A Blog for Blogging

Even though it’s stupid hot out, we’re having chicken pot pie for dinner tonight because I found a premade pie crust in the freezer. But I needed to make a top for it so Ava and I just made some pie crust for that + homemade pop tarts. She’s really into helping in the kitchen lately so I gave my mom the idea of getting her an apron, kids baking set and some baking related books for her birthday. But now I have no ideas left for things for us to get her and her birthday is in 2 weeks.

My husband took Isla to the lake so Ava and I spent the morning playing with baking soda + vinegar and making oobleck. She wasn’t super into touching the oobleck but spent a lot of time covering her Doorables in it and then giving them baths. I used to set up the same stuff for Isla when she was in preschool during Covid and sometimes had to stay home with me while I worked and it would keep her busy for hours. Not sure why we ever got away from it but I think it’s going to be my new default activity when I need to get anything done. It’s a little messy but tbh I’d rather wipe off a table/floor than pick up and put away a million individual toys.

So anyways, I think a computer (with parental controls of some sort) in the living room used only with supervision is the best way to do that. We have a desk in our bedroom we don't really use so I think I'm going to move that downstairs this weekend and start pilot testing some "computer time" on my laptop and see how that goes.

I am pretty excited about the prospect of having 3.5 hrs of kid-free time twice a week though and need to figure out how to make the most of it. My husband will have 2 of those days off (where he doesn't have to sleep in to switch to nights) so I figure we'll use those for date mornings, since date nights require a babysitter. But I also want to get into some sort of routine of getting stuff done around the house.

Now everyone needs to get into school mode because we have to be up at 6 am tomorrow for the first time in weeks. I’m not ready.

Tomorrow we’re getting breakfast with everyone and heading home. Hopefully we’ll make it home before Isla’s bedtime or the first day of school might be a little rough 😬

They’re saying rain tomorrow should push a lot of the smoke out so maybe if it rains enough to improve the air quality but not enough to rain everything out, Kennywood will be open and we can go in the evening after the baby shower. Otherwise the only other option would be going early and staying for just a few hours on Sunday before we drive home. But considering how long it took me to get up here, not sure it’s the best idea to leave late since Isla starts school Monday.

It does feel weirdly nostalgic but bittersweet being here. Even though I didn’t grow up here, it was such a constant in my life because all my mom’s family was here and we usually visited 3-4 times a year. We moved from St. Louis to Charleston when I was 10 and rarely went back to St. Louis after that so in a way it’s been the most consistent place in my life. And since we were mostly here for holidays or summers or special occasions, there are so many strong memories tied to people and places here. It’s always kind of felt like home, in a way that was uncomplicated and just happy. So it’s weird to be back but staying in a hotel instead of with family, with my grandma gone and my aunt and pap now living in SC and everything different. I’m excited to show Isla places I grew up going to but there’s also a big part of me that wishes I was still the 10 year old in this situation.

I almost never drink hot coffee anymore but we’re out of Stok so it was my only option. When I do drink hot coffee I add so much milk that it cools it off right away so I can drink it. Except today I forgot to add milk for some reason and took a giant sip while it was hot as hell, so I had to spit it out all over the kitchen because it was hurting my mouth and now I’m pretty sure I have a 3rd degree burn on my tongue so that’s fun.

Isla and I leave for Pittsburgh on Wednesday. It’s about a 9 hour drive but we’re driving up with my aunt & pap in separate cars but we’ll coordinate stops. My pap is 87 years old though so who knows, maybe it’ll take us 12 hours with bathroom breaks. I need to pack but laundry is done and since it’s just Isla and I that should be easy enough. This will be the longest I’m away from Ava since she was born but I am super excited to get some time with just Isla. I love the toddler years for a lot of reasons but the big kid years are pretty fun too.