10 Things I Did This Summer

Have you missed me?  My last blog post was July 2nd!  I should feel ashamed that I didn’t touch my blog for the entire month, but honestly I feel so refreshed.  I worked, took vacations, and had a lot of fun.  Here are the Cliff Notes for my summer:

• Disney World Orlando Staycation:  Did I mention that we have season passes to the parks?  We spent a few days in Orlando relaxing at our favorite resort, meeting Princesses, riding in race cars, and traveling to the moon!  Of course we never really left Orlando but it was a lot of fun.  To see a video of the new Jr. Ride-along <sponsored blogger event> at the Richard Petty Driving Experience in Orlando check out my YouTube channel.  Bryce got to take a few laps around a real race track in a real race car.
• Ichetucknee Springs Vacation:  We went on our annual trip to Ichetucknee Springs and tubed down the river over the 4th of July.  We stayed at our favorite Hideaway Cottages, ate smores, sat by the campfire, and this year we added a water slide to the excitement.  It was a great 3 days with very little online activity which was VERY needed! <not sponsored>
• Enjoyed 2 weeks with NO KIDS!!  My parents take the kids each year for a vacation.  This year they took all three Grandkids to North Carolina for over a week.  During that time I dated my husband and traveled a bit (see the next few items).
• Went on a date with my husband:  We had a weekend to ourselves and decided to take a double date to a really extravagant restaurant in Tampa.  I learned what a Chateaubriand and Delmonico steak were (the best steaks EVER), toured the largest private wine cellar in the US, tried Port Wine, ate too much dessert, and laughed entirely too much.  If you are looking for an adventure and money is no object you’ll have to check out Bern’s Steakhouse in Tampa.  <not sponsored>
• Traveled to Maine for work:  I work remote for a DiaperShops.com and Kelly’s Closet and they are located in South Paris, ME.  The only time I’ve ever been up there was for my interview and welcome aboard meeting.  I traveled up there while my kids were away to help with a few projects.  I have a new respect for all the hard work that the very small staff puts in every day (and sometimes even on the weekends).  You know the old saying that “everyone should work in a restaurant at least once,”  well I think all cloth diapering mama’s should work in a cloth diaper store for a week!  While the trip was mostly work I did find time to enjoy the beautiful state and even ate some fresh Maine lobster.
• Traveled to Minnesota for a baby shower:  Some friends of ours invited us to their baby shower/house warming party.  It was a very casual party at the house that was really more of a family bar-b-que!  It was such a great weekend and I even got to spend a few hours with Sarah, the owner of SoftBums cloth diapers, who lives in the area.  Now, I wonder if the mom-to-be will decide to use cloth diapers after the pretty gift we gave them.
• Survived a yard sale:  Oye!!  I am NOT the yard sale type person, I just don’t enjoy going to them and sifting through other peoples stuff.  We have been collecting stuff for almost 8 years in this house and it was time to purge!  We cleaned out the garage, closets, and misc other rooms of the house and held a yard sale.  I really think there needs to be a reality show about garage sales!  After a few hours of rain and two days of sweltering heat we walked away with a little extra money in our pockets.  We still had to donate a bunch of kids clothes and shoes that didn’t sell.
• Released a new project at work:  As the social media and marketing guru for DiaperShops.com/Kelly’s Closet, one of my recent tasks was to redesign the logo and update the website.  It was a very long process of coordinating my idea with our designers but in the end it came out exactly like we wanted.  If you’re looking for cloth diapers be sure to go to Kelly’s Closet.  If you’re new to cloth diapers check out all the new cloth diapering 101 resources I wrote to help make your journey a successful one!
• Watched my baby take her first gymnastics class at camp this week!  My 4 yr old has been in gymnastics camp this week and I think she’s enjoying it.  We’ll find out at the end of the week if she wants to continue with lessons.  She’s already practiced her back flip and walking on the balance bar.
• Wrote about Palm Harbor and my favorite places to visit in my town on the Tampa Bay Moms Blog.  If you’re in the Tampa Bay area you should check out my Spotlight on Palm Harbor to find out where you might find me on any given day.

July is almost over now and the kids are going back to school in just a few short weeks.  I’m not sure if things will ever settle down for us but I’m sure I’ll find my blogging groove again soon!  I have some great products and companies to tell you about!  I hope you didn’t miss me too badly….and I hope that you’ve been following me around on Instagram and in the Kelly’s Closet Cloth Diaper Support Group…I tend to hang out in both places when I’m not blogging!  Proof that our lives are busy!

What have you done this summer?