Happy Friday everyone! I am officially back to work and this work stuff is exhausting! I shared a little bit about what we’ve been up to on Wednesday. We’ve been sitting in a bunch of meetings and working feverishly to get the media center ready for kids. On Tuesday evening after sitting in meetings for TWO DAYS STRAIGHT, I was a little grumpy. Jack nailed it when he said, “Mommy, you are really good at sitting by the pool or on the beach all day, but you are terrible at sitting inside!” 😂 That kid is brilliant! I’m linking up with Narci and the girls to share my Friday favorites. Note: you will not find meetings on this list ever!

Favorite 1: CAMP GIGI!! For the past 6 years, my mom takes the kids every day during teacher work week. They have the greatest time and look forward to it all year long. So far this year, Gigi has taken the kids indoor skydiving, to Top Golf, the the movies, shopping at Target, and tons of golf. Both boys had a solo sleepover and a sleepover together. Camp Gigi is the best part about the end of summer.

Favorite 2: GIVE BACK DAY!! Last year my mom added a give back day to Camp Gigi. They donate their time or items to the Boys and Girls Club. This year, we added on and participated in Operation Welcome Home Maryland. I’ve been wanting to do this for years and was super excited that my mom wanted to take the kids. The Baltimore airport, BWI, welcomes a ton of troops each year. BWI is their first landing on American soil and they connect to their hometowns from there. Operation Welcome Home is there when every flight lands, no matter what time, to welcome each and every member of the armed services and their families that come on a military flight. It was pretty amazing on Thursday! There were people waiting to see their relatives that they hadn’t seen in months or years. To be there thanking the service men and women for everything they do to defend our country was pretty moving. I will definitely do this again!

Favorite 3: AUTHORS!! One of our two days of meetings started with the authors of Notice and Note. Kylene Beers and Robert Probst were so entertaining and are brilliant reading teachers. Their questions have transformed the way my kids are learning to comprehend what they read and the way they think about what they are reading. You know I love to hear an author talk about their work, so this was a big highlight to my meeting days.

Favorite 4: MORNING WORKOUTS!! This is the last week that I can go to 5:30 am Body Pump class. I really enjoy the class and love that my workout is finished by 7 am. I am going to try to keep up with early morning running or classes during school but it is going to be a little tougher. We are an early school and try to leave the house at 6:57 am. We don’t always make it, but that’s the goal.

I am excited about our upcoming 3 day weekend! I can’t wait to spend as much time at the pool as possible! I am planning on ton of sunshine and books!! I hope your weekend is full of sunshine and books too!