September 2022 – Sister Hack

Celebrating the Autumn Equinox 2022

Emily here! Pal is getting older and I wanted to start making some fun traditions with him. One of my major goals is to celebrate the Equinox and Solstices. For the Autumn Equinox we did two activities. First we made caramel apples. Pal helped me cut the apples and then dip it in pre made caramel sauce. Then we added sprinkles! Honestly Pal dipped one apple slice and then spent the rest of the time eating sprinkles. But he had fun.

Our second activity was making a leaf crown! We had collected leaves while we were on a walk the day before. Then we took the leaves and stapled them to a piece of paper and ta da! Pal’s favorite part was the stapler. He was very fascinated with that process. And he proudly wore his crown around the house.

Helpful Tips: 1. We did both these activities during Bud’s nap time which has two purposes. First Pal gets special one-on-one time with me and Second it’s just easier. I also had my mom come over and help with the caramel apples because I wasn’t sure how messy the whole process would be and because it’s fun to have her over.
2. Make activities short! Don’t do a long drawn out activity.
3. This is for any time you’re crafting or cooking with children but if you see them losing interest or they aren’t interest in the first place just stop. Nothing is worse than trying to force an activity when a child isn’t interested.

And I’ll leave you with this poem by Mary Oliver. Happy Autumn Y’all!

OR Summer Bucket List Final Post: Take A Trip

Emily here! This was by far the biggest item on my summer bucket list and I did it! I’m very proud of myself. My family and I went to the coast for 3 nights. This was the first over night trip we have ever taken with our children so it felt like a very daunting task.

Day 1 – Travel Day. We took our time getting to the coast so it took us about 5 hours to get there. The first half everyone was happy. The second half Bud was done being in the car but we made it. We arrived before check in to our Airbnb so we went right to the beach. It was hot hot hot there. About 90•F. But it felt like a dream to finally arrive after talking about it for so long. Then we check into our very hot Airbnb and unpacked. We loaded everyone up again and got a few groceries for the next few days. We planned to do breakfast and lunch at home. We got take out from Pacific Kitchen at Nye Beach. We got a crab cake appetizer, hot dog for Pal, fried prawns and fries for me, and seafood mac and cheese for my husband. Then we tired for a few hours to get the boys to bed and finally found an arrangement that worked well (Pal and Husband in the Master, Me and Bud in the living room.)

Day 2 – We had breakfast at home (eggs, toaster waffles, and bananas) as well as some pretty terrible coffee. But we needed it as we didn’t sleep the best. After breakfast we loaded the car up with beach essentials. We spent the morning at the beach (3 hours) and it was glorious! We came back for lunch (frozen pizza for adults, dinner leftovers for Pal) then had nap time for everyone. After nap time we went to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. We walked to the lighthouse and intended to come back to the interpretative center the next day but it never happened. We then drove around a bit because Bud had fallen asleep. We went to check out the historic bay front and quickly decided we didn’t want to go. Back to the house for take out dinner from Pacific Kitchen again (lol). Seafood Mac and cheese for both me and my husband and split a shrimp melt. Mac and Cheese at home for Pal.

Day 3 – Same breakfast as yesterday and then to the beach! After the beach we had lunch (cheese and turkey for Pal. Hot Pockets for me and husband.) Then nap time for the boys. And my husband and I got to hang out together and chat while they napped. Although we wish we had napped. After nap time we hit the beach again. Then got dinner from Flashback Fountain and Grill. Burger for me and husband and grilled cheese for Pal.

Day 4 – Travel home! We got up and loaded the car right away (which still took about 1.5 hours). Picked up breakfast at McDonald’s and hit the road! We made it home around 1ish. Got one more take out meal for dinner and just relaxed and unpacked until bedtime.

Travel Tips: 1. Prep and Pack Early. I started packing a week before we left. And we didn’t forget anything!
2. Someone sit in the back seat during the car ride. We didn’t do this right away on the way down and man. We had a rough hour or so when Bud woke up from his nap. After I sat in the back it went much smoother.
3. Eat one meal out. Save that sweet money and it’s easier especially with hungry children.
4. Don’t plan too much. Leave some room for everyone to rest and relax.
5. Final tip is to just take the trip!! Maybe your children will cry for an hour and a half on the car ride there and back. Maybe you will be up until 11 trying to get them to sleep. And maybe you’ll get to just focus on your family without the burdens of your normal to dos at home. Not every moment will be perfect but it’s so worth it!

The time has ended for my summer bucket list. There were two items that I never completed: Attend Library Story Time and Make the Perfect Afternoon Drink. Library Story Time was missed on purpose. Every time I thought about going it sounded not fun at all. I take Pal and Bud to the library pretty regularly and there always seems to be some little child in Buds face and Pal really likes to do his own things. So putting us in an enclosed room with more children and asking Pal to sit still just didn’t sounds fun at all. For my other bucket list item I honestly forgot about it. The drink I had wanted to make was a lavender lemonade and somehow add some caffeine to it but it never happened. There’s always next year!

2022 OR Summer Bucket List
✅Visit 2 (new to us) parks
✅Visit the Aviation Museum
✅Go to Local Lavender Farm
✅Picnic at a Park
✅Visit Grandparents Grave with Flowers From My Garden
Attend Library Story Time
Make the Perfect Afternoon Drink for Sipping Outside
✅Paint day with Pal
✅Take a Trip (day trip or overnight)

OR Summer Bucket List: Lavender Farm and Grandparents Grave Visit

Emily Here! My bucket list is almost complete! I have only one item left but a few post to updated you with. First Lavender Farm Visit. Which didn’t happen. My friend and I had been trying to make a plan since June to go. Something continued to come up each time we had it schedule. Then we it seemed like the stars were aligning and we had a plan we called the farm to schedule an off hour visit (our solution to our scheduling problem) during the week. They said “Yeah you can come but the lavender is all gone…” NOOOOOOOO! We were very sad. But I had my friend over and made us homemade lavender lemonade and we ordered sushi and still enjoyed each others company. After the farm failed it lit a fire in me to stop putting off the rest of my bucket list and just go for it!

Next was a visit to my Grandparents grave. This one might seem sad and it was honestly! But this was something I had wanted to do last summer but made excuses for. I kept waiting for the flowers in my garden to be perfect but after the lavender farm not working out I didn’t want to miss my chance. I made a flower bouquet of what I had and loaded Pal and Bud up. I went first thing in the morning because I knew there wasn’t much shade and it was going to be hot hot hot later in the day.

We visited the grave and it was very nice. I hadn’t been back since my grandmothers burial service which I was pregnant with Pal at the time. I cried when I arrived at their grave but Pal lifted my spirits by just being a child. I wasn’t able to be sad for too long as Pal wanted to walk all around (and also wanted to touch everything!). We spent more time walking around and it was nice to get out and do something different. Even if it was a little sad. And bonus I went back a few weeks later with my Dad and the children and I was able to get a second flower bouquet for that visit.

Cost for Grave Visit: Free!
Cost for Lavender Farm Make Up Visit: Sushi $60. Lavender Lemonade $2 (I was able to use fresh lavender from my garden!)

NJ Summer Bucket List: The Final Post

Wow folks here we are! The final post for my NJ Summer Bucket list! All in all, it has been a great summer thanks to my bucket list. It got me out of my comfort zone, pushed me to try several new activities, and I made some great memories for Summer 2022.

My final bucket list item was to host a Summer BBQ. When I added this to the list, I envisioned a BBQ with lots of friends. We just bought our first BBQ in May and I was feeling ambitious. But as the Summer weeks went on, I realized that I wasn’t in the mood to host a party like that! Instead we ended up hosting two friends at our house on separate weekends where we grilled outside. But my favorite was all of the BBQing (and Coors Light-ing) that the hubz and I did over the summer. We grilled, hot dogs, marinated chicken, homemade burgers, and ribs- so much deliciousness. Emily said that this counts because a BBQ can be with just your family!

So farewell Summer 2022! And a big welcome to the best szn, Fall!!

2022 NJ Summer Bucket List:
Go to a baseball game
Have a pool day
Host a Summer BBQ
Explore a Delaware Water Gap town
Go to the beach
Visit the Maplewood Farmer’s Market
Play tennis
Win Broadway lottery tickets
See an outdoor concert
Celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a fun activity