Hello and happy new week! I hope it’s off to a great start for you. I haven’t shared a life kind of update in a few weeks so that’s what I’ve got for you today. Summer is in full swing and we’ve been loving the longer days. Bedtime has become a bit on the lax side but we’re really enjoying evening strolls and sunset swims.
As far as childcare is concerned, we opted to enroll Finn in a variety of summer programs and camps rather than hire a babysitter or nanny for the summer and that’s been working really well!
TINY TREKKERS CAMP AT THE WHITEWATER CENTER
Our favorite camp so far has been Tiny Trekkers at the Whitewater Center. We are so lucky to have the U.S. National Whitewater Center here in Charlotte. It’s located on 1,300 acres of land adjacent to the Catawba River and offers abundant options for outdoor activities and adventures. You can do everything from whitewater rafting to trail running to zip lines to rock climbing and much, much more!
They have an incredible line up of camps for ages 4-18. Finn participated in the full day camp for ages 4-7, Tiny Trekkers. I cannot even explain to you how happy it made my heart to pick him up filthy and smiling at the end of the day. I grew up attending summer camp and it was a peak experience of childhood for me. I feel like the Whitewater Center camp is so close to sleep away camp without the sleep away part. (That’s coming in a year or two ;))
Camps run through August and there is still space available in Tiny Trekkers, Adventure Camp (8-15) and specialty camps. You can check them out here. I cannot rave enough about how well-organized Whitewater Summer Camp is and the programming is amazing!
I also loved being able to squeeze in a trail run before pick up!
Big thanks to Whitewater for hosting Finn at camp! We will definitely be back next year.
FRIDAY NIGHT FUN
Last Friday I took Finn out on a little date night after we both took showers and got cleaned up from camp/ trailrunning. We started the evening at Luisa’s Brick Oven Pizza. I had not had pizza from Luisa’s in 10 years and I don’t know what kept me away so long – the pizza is insanely delicious.
Finn had the kid’s cheese and I had a pizza with prosciutto, artichoke hearts, pesto and mushrooms. The crust was thin, crispy and flavorful and the cheese they use is so salty, stringy and delish!
Fun story…Luisa’s is located on the second level of a small shopping center. Finn told me at dinner that he, “loves fancy upstairs pizza places.” It will definitely be a go-to spot for us moving forward!
Our next stop was Golden Cow Creamery for dessert! (Sealy the stuffed seal from the N.C. Zoo joined us for our evening out.)
Finn marched in there and order two scoops of chocolate and who was I to say no? I followed his lead and got two scoops myself! Their salted Oreo flavor is to die for! A couple of weeks ago I brought home a pint of it to stash in the freezer.
SATURDAY SIDEKICK
I subbed the 8:15a at Charlotte Yoga on Saturday and Finn came along with me to the studio. He likes it when I build him a nest out of bolsters. He was very cozy with his bagel, blanket, stuffies and tablet.
After yoga we popped by the farmers market to grab tomatoes and a few other things for the week. Our last morning stop was the gym for a workout. It’s been a few months since Finn joined me for a workout and if you’ve never tried mountain climbers with a 50 pound weight on your back I highly recommend lol.
CAR WASHING!
On Friday my car rolled over to 100,000 miles! I adore my Mazda CX-5 – it’s my favorite car that I’ve ever owned. I wanted to give it a little TLC this weekend so I introduced Finn to hand washing the car on Saturday afternoon. HE LOVED IT. I got the hose and the bucket out and the next thing I knew he’d stripped down to his boxers and was drenched from head to toe. He actually got super into helping me actually wash the car and stayed out there with me for an hour and a half. I can’t tell you the last time I hand washed my car but I’ll be doing it again sooner rather than later. My car was a whole different level of clean versus riding through the car wash. I also brought the vacuum out and vacuumed and wiped down all the inside surfaces. Next time I wash by hand I also want to wax. Wish I’d had some this weekend!
POOL TIME
We ended Saturday at the pool with an even swim. We stayed until 8p! It was such a chill vibe and the weather was perfect.
SUNDAY STUFF
Sunday was a much more low-key day than Saturday (just how I like it!). I went for a late morning long run while Finn was having a family breakfast with his dad and at a birthday party. I got 9 miles done but it was brutal out there – 84 degrees and 70% humidity. I was absolutely drenched when I got home. Somehow, the back half of this run felt a lot better than the first few miles so I was grateful for that. I shared on Instagram how crazy it is that in a matter of months 9 miles will be a reasonable mid-week run distance and I’ll be tacking 10 miles onto my long runs.
I picked Finn up from the birthday party and we spent the rest of the day puzzling, playing with play doh, laundry, etc. It was great just to hang around the house after a busy Friday and Saturday. I finished the puzzle I’d been working on all week. I love puzzles but gosh they keep me up way too late at night! There were a few nights this past week that I had to force myself to go to bed at 11:30-midnight because I was so into it!
I’ll leave you with this…Finn picked Fox in Socks to read over the weekend. Try to say this one three times fast. What a tongue twister!
QUESTIONS
How’s your summer going? What are you enjoying about summer so far?
What kind of camps do your kids enjoy?
Do you like your car? Are you a drive it until the wheels fall off kind of person or prefer newer?
