months since they don’t offer it during the summer due to the camps they run. I am seriously considering signing Finn up for weekly toddler classes. Finn is pretty agile and I feel like he’d enjoy it and gain even more coordination/proprioception from it. I would love to hear your experience with sending three year olds to a toddler gymnastics class! I honestly think I’d sign him up for this before something like soccer shots. He’s currently doing a weekly swim lesson in addition to preschool three days a week from 9-1.
Two things here. 1) Finn’s Play-Doh obsession is still going strong. He sat in this chair for 90 minutes on Friday afternoon and played with Play-Doh (I intermittently played with him while also doing chores like folding laundry). 2) I just ordered this rug for my dining room a few weeks ago and I love it. It’s an indoor/outdoor rug so pretty sturdy but still soft and not scratchy. I feel like it warms up the room and ties things together a little more. I still need to add art on the walls in my dining room and get some kind of buffet/china cabinet for the wall where Zoey is laying.
I’ve been in my house for a little over a year now and while every room is furnished (except the covered patio)…I still have so much to do from a decorating/design/upgrade standpoint. My list is a mile long but I’m at peace with taking it in bite sized pieces because it’s all I can handle right now.
We wrapped up our day with a dog walk. Finn was living life right with his little hands behind his head. So pumped for cooler fall days to get out and walk even more!
SATURDAY
Finn and I hit the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market on Saturday morning and it was an excellent market! We came home with so many amazing things from our favorite farmers and some new to us vendors. If you live in Charlotte, I cannot recommend this market enough. It’s worth the drive and the crowds. The only thing to watch for is that you are buying from actual farmers who grew what they are selling and not produce re-sellers. I stick mostly to hall A and C. Hall A is mostly NC farmers and hall C has some fun specialty/craft kind of vendors. Here’s a helpful interactive map/calendar that indicates things like reseller versus grower, certified organic, etc.
Pro tip: admire the pumpkins in the greenery hall but do not buy them there! They are wildly overpriced. Go to Trader Joe’s or Home Depot!
Here is our amazing haul! Collards, kale, NC mountain apples, tomatoes (probably the last of the season…wah) and basil from Bluebird Farm. Eggs, greens mix and an unpictured spaghetti squash from Hoffman Heritage. Potatoes, radishes, ginger and zephyr squash from A Way of Life. South Carolina peaches from Unity Farms (also probably the last of the season). Cottage cheese and fresh mozzarella from UAV. Homemade fresh campanelle pasta and taralli sourdough crackers from Mano Bella Artisan Foods.
It was my first time buying from Mano Bella and I chatted with one of the owners who is the wife of the chef. She was so enthusiastic, personable and helpful. I will definitely be supporting this small local business moving forward.
Saturdays at the farmers market when I’m in town and not working or traveling has been a 10+ year tradition for me. I draw so much inspiration from a culinary standpoint and it feels so community-focused and wholesome. I really enjoy bringing Finn along and letting him help me pick things, talking to him about what we’re seeing and letting him interact with the farmers and vendors.
We spent our Saturday afternoon taking full advantage of the last of summer pool days. My friend Bevin invited us to hang out at their pool. Finn had a great time playing with their daughter and her husband made a great sacrifice to play in the (quite chilly) water with them. We ended up staying for almost 4 hours. I had one happy and tired boy when we headed home.
After I got my fish to bed, I parked myself on the couch to watch the Georgia/South Carolina game. GO DAWGS!
I recently made an impulse purchase of yogurt covered pretzels and they are perfection.
SUNDAY
Finn and I were at Target by 9a on Sunday but it was a frustrating and overly long trip because they are re-modeling my favorite Target so it was one of those situations where the personal care items were in the middle of the kids clothing section. I couldn’t find anything which was probably a good thing for my wallet.
While we were there, Finn’s dad texted to ask if they could grab Finn for the afternoon (I asked to keep him an extra night this week so they were wanting to spend a little more time with him) so I dropped him off with his dad on the way home from Target. It felt like serendipitous timing because I had a lot to do to prep for my mom coming to stay with us this week, work projects and Sunday was the five year anniversary of my brother’s passing.
After I dropped my Target bags at home, I immediately drove to my favorite neighborhood trails to get in a run. It was my first run in a week and exactly what I needed. These trails will never not be healing and grounding for me.
The wildest thing happened on this run. When I was driving to the park I thought to myself, “I am going to see a snake on the trails today.” Low and behold, about 3.5 miles in, I saw a big black snake crossing the path in front of me. I stopped to take a picture because I couldn’t believe it. Definitely felt like a good sign that it was a “nice” snake.
I got Finn back around 6:30p and we had a quiet evening at home.
MONDAY
Monday was a bit of an odd day. I flew down to Florida at 9a on Monday morning. Finn stayed home with our nanny. It was my first time in Florida without Finn since he was born. The purpose of my trip was to accompany my mom on a return trip later that day to Charlotte so I was only there for a few hours.
It was long enough to see my Mema and promise her that I’d be back with Finn for an extended visit SOON! My mom and I hopped on a flight back to Charlotte Monday afternoon. We got home around 6:30p.
TUESDAY
Finn is THRILLED to have his Meme here visiting. There’s been a lot of snuggling, show and tell and storytelling. After I picked him up from preschool today, I listened to him from the other room talk to her nonstop for 30 minutes. It was hysterical.
And that’s all I have for now. <3
QUESTIONS
What activities/classes does/did your toddler enjoy/learn a lot from in a fun way?
Do you have a local farmers market? Do you go/like it?
Have you seen your family lately?
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