Hi there. I am eating a big salad for lunch as I type this post. I can’t wait to share my latest salad combo with you guys in my next recent eats post. It’s a really good one! I taught a class in-studio at VIBE5 this morning and it was my first time teaching strength training in a mask. Our state mask mandate recently changed and we are now required to wear masks in gyms and fitness studios while exercising in addition to reducing capacity and distancing. While it wasn’t easy to teach in a mask for an hour while also demoing the workout, I think it’s ultimately a good thing to keep everyone as safe as possible. Also, both studios that I work for are still offering both livestream options so if students don’t feel comfortable attending class in-person they can do it from home. This morning I had nine students on livestream and nine in the studio!
Today’s post is just a peek at what mom life has been like for the last few days. Lots of quality time and fun activities with my boy and the pups.
Finn is so into Hot Wheels right now. I rarely find him without a car close by. We take them in the car with us when we go places, outside in the back yard, in the bath and even to bed sometimes! We were at ALDI on Friday evening and I got him a new set of cars. You’d have thought that I got him an actual car he was so excited. 🙂 He also loves this dinosaur sweatshirt that I picked up at Target recently. Very soft and a steal at just $7.
Finn has become the best little dinner date lately. Ever since I got our dining room table he loves sitting in his chair and eating with me. We always “cheers” each other and he likes it best when I eat at the same time as him. This is the chair that we have and I love it. We started with the tray attachment and now it just pulls up to the table. It’s one that will grow with him and that we’ll use for a long time. One more thing, I love these plastic placemats for Finn. They protect the table and are easy to wipe clean.
We had a few fun adventures over the weekend. On Saturday morning we went to the Charlotte Regional Farmers Market and since we were out near the airport I decided to take Finn to the overlook for the first time. He is always asking me to go to the airport to go see Meme, P-paw and Mema. 🙂
It was a chilly but sunny morning and Finn enjoyed watching the planes take off. We will definitely be back and I highly recommend this activity if you have toddlers or kids into airplanes and live in the Charlotte area. There is plenty of parking and quite a few benches. It would be great to bring a picnic lunch.
I bought tickets for us to go to the Holidays at the Gardens at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden on Sunday evening. Finn is super into all things holiday decorations this year so I thought he’d love the lights. I also thought I would be cold and bundled up as it was dark and 45 degrees but I was SERIOUSLY sweating keeping up with Finn!
While I wouldn’t call it a relaxing experience for mom, Finn had an awesome time and it was sweet to watch him take it all in. I thought they did a great job with the lights, decorations and overall atmosphere. There are also food trucks, s’mores, fire pits, coffee, wine/beer, etc. Also, people were generally good about making, even though the event is outdoors. I wore one the entire time we were there minus snapping this photo with Finn.
If you’re planning a visit, I recommend purchasing your tickets in advance. You can choose a ticket time of 5p, 6:30p or 8p and you can arrive within the 90 minutes after your ticket time. I chose the 5p tickets and we got there around 5:45p which was great because there was no line. There is no limit on how long you can stay. We were there for about an hour but note that we didn’t stop to eat or get drinks. Finn was way too busy for that. I’m glad that I fed him an early dinner before we left the house.
The pups are living the life. They like the colder weather and we’ve been getting lots of walks and back yard ball time in. This is the scene in my bedroom every night. I’m going to order a second bed but I’m fairly certain they’ll still opt to share the same one. 🙂
Alright, I’m signing off to get a little more work done before our nanny leaves for the day. Then it’s going to be a party in the back yard bagging a bunch of leaves that I raked yesterday. Talk about good exercise…especially when Finn and the dogs were knocking over the piles of leaves as soon as I could get them raked. Haha.
I’ll see you back in a day or two with some recent eats. Enjoy the week!
QUESTIONS
Have you worked out in a mask?
Have you done any holiday activities this year?
Do you enjoy yard work?
Before group fitness was put on hold, I did work out in a mask at my gym (a state mandate). The coaches suggested we get a silicone insert to wear underneath. It made a huge difference! It took a couple of workouts to get used to it and then it felt normal.
I love yard work! It feels so good to be outside doing stuff. 🙂
Some of my fellow instructors have recommended those mask inserts so I may have to order some! While I don’t love yard work, I do really enjoy being outside and active…and feeling like I have a task to accomplish!
Hey Jen! long time reader but first time commenter. I teach barre classes in NJ and we also have to be masked when exercising/teaching. Just wanted to let you know that it definitely gets easier overtime. Not sure if you’re teaching hot yoga right now but for normal temp classes I think the disposable surgical masks are the absolute best. Feels good to be back in studio and teaching even with masks and restrictions. Definitely a tough time for the fitness industry and small businesses, wishing you the best!
I have exercised in a mask a few times (gym requirement over the summer), but I don’t really enjoy it, hence the reason that I’ve been opting to walk outside for exercise since that became a requirement here. I leave the yard work to my husband: he is mainly just on doggy doo duty, since we have landscapers who come and do the other stuff.
We haven’t done many holiday activities yet — just put up our tree — but we have tickets for a couple of events coming up in the next couple of weeks. 🙂