Hi Everyone and Happy Friday!! The summer weeks are really flying by…although sometimes the days feel a little long. That’s mom life for you! Anyway, I am linking up as usual for Friday Favorites with Erika, Narci and Andrea. This week I’ll share some food favorites, new summer must have pants and some fun things we did around town!
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Favorite Cookbooks
On Wednesday, the boys and I had a quiet morning at home. We looked through some cookbooks as I am always trying to find SOMETHING that they will eat. The struggle is REAL!
I dug out all of our kid cookbooks and found a lot of good recipes to try in this book. The recipes are geared towards kid chefs so the ingredients are simple and minimal. Yet there are a lot of great ideas!
We made the Sloppy Joe’s that same day. Now, I’m not going to lie and say that my boys devoured them. My youngest is pretty much resistant to anything new. But I know if my daughter was home, she would have eaten them along with my husband and me.
I’m hoping that the more we expose the kids to some classic and yummy recipes, the more they will be receptive to trying new things. I am not here trying to convince them to eat a soup full of KALE! I’m just hoping to get to the point that we all eat the same thing at dinner!
I bookmarked a ton of recipes from this book including smoothies, snacks and a few desserts.
New Summer Must Have Pants
The boys and I spent an afternoon at the outdoor mall the other day and surprisingly I was able to actually get to SHOP! It’s never easy with kids in tow but I guess bribery in the form of pretzels and ice cream always works:)
My favorite finds were two pairs of pants from Athleta. Every pair of pants I have bought from Athleta has quickly become a favorite! My favorite pair is over three years old and I still wear them often.
I was on the lookout for a pair of crop pants that was similar to this pair and I found two nice pairs.
This first pair is the Mod Crop Trekkie Pant in Silver Grey. I love that these pants can be worn with tees but also dressed up with a nicer tank.
The other pair of pants I got was the Brooklyn Ankle in Navy. I love the stretchy side panel on these pants. So cute!
Brooklyn Ankle Pant
I don’t claim to be a fashion expert but I could claim to be a expert in cozy clothes🙂 Both of these pants are SO COMFORTABLE! I wore the gray pair on repeat all week because it wasn’t too hot here.
Favorites Around Town
This past week, we got to enjoy some Cleveland spots including Swings-N-Things and the Cleveland Aquarium. We turned our trip to Swings-N-Things into an early Father’s Day celebration for my husband since my daughter left for camp on Fathers Day.
We had so much fun trying out all of the attractions but one of our favorite things was the homemade ice cream. So yummy!! I am partnering with Swings N Things for a GIVEAWAY, so be sure to check out the bottom of this post for details!
In addition to Swings-N-Things, we got to spend an afternoon at the Cleveland Aquarium. They have been updating many of their exhibits and there are more projects in the works.
My boys love petting the turtles and stingrays! So fun!
It was a perfect activity for a rainy afternoon. Thanks so much to the Cleveland Aquarium for hosting us!
Father’s Day Gift
Another favorite of the week is this rolling cooler that I got for my husband for Father’s Day. I attempted to put this together on my own and failed miserably! #nothandy I had hoped to surprise him with the cooler assembled and filled with drinks. But we ended up having to give to him partially assembled!
Either way, it was a very fun surprise and he loved it! I shared this idea with a few of my girlfriends and they also purchased this cooler for their husbands. It is perfect for summer time gatherings!
Managing Summer Crazy
The other day I talked about managing some of the summer chaos! There are some things I am letting go of this summer in order to survive and thrive as a family! In my mind, you can’t have it both ways when it comes to kids having fun and the house staying clean. It’s one or the other…and for now having a fun summer is winning! All the details on that post here.
One area that I am taking a relaxed approach to is our summer dinner menu. Some days call for more elaborate recipes and many days call for simple and easy! Recently, we had the opportunity to try Red Baron Pizza and we are so excited for this to be in our dinner rotation this summer! I served the pizza with fruit and cut up veggies and it was a perfectly yummy meal that everyone could agree on.
What made the dinner even easier was eating outside! I love those perfect summer evenings when it’s not TOO hot to enjoy dinner outdoors.
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Before I wrap up I wanted to give the details on the Swings-N-Things GIVEAWAY!
Enter to win a FAMILY FOUR PACK to Swings-N-Things!
All you have to do:
Follow me on Instagram or Facebook
Follow Swings-N-Things on Instagram or Facebook
Comment DONE on my post from Monday!!
It’s been a fun and busy summer week! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Love that idea of going through the cookbook with the kids- I am hoping if I try that, my girls will suggest some new things because girl I hear you- the struggle is TOO real! Ugh- BTW those pants look perfect on you and I LOVE the flip flops too- have a great weekend Jaclyn!
Thank you Holly! You have a great weekend (and first weekend of summer break!).
We love aquariums and stingrays!
The stingrays were really cool! I just need to be braver about touching them..ha ha!
Those Athleta pants look so much cuter on you than the website! I’ve never really shopped there, but maybe I should start!
Aww thank you! Yes the website can be so deceiving…I ended up in the store to try on everything.
Love those Brooklyn pants on you and I am tempted to order a pair! Did you go with your typical size?
Yes my usual size! They have quite a bit of stretch so you def wouldn’t need to size up…I’d say if in between you could even size down.
You look darling in those pants! They look super comfortable and I love my comfy pants 🙂 Sloppy joes on a sweet potato looks like a great idea! I haven’t had a sloppy joe in forever but now’s the perfect time to do it!! Have a great weekend Jaclyn!
I hadn’t had a sloppy joe in forever too…I honestly think it has been years and years!
Comfy pants for the win!