Five on Friday

Before we dive into today’s 5, I wanted to share a few things I’m loving this week:

• Watching: I’ve been watching a ton of videos this week and wanted to highlight a video on Systemic Racism Explained and the Sesame Street Racism Town Hall for watching with your kids.
• Listening: Lots of podcasts this past week but two I wanted to highlight are Higher Learning’s episode on The Importance of the Nationwide Protests Over George Floyd’s Death and re-listened to If I’m Being Honest’s episode on I’m Not Your Token Black Girl.
• Eating: Uncrustable sandwiches! I haven’t given this cut & seal sandwich maker enough credit throughout quarantine. Prior to purchasing this gadget, I was spending a crazy amount of money on uncrustables each week. I was skeptical if this cut & seal sandwich maker would actually work. And let me just tell you…it works — perfectly. It’s easy enough to use that even the kids can make their own uncrustables with it. If you’ve got your kids at home with you all summer, I highly recommend purchasing one NOW and making a bunch to freeze for many lunches ahead!
• Reading: Matt’s business partner’s daughter, Alice, is a Girl Scout Cadette. For her Silver Award project, she created a short, bilingual comic book to help kids deal with the huge amounts of unstructured time they now have during the pandemic. The comic book is amazing and I wanted to share it (with Alice’s permission) HERE!
• Shopping: Favorite online purchases this week were cute and inexpensive towels for the pool and these Floafers for Matt!

1. Family Bike Trail

Last weekend we explored a new bike trail — Little Sugar Creek Greenway. It was the perfect, short trail for the kids. And it was mostly shaded, paved and lots of long straight stretches. Highly recommend for my local friends. We parked at the Mint Museum on Randolph and entered the trail from the parking lot.

2. Shower Eucalyptus

I saw the idea to hang fresh eucalyptus in the shower recently and thought it was brilliant. The kids think it’s super weird but it really does smell SO good.

3. Date Night

We had our first date night last week since quarantine! We went to one of our favorite restaurants, The Crunkleton. I will say, dining out in Charlotte is really interesting right now. Menus are accessed online, temperature checks are administered at the door and the servers wear masks. But it was seriously so nice to break away for dinner (and I think the kids were happy to get rid of us for a bit too).

Dress & Heels 

4. Tooth Fairy Pillow

Caroline has lost several teeth recently and has a stubborn but wiggly top front tooth that we are all anxiously awaiting to come out! Anyway, a lot of you recommended getting a tooth fairy pillow and I wanted to share this adorable personalized pillow I found on Etsy! This is going to make things SO much easier on the Tooth Fairy!

5. Pool Bag Essentials

Pools began reopening last weekend as part of Charlotte’s gradual re-opening plans! There’s a max capacity limit to maintain social distancing so we are required to make a reservation for a 2 hour pool block, and let me just say — it’s competitive and very hard to secure if you aren’t among the first few people to snag a block. Anyway, here’s what we’ve got packed in our pool bag!

Here’s what’s in my pool & beach bags.

Pool Bag

• Sunscreen for the family (yes, we all use different sunscreens)
  • Sun Bum for Matt (he likes a lower SPF)
  • Supergoop! for the kids (I got tired of buying sunscreen constantly and started buying this size and it lasts forever!)
  • EltaMD for me (I have super sensitive skin and this is the only sunscreen that doesn’t break me out)
  • SPF Chapstick: Sun Bum & Supergoop!
• Inflatable Noodles (NEW to our pool bag! I LOVE how we can deflate them for easy storing and they don’t get gross like the foam noodles)
• Pool Toys: Mini Dive Mermaids + Barbie Mermaid, Dive Toys, Sharkpedo, Submarine + Boats + Velcro Toss & Catch Game + Cupcake Set
• Googles
• Towel Clips
• Cooler (this cooler works fantastic but is super annoying to open because the magnetic top is super strong)
• Water Bottles: Cambelbaks for the kids & Yetis for the adults
• Insulated Solo Cups: my friend Sara introduced me to these last year and I’ve been obsessed ever since. These reusable solo cups are perfect for tossing in your bag for poolside cocktails

MORE POOL TOYS

In Case You Missed It Recently

• How to Fluff Your Roses Tutorial
• Disney Dole Whips
• Amelia Island Family Getaway
• Father’s Day Local Shopping Gift Guide
• The Work Inside Our Home
• Caroline’s Last Day of Kindergarten
• Our Back Porch Project