The title of this post is a bit of a misnomer, because I don’t actually have an evening routine – as in, things I do in the same order every single night. But there are a number of activities that regularly crop up in the hours between dinner and my head hitting the pillow, and I thought it might be fun to share my favorites today. And I’d love to hear yours!
A scenic ride and podcast
I often ride the Peloton after the kids are in bed, but lately (especially on Sundays), I’ve been cueing up a thirty-minute scenic ride, turning down the music, and pushing play on a podcast. Since there’s no instructor or cadence/resistance guidance, these rides feel a bit more relaxed (though I most definitely still break a sweat), and working my body while refreshing my mind feels like a great start to a new week.
An early shower
I mentioned this in my fourth trimester post, but taking an early shower in the evening is one of the best life hacks I discovered after having my first baby. Now, I’ll hop in right after my workout, or even while the big kids are in the bath, which means by the time they’re in bed I’ve already showered, done my skincare routine, and gotten in my jams. It sounds silly, but the specter of “getting reading for bed” looms larger the longer the evening goes on and can cause me to stay up later than I’d like, so it’s nice to get it out of the way early.
Reading with June
When June started kindergarten, she and I started reading chapter books together before bed (John usually pairs up with Shep). She reads lots of easy chapter books on her own (Magic Tree House, Mia Mayhem, and Puppy Place are her current favorites), but reading together allows her to punch above her weight class: so far, we’ve read three Little House books, Charlotte’s Web, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. I get to pick our read alouds, and relish the opportunity to revisit my favorites :) And of course, I don’t need to tell you that snuggling in a cozy, dim bedroom with my best big girl is a highlight of any day.
Feeding Annie
Speaking of cozy – nursing my best little girl is a fleeting and treasured part of my evenings right now. The screeching and acrobatics of older kid bath time/bedtime chaos might be swirling around us, but getting to feed and snuggle my sweet girl in the midst of it and watch her fall asleep, cheek heavy on my arm, is the best. I soak up every session.
Stretching before bed
Before we pull back the covers, John and I like to do a 10-minute Peloton stretch together (Ben is our favorite!). Getting a little hum in my muscles and a chance to let my mind wander is a lovely wind-down.
Reading before bed
Reading before bed has been a part of my evening routine since I could read (actually, even before that!). Whether it’s just a few pages or an hour or more, my day doesn’t feel complete without it. (Here’s my 2022 reading list.)
I’d love to hear: what’s a favorite part of your evening routine? Do you have a routine you follow every night, or do you mix and match like me?
Here I am, making good on my New Year’s resolution to report more promptly on our family travels! The trip we’re chatting about today makes this easy, because it’s pretty much a carbon copy of last year’s spring break trip to Jekyll Island :) That means it’s heavy on the photos and light on words, though I sprinkled a few thoughts and memories throughout! If you’re thinking of traveling to Jekyll Island and would like the deep dive, I’ve got that for you right here. If you’re just here for the pictures, enjoy!
I was happy and excited to return to Jekyll in back-to-back years, but easily the least thrilled of my family members, ha. My reasoning: we already have several annual or regular trips we’re committed to – Maine, Michigan, Connecticut, the NC Mountains – and I’d like to keep spring break as an opportunity to explore new places and make fresh memories.
The argument for Jekyll is strong, though: southern Georgia is about as far south as we can comfortably drive in a day, avoiding a flight for our family of five, and it’s far enough south that we have a reliable chance for pool and beach weather in early April. So a return to Jekyll and the Ocean Club it was!
Is that spot not dreamy!!
One thing I enjoyed about returning to the same place a second year in a row: it was nice to know exactly what we were getting into! We knew our favorite chairs at the pool, how to get an umbrella set up at the beach, to request the table near the porch swing at 80 Ocean, that there’s live music at the Wharf on Wednesdays. And of course, we got to revisit several of our favorite experiences from 2021, like biking to Driftwood Beach, roasting s’mores around the fire pit, and breakfast on the porch at the Pantry.
But there was newness and novelty, too! Our kids were all a year older, and Annie was outside my body :) We spent two hours playing at Driftwood Beach, far longer than our quick in-and-out due to chilly weather last year. The big kids loved it – they were able to roam independently, climbing trees and poking at tide pools, while Annie and I hung in the shade.
We brought our bikes and trailer from home and so were able to take more bike rides than last year, which was wonderful. It was so nice to hop on our bikes to move between the Island and Ocean Clubs instead of loading everyone into the car. AND we saw alligators on every single trip between the two!! (Not sure if that’s a plus or minus, ha!)
Also of note: we got to play an abbreviated, very casual game of croquet on the Island Club lawn. If you’ve ever read my bio, you’ll know this was thrilling to me.
There’s this little moment from our time in Jekyll that has really stuck with me… it was late afternoon, and most people had left the pool. Annie was napping and Shep was snuggling with John. I had been reading my book on a lounge chair, but I guess I got too hot, and so I hopped in the pool with June. For whatever reason, we started doing underwater somersaults and handstands in the shallow end, cheering and spitting out water and giggling at each other’s attempts.
This lasted 15 minutes or so (until my ears started to hurt from being underwater, ha), but it’s one of my favorite memories from the trip, if not my favorite. It was a delight, and it brought to mind Catherine Price’s definition of True Fun: we were playful, connected, and in flow. I don’t have a huge takeaway – John will continue to be the parent more likely to horse around with the kids in the pool – but it was such a sweet nugget from our time and a reminder that it’s hard to predict when connection and joy will strike, and so we must make more space for them than we think we need. This idea was first crystallized for me in an essay that has stuck with me for years:
With a more expansive stretch, there’s a better chance that I’ll be around at the precise, random moment when one of my nephews drops his guard and solicits my advice about something private. Or when one of my nieces will need someone other than her parents to tell her that she’s smart and beautiful. Or when one of my siblings will flash back on an incident from our childhood that makes us laugh uncontrollably, and suddenly the cozy, happy chain of our love is cinched that much tighter.
There’s simply no real substitute for physical presence.
We delude ourselves when we say otherwise, when we invoke and venerate “quality time,” a shopworn phrase with a debatable promise: that we can plan instances of extraordinary candor, plot episodes of exquisite tenderness, engineer intimacy in an appointed hour.
We can try. …And there’s no doubt that the degree of attentiveness that we bring to an occasion ennobles or demeans it. Better to spend 15 focused, responsive minutes than 30 utterly distracted ones.
But people tend not to operate on cue. At least our moods and emotions don’t. We reach out for help at odd points; we bloom at unpredictable ones. The surest way to see the brightest colors, or the darkest ones, is to be watching and waiting and ready for them.
Each day with these people is precious. What a gift to have this time together, to explore somewhere beautiful, and to have the largesse of quality, and quantity, time. Thank you for allowing me to share a peek at it, friends!
If it’s not happening, make it smaller. This is my paraphrase of one of the techniques in Jon Acuff’s book Finish, and of course it’s something we talk about constantly at Cultivate (little by little!). Sometimes there’s another reason, but more often than not, if a goal hasn’t happened for more than a month, it’s because it feels too big to get my arms around.
These unfinished goals still matter, though, so as I move into a new month, I’ve bringing them with me – but cutting them in half (or more). Maybe completing a bite-size chunk will motivate me to keep going, or maybe I’ll just complete the one bite. Either way, it’s better than nothing :)
On my calendar this month: — I am finally making good on June’s Christmas present of an American Girl doll! We’re heading to Charlotte overnight to pick her out and I can’t wait. (Sleeping in the hotel bed with mama and swimming in the hotel pool might end up overshadowing the doll, though, ha!) Which one will she choose?! — Picking all the strawberries. We’ve already been twice and made this famous strawberry cake last night. Delicious! — A Bulls game with John’s work!
What I’m loving right now: — As a lover of the “government action/thriller” genre of movies/television (Enemy of the State, Air Force One, Homeland, 24, you get the drill), season one of Reacher was sufficiently adjacent to be right up my alley. I really didn’t enjoy the Jack Ryan series, but I loved this one. — We put this coloring book in Shep’s Easter basket and I think it might be magic?! He basically colored it for six hours straight on the drive to Jekyll Island with nary a peep of complaint. (This is not normal.) Highly recommend for any 3-4 year olds in your company! — As a patriot who loves her country, it’s refreshing to see someone take a nuanced look at what patriotism can be and why it’s important, and that’s what this article (WSJ) did. Still turning it over in my mind several weeks later.
As a reminder, you can find alllll the things I’ve loved over the last few years neatly organized right here!
What I read in April: — The Power of Fun | I was absolutely primed to love this book (recommended by someone I trust, just seems like my jam), but I found it a bit torturous to get through, and I’m not really sure why. I agree with her thesis, her writing is good, the research is interesting, and the suggestions are solid, but maybe it just felt exhausting to dissect fun in such detail? It felt like it could have been half as long… — The Midnight Line | After we finished the Reacher TV season, I was curious to read one of the plethora of Reacher books. It’s been a long time since I read something like this – mass market, thriller, not particularly geared toward women? – and it was fun! The writing took a beat to get into, but I read it on vacation and enjoyed it.
Revisiting my April goals: Cull and sort the first six months of 2021 photos Design and print camping tees for our tenth-anniversary trip Choose format for EFM book and complete years 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 (Absolutely not, ha. I decided to use Blurb but haven’t gotten farther than that.) Write down 2-3 weeks of “brainless” meal plans Choose a way to serve at church on Sunday mornings Make a final kitchen contractor decision and get a start date on the books (Made decision and waiting to hear on start date! Thinking it is going to be July or August based on what they told me when we first met.) Clean out kitchen cabinets in advance of our kitchen project (Made progress! Still some to go.) Take our first bike ride as a family of five!
May goals: — Download Blurb software, get familiar with it, and complete 2008 in book — Start to memorize 1 Corinthians 13 with June — Edit Annie in April, Volume 1 — Go on a family bike ride once a week — Add bookshelves to our loft and Shep’s room — Add artwork bulletin boards to the loft — Write out one spring/summer “brainless” meal plan — Cull and sort January 2021 photos
As a reminder, many of these are drawn from my 2022 goals!
Favorite strawberry recipe? I would love to hear! So far this year we’ve scooped chopped berries on pancakes and brownies in addition to the cake, and next I want to try the shortcake recipe on the back of the Bisquick box :)
In honor of Earth Day (today!), I wanted to share about something fun we tacked on to Articles Club this week: a stuff swap!
Our beautiful table at Stephanie’s! She is good at what she does! :)
What’s a stuff swap, you ask? In our case, it was a chance to trade our gently-loved items for someone else’s: similar to a yard sale or thrift store adventure, but with only the creme de la creme of items – the treasures you’d be thrilled to bring home after a long day of hunting. Ours was very casual, quick, and simple, but still fun – and it made me want to host a more full-scale swap in the future! Here’s a little bit about how it worked.
Unlike a book swap or a clothing swap, this was a stuff swap, and anything was fair game. Gals did actually bring clothing and books, but there were also beauty items, home decor finds, kids’ stuff, paper products, and more. We limited everyone to bringing just ten items so it didn’t become overwhelming, but I think if the swap was the focus of your event, you could raise the limit!
Some of the goodies and the gals
Steph had set up a folding table in her living room, and as we arrived, we rather unceremoniously arranged our items wherever they fit. This was just fine, but again, if you were going all out, it could be fun to designate different areas for different categories or provide more surfaces/levels to “merchandise” the goods.
To decide who went home with what, we started with a snake draft. (A snake draft, if you’re not familiar, goes like this: person A picks, person B picks, then person C, C, B, A.) We did two snake draft rounds and then opened up the floor for everyone to choose any remaining items they’d like. No fist fights ensued, but there was plenty of QVC-esque marketing of items, ha!
Early picks included a countertop compost bin; a pair of Hunter boots; Anthro coffee mugs; pretty tea towels; the Floret, Elizabeth Holmes, and Annie F. Downs books; a cocktail shaker; heart-shaped cake pans; and a wooden charcuterie board. There were also cozy sweatshirts, a grab bag of greeting cards, candles, and even a few Drunk Elephant items.
For my part, I was pleased to snag a cozy cream sweater (above), jean shorts, a trio of glass candlesticks, and a leopard shift dress. Our youngest and most stylish member, Adelyn, brought the sweater, and even though it was an item she was getting rid of, I snagged it without a second thought, ha!
Any items that weren’t claimed went home with the original owner. It was a welcome opportunity to clear out a few things that felt too special to send to Goodwill but were no longer serving our closets or homes. And a lovely way to live out our article theme for the month: sustainability and green practices!
Have you ever been to a stuff swap? Or a swap of any kind? What kind of swap would you want to host? (I think a cookbook swap would be fun!)
