LIFE'S LITTLE DETAILS

"THE DETAILS ARE NOT THE DETAILS. THEY MAKE THE DESIGN." — CHARLES EAMES

Happy Thursday, m' dears! Despite a four-day weekend with Flyboy, the Swell Rio struggle has been VERY real as of late. Perhaps that might explain the late start to the blog week?! Sigh. Let me explain. I'm sure we can find humor in it all anyway. We always do...

• Because we just visited Austin and have a few upcoming trips on tap, the 4th of July holiday kind of snuck up on us. Aside from washing both cars and yard work, we thought we'd take it easy and relax. Unfortunately, this YOLO approach backfired when Flyboy blew through SEVEN tubes on his road bike and popped a few flats. Of course I couldn't come to the rescue right away because on both occasions we had to work around a napping tot and a cake baking in the oven. I think we can all agree that 108 degree weather is a prime condition to be stranded and sweating in the "dry" TX heat.
• To shake things up on Sunday, we hopped in the car and ventured to Garner State Park (approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes away). On the way, we had breakfast at a cute little coffee shop in Uvalde called The Local Fix where we devoured steak, eggs, and French toast. We knew we were going to be burning some serious calories later that morning hiking and swimming, so we might as well make brekkie count. Oh, but the joke was on us! You see, when we finally arrived at the state park, we found out that it was FULL. The sweet lady working the parking lot explained that it was uncharacteristically busy, even for a holiday weekend, and that they wouldn't be allowing any more people into the park. Womp womp! We were so bummed. To make matters worse, Max was less than thrilled to be cooped up in his carseat and was kicking and screaming like a fool. The idea of driving another 100+ miles under these conditions (toddler shenanigans and an outing letdown) made me want to cry. Thankfully, on the trek home Flyboy noticed a big black footprint on my forehead. I looked in the mirror and realized it must have been when Max dropped his juice cup and kicked me in the face when I went to retrieve it. Well played, kid. Oh, and to top it all off, the air conditioner stopped working later that evening, but maintenance swooped in to the rescue and after three hours of fixing our AC unit we were back to Chill Town by bedtime. Hooray! It's moments like that which make us happy we rent. Silver lining, anyone?!
• After a few weekend flops, Flyboy went all Clark Griswold on the holiday and decided that we needed a kiddie pool for the backyard to keep cool. I was honestly tickled by his enthusiasm and knew this option seemed awfully convenient considering our fickle toddler and his current sentiment toward the lake and pool. So, while Pop and Tot ventured into town, I dusted off my favorite beach hat (haven't donned that bad boy in YEARS) and skipped around the house imagining all the fun we'd have sipping cocktails and making memories in our backyard. Hahahahahaha! Imagine the look on my face when the boys returned home with nothing but contact solution and a set of arm floaties. What the what?! They made several stops at various stores in town, but they found NOTHING. Apparently this is the time of year that Walmart and HEB swap out the fun summer merchandise for school supplies. Because THAT makes complete sense, right?!
• Feeling defeated yet again, I put on my happiest beach hat and the boys slipped into their swim trunks. After a weekend of nonstop flops, we were bound and determined to just roll with the punches. While we noshed on pretzels and pistachios and threw back a pair of stiff Tom Collins, I watched Flyboy sit in Max's old baby pool to keep cool and smiled as our sweet little boy ran through the sprinkler with the most genuine excitement. Sure the holiday had is upsets and struggles, but it all worked out and we were together. Perspective is everything. Oh, and for the record, we planned NOTHING on Tuesday, kept our expectations for the day reeeeeeeally low, and there were no glitches. Sweet success!

Now, tell me something giggle inducing that happened to you or your family this weekend. I'm sure there's something...

P.S. Mad props to Flyboy! You see that last photo? He's totally winning at fatherhood as he carries a screaming Max to the car after it's time to leave the park. In 99 degree heat at the height of nap time, this is NO easy feat. Bravo!