Author: Cami Grace

Staycation Recap!

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We recently took a stayacation vacation and it was soooo good! It was a perfect mix of relaxation, home projects, and fun.

We had previously talked about a road trip to the beach, but when you have a little boy who gets extremely car sick (he will puke on a 10-15 minute drive!) all we could imagine was a nightmare. So stay home we did. We made sure to do a little bit everything though to make the most of it.

Gryffin had come down with a stomach bug the week before, so the first weekend we did mostly normal things – cleaning and laundry and such (not so much fun). Sunday I had a coffee date with one of my best friends and then a birthday party in the afternoon for one of Gryffin’s daycare friends. Once Monday came along though things finally started feeling a little more relaxed – I consider that day 1 of our vacation.

Since we had to pay for it anyway, we did take Gryffin to daycare for part of the week, but we still kept him home a couple days to do some fun things with him too!

Day 1 – Gryffin’s Room Makeover!

Since we had moved into our house 2 years ago, poor Gryffin had a plain and super boring bedroom. We had some fun Sesame street bedding for him, but that was about it. His room has been on our list of things to do and having the week off gave us the perfect time to work on it! As you can see, we went with an outer space theme.

Gryffin’s thoughts on it? He loves it!! I wish I would have recorded his reaction. Seeing the big smile on his face was completely priceless! Every single day since he asks to go down and see his room. Before he would only go in there to sleep, now he loves to play in it too.

We’re not all the way done, so I plan on doing a more in depth post on his room decor when it’s all finished.

Day 2 – Movie and Shopping Date

This day felt super, super lazy. We pretty much lounged around the house and took our time getting ready. I had been wanting to see the movie Aladdin so we went to the 11:40 a.m. showing.

Image result for Aladdin

Going into it, I knew I would like it, but I didn’t know just how much. I ended up loving it! When watching the previews I wasn’t sure how I felt about the cast they chose, but after seeing the movie I honestly can’t picture anyone else! Before the movie I was skeptical of Will Smith as the Genie. There’s no replacing Robert Williams, but Will Smith did a fantastic job and truly made it his own. We plan on buying the movie when it comes out, and the sound track.

After the movie we took advantage of the time we had before getting Gryffin from daycare and went to the mall and Barnes & Noble since we were right there. We shared a pretzel and cheese and walked around. It was just nice to spend time together just the two of us.

Day 3 – Family Day!

We had made plans with friends of ours and their two little boys and went Jump and Bounce, an indoor trampoline park. I say trampoline park, but really it was a bunch of giant bounce houses and a huge blow-up slide.

PC: Jump & Bounce

Gryffin is a pretty timid child so he was pretty skeptical of everything at first. I took him on the giant bouncy with a basket ball hoop and threw some balls around for a while, then he went in the small child play area for a while, and then “drove” in a pink car.

I couldn’t get him to go down the giant slide until the very I end. I decided I would suck it up and carry him all the way to the top (I myself am afraid of heights, but I didn’t want him to miss out on something I knew he would have fun with!). I carried him up the first time and went down with him. He was still a little nervous, but willing to go up again – he finally smiled that time! Next thing I know he was happy to climb up the “stairs” all by himself with me behind him. Finally by the end he was going up and down all by himself and having the time of his life!

We went to get some McDonald’s and headed back to our house to hang out for a bit longer. Our friends had to leave mid-afternoon, so after nap time I called up my brother to see if he and the boys (boys being my nephews) wanted to go to the park with us. Yes! So, we went and got Subway on the way and ate at the park. It was a great way to end the day!

Day 4 – Silverwood Theme Park

PC: Silverwood

This was, by far, the funnest day of the week! It was our first time there and I only wish that we had gone sooner! We had a blast! Unfortunately we didn’t get a single picture, but that just means we were truly in the moment and soaking up our time there together.

**Just a note: since Mikey and I didn’t take a single picture, all photos are from Silverwood and their website.

After walking around a while and trying to figure out what was where (I totally regret not picking up a park map), we rented a locker to put our stuff in and headed straight for the lazy river.

Elkhorn Creek

PC: Silverwood

I mean, what better way to start off, right?! After two rounds we figured it was time to hit up something bigger/better.

Avalanche Mountain

PC: Silverwood

This was a fun one! Since you can fit 4 people in the tube we were actually able to cut in line since there was another couple ahead of us that needed two more people. The more the merrier right?! I liked this one!

Next we decided to explore a little more and went to the other side of the park for the more traditional rides. Next up…

Roaring Creek Log Flume

PC: Silverwood

Obviously with only a 40 foot drop, this was a milder ride, but it was fun! You better believe I screamed my head off going down that little drop right there. Honestly, you would have thought I was on the corkscrew ride…

Lunch – Subs & Spuds

This was the most disappointing part of the day. We were only the 4th/5th people in line and we waited about 30 minutes for a practically pre-made sandwich. The people in front of us were being difficult and changing their mind on what they wanted and, to top it off, the poor kid working the stand was clearly new – not that it was his fault at all, I actually felt bad for him, it just didn’t help.

Next we went and got back into the lazy river. Clearly this was our favorite part. It was so relaxing just floating by. *happy sigh*

Ricochet Rapids

PC: Silverwood

Next we headed to another tube ride. This was a bit more intense than I was expecting. First, it was a really long line (felt like a 45 minute wait, give or take) and I quickly regretted not getting in line earlier that morning right after Avalanche Mountain, but it was fine, lines are inevitable.

When it was my and Mikey’s turn, we climbed in and they pushed us off (just the two of us this time). Unfortunately the tube immediately turned so my back was facing down the slide, so I had absolutely no idea what was coming up. The first was a very small corner but I made sure to scream at the top of my lungs. I wish I could have taken a picture of the girls faces who were next, because their mouths dropped open and had a slight look of doom. Ha!

So down we went, we were up one side and down the other, I couldn’t see a blasted thing except for Mikey’s face. After a minute of literally ricocheting down Mikey yells “Oh no! Watch out!” Then I heard loud gushing water and just in time I close my eyes and held my breath. I couldn’t breath for a split second as my head was under the “waterfall”. I started feeling motion sick but quickly realized I had my eyes still closed. The second I opened them I immediately felt better but it was a challenge keeping them open because I was paranoid we were going to run into another waterfall as I couldn’t see what else was coming. A split second later we shot out of the tunnel and we were done. I was glad that was over.

I might do that ride again…but I also might not lol.

There were more rides we wanted to go on but we were also getting short on time, so we decided just to walk around and explore some more. We ended with a couple Slurpee’s and strolled back to the car.

Our car was a sauna! Our car registered the temperature at 104 degrees, what a great day to spend in the water! We happily drove home and changed before picking our little boy up from daycare.

Next time we’ll take him with us. ;)

Day 5 – Blue Zoo Aquarium

We wanted to make sure to squeeze in at least one more fun day with Gryffin so we planned a day to go to the new aquarium that opened. In the grand scheme of aquarium’s it’s a pretty small one, however, considering its location in a mall, it’s a decent size.

Gryffin really liked looking at all the colorful fish, especially the clown and angle fishes. My personal favorite part was petting the stingray’s. They also had some lizards and a turtle you could pet. Not to mention a bird exhibit as well.

Gryffin especially liked the fun water tables they had.

He had missed his nap time otherwise I think his reacations to everything would have been a bit more animated, but I could tell he liked it!

Ending the Weekend

Saturday came and I was exhausted, so between doing laundry and napping we didn’t do much else. Sunday was pouring rain pretty much all day so we stayed in and just got ready for the week.

Overall we had a great time. Not quite your typical vacation, but definitely not bad! Can’t wait for our next one!

Currently – July 2019

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Since we’re on the last day of the month I figured I should probably post this. This past month has been a fun one! We got to spend some time with friends who came to visit and checked a few items off our summer bucket list, which you can read about *here*. We did end the last weekend of the month with our little guy getting a stomach bug – boo! Definitely not on our list of things we wanted to do this summer, but we survived.

Here’s what else we’ve been up to…

Currently Watching

Isn’t it romantic. Ok, I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t sure I wanted to see this one. I am usually super picky when it comes to movies, especially romantic comedies, but we had friends over and they recommended this one so we decided to go with it.

It was so much better than I thought it would be! The previews looked pretty funny, but I was still expecting crude humor and I just wasn’t sure about it. I was pleasantly surprised by it. Definitely a good one to check out if you haven’t already.

Currently Reading

I fail in this area yet again. Part of the problem is I just don’t know what to read. I would like something fiction, but I’ve been so picky lately. I used to read mysteries all the time, but I’m a wimp these days and can’t handle anything scary or suspenseful. Maybe I’ll look into an autobiography…

Currently Making/Baking

Ghiradelli’s Triple Chocolate Fudge brownies.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Triple Fudge Brownie Mix, 19-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 12)

They are so so so good! I used this as the base for the Mikey’s cheesecake brownies that I made for his birthday last month (I talked about it in my last Currently post) and we have been hooked on these ever since! They are practically a must when we have friends come over.

Current Obsession

I don’t have anything too exciting in this area except for these pea chips.

Harvest Snaps Green Pea Snack Crisps, Lightly Salted, deliciously baked and crunchy veggie snacks with plant protein and fiber, , 3.3-Ounce Bag (Pack of 12)

We like to get the giant bag from Costco. What I like about these is that they offer some nutritional value as opposed to other chips or even the veggie straws.

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So there you have it! I hope you all have had a wonderful July!

Just an FYI – there may not be a post for the next couple weeks as we are taking a vacation, which also might include a break from my posts as well. I will be back soon though!

Much Love,

Cami

Social Media Break – Recap

/ Cami Grace / 2 Comments

I just finished the end of my social media break last week and I wanted to do follow up on it. I have never taken a break before for various reasons, but I am so glad I did!!

First of all, I was happy to find that it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I’m not joking, I was pretty much expecting to have withdrawals. That may sound dramatic, and maybe it is, but it’s the truth.

The first day was probably the hardest. I realized that the draw to my phone is more of a bad habit than a need for it. I’m so glad I took the apps off my phone because my thumb automatically opened the folder and clicked where the little blue Facebook icon always is. When I realized what I was doing I quickly put my phone back down.

While I didn’t feel a need for it, I did have to think about what else I wanted to do instead. Let’s just say my house stayed pretty tidy throughout the week!

Here’s the discovery I’m ashamed about the most – how much I ran from the stress and frustration at work. I’ve never paid attention before to how early I would gravitate towards Facebook and Instagram on a work day. My excuse was always “it’s just for a couple seconds”. Even though that’s the case, I didn’t realize how much it was breaking up my focus. I found that I did just fine without it. In fact, I found that I was better off without it at work. While you might be thinking “duh”, I honestly thought it was helping me.

Here’s what I discovered during my break

  • My house stayed more clean and tidy…for the most part (I do have a 2 year old after all ;) )
  • My mind was less cluttered
  • I had more conversations with others
  • I was more focused
  • I didn’t find myself to be as stressed and frustrated while at work
  • I didn’t hit the afternoon slump at 3:00 every day (this was probably the most surprising)
  • I still needed to be intentional with my time and set boundaries with my phone
  • Life still went on
emma pillsbury sigh GIF

via GIPHY

After logging back on to Facebook for the first time after a week, it turns out I did miss some things. There were 2 baby announcements, a few friends had their wedding anniversary, and a friend’s dog passed away. Since only a week had past I was able to easily catch up on everything and it was perfectly acceptable to still comment and react to posts.

I’ve been back to using Facebook and Instagram for a week now and it’s amazing how easy it is to slip back back into some of my old habits. I’m trying to set up boundaries, such as not checking social media first thing in the morning, and limiting my time throughout the day and evening, but I’m finding that to be difficult. It’s all about being intentional.

Jake Johnson Schmidt GIF by New Girl
via GIPHY

I definitely plan on taking more breaks. My goal is the first weekend of every month, if not more often than that.

If you have never taken a break from social media, I highly urge you. It felt like a breath of fresh air!

Summer, Summer, Summertime!

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I’ve always been a summer girl. Over the past few years, when fall started to creep in, I had wondered if I had turned into a fall girl instead. This summer has proved that’s not the case. I am absolutely in love with summer! Shorts (I don’t even care that my legs are so white this year), sandals, and sunshine. It’s the best!

Anyway, since we are about half way-ish through the summer I thought it would be a good time to check-in and see how we’re doing on our Summer Bucket List.

Here’s what we have done so far that was on our actual list

~ Make Sun Tea

We found this glass jar on clearance at Walmart and I love it! I love that it’s not plastic and it works better than any jar we’ve had before.

After 3 times of making sun tea this summer the 3rd time was the charm for getting it perfect! It takes 4 tea bags and it needs to get up to at least 80-85 degrees for the best brew.

~ Go to a Splash Pad

Look at the joy on that little guy’s face! We actually went with cousins to this splash pad and they had a blast! Gryffin preferred to run around the splash pad rather than through it, but you know, whatever. We definitely plan on going back as it was a big hit!

~ Go to a Baseball Game

Since the game didn’t start until 6:30 pm we didn’t get to stay for the whole thing, but it was still fun!

Technically I could add blow bubbles and run through the sprinklers on this list too, but I don’t have pictures of those yet!

At first glance I was a little bummed we haven’t gotten too far, but then I realized how much we’ve done that wasn’t on our list!

We had some friends unexpectedly come visit over 4th of July weekend and found some fun things to do while they were here.

CDA

Here was our time in Coeur d’Alene. We arrived early in the afternoon and went straight to find some food. We found a small restaurant called Rustic. Gryffin and I both shared the Turkey & Avacado Panini and added a fruit cup to the side. It was delicious!

Don’t mind Gryffin’s face – he had just taken a big drink with ice and was about ready to spit it out!

Next up, we went to the lake to go swimming. Actually, I’m not a great swimmer, so I was happy to sit on the beach (or steps in this case) and soak up some sun. Poor Gryffin was not a fan of the water either, so he mostly sat on my lap. Towards the end he finally felt comfortable enough to dangle his feet and then he found it pretty fun to splash daddy in the water too. Overall it was a great day!

Lavender Festival

The next day we went to a lavender festival. I had no idea we even had anything like this in our area! I only found out because I read a local news article that shared ideas for your summer bucket list. I had never been to one, but it looked like it would be fun.

The views were beautiful out in the country and the lavender smelled amazing! They had music, food, and you could pick your own lavender. I’m not a huge fan of lavender in my drinks (it tastes like perfume to me), but the lavender ice cream was delicious! Mikey, who has the same opinion as me, tried a sip of the lavender lemonade and said it was really good.

Unfortunately, the way there was pretty rough with a kid who gets car sick, so we won’t be doing that again any time soon, but I’m so glad we visited!

We’re only half way through the summer but we still have some pretty exciting things planned. Tomorrow we are having a yard sale, so that should be fun and then in a couple weeks we’re coming up on our summer “staycation”, which of course I’ll be sharing as well.

Anyway, I hope you all are having a great summer so far! Thanks for reading and following along!

Have a great weekend!

Social Media Break Challenge

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I have been noticing more and more how much time I spend on my phone and it’s been nagging at me. The sad part is I feel like it’s truly becoming an addiction.

I mindlessly pick up my phone at any given second and start scrolling through Instagram and Facebook. It doesn’t matter that I scrolled through less than a minute ago.

If I purposefully leave my phone in my purse for 15 minutes I literally start thinking about it and feel pulled to take it back out. My thoughts and excuses range from I’m bored or stressed, to I need a break, and then to “what if I missed something”? I mean, how sad is that?!

What’s more sad is that I have an adorable little boy who picks up my phone and hands it to me when he sees me without it. This is just not okay.

While I don’t want to get rid of my Facebook and Instagram accounts permanently, I definitely need a good break from them…and my phone in general. One weekend just isn’t going to cut it, so I’m challenging myself to take a full week off from my social media apps.

Here’s my plan. And, yes, it’s taking a full blown plan, otherwise I know it’s not going to happen.

Who:

Just me. I’ve heard of couples who have done this together, but I’m the one with the phone problem, my husband doesn’t have the same issue, thankfully.

What:

As we just discussed – taking a one week break from my Facebook and Instagram accounts.

When:

Saturday, July 13 – Saturday, July 20

Where:

Ummm…everywhere – home, work, and while I’m out and about.

Why:

For the reasons explained above

How:

I’ve put a lot of thought into this so here are the steps I’ve come up with

1 – Identify triggers

Since I tend to pull out my phone at any given moment, identifying the areas that trigger my “need” for my phone helps me come up with a plan on how to combat my impulse to reach for it.

2 – Come up with alternative activities.

Obviously I need to come up something to do instead, especially when I’m bored or stressed. I don’t want to replace one addictive activity on my phone for another, such as playing games. I need to look for other alternatives. My ideas are…

  • Pick up a book
  • Chat with a friend or visit with someone in the office (aka invest in real friendships)
  • Pick up an actual camera
  • Simply be in the moment (look around and take it all in – sights, sounds, smells)

3 – Address worry/fears

Ok, this might sounds stupid at first, but what has kept me from taking a break before has boiled down to two reasons: 1 – I might miss important news, 2 – there is a little message when you go to delete the Facebook app that it will delete all its data.

~ A solution to the first worry is to make an announcement on Facebook and/or Instagram that you’re taking a break, so if something big does happen, people know to reach out to you another way.

Honestly, the fact it’s only a week makes it less likely that I’m going to miss something. Even if I do miss something it should be easy enough to catch up.

~ The solution to the second issue was to Google what the message meant. I read that it basically means if you delete the app it will erase any saved passwords and settings you have saved on your phone for that app. So not a big deal. I will make sure that I remember my password and I can always re-set my settings if I need to.

~ Also, if you’re worried about missing reminders for friends birthdays you can always search “Birthdays” in the search bar on Facebook and a list will come up. You can then wish them a happy birthday ahead of time! :)

4 – Delete the apps from my phone.

I know myself way too well, and if I leave the apps on my phone I’m going to “accidentally” click on them, and once I “accidentally” click on them, I’m going to say something like “just this one time”, which will turn into 10. Yeah, no, they’ve got to go.

5. Put my phone away and GO LIVE MY LIFE.

Obviously I still need to use my phone, but I plan on putting it away for much of the week.

While I work, I will keep my phone in my purse that is kept in a drawer. I’ll check for phone calls periodically, mostly because with daycare you just never know. I will open the drawer to take a peek and close it right back up after.

At home I will keep it on the kitchen counter plugged in and the volume turned on so I don’t miss a phone call or text (I don’t get many phone calls or texts, so it’s really not a big deal). If I’m really struggling, I will give it to my husband to hang on to. With the apps completely removed from my device, I don’t think it’s going to be an issue.

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Honestly, I’m looking forward to the break. I’m hoping that through this I will find myself more present in the moment and mindful of my surroundings and the people in my life.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Much Love,

Cami