Since my daughter was a baby, weâve had a membership to the Philadelphia Zoo. Over a decade later, she still enjoys her time there and was excited to celebrate their 150th anniversary and get some free treats courtesy of Wawaâs Welcome America along with my mom (her nana).
Interestingly, just about all of the animals, including the lions, tiger and bears, were out, active and ready for their close-ups. Itâs as though they were put on notice about this major milestone and were all ready to celebrate too.
This was a great way to start off July and to keep the fun going with our summer break activities.
Today had some pricey summer break activities, but the memories are worth it! My daughter and I linked up with my sister and niece for some Putt Shack fun for the first time and had a wonderful time in the central air playing miniature golf with a very fun course.
We then walked to Kook Burger for some delicious food and monster sized milkshakes. It was Quinn and my first time there, and we both enjoyed the menu.
Instead of going to camp or just hanging around the house for summer break, my daughter prefers to spend time doing activities together đ„°. I too love having more time together and am pleased that my tween still looks forward to hanging out with me.
Todayâs summer break fun was taking her brand new bike out for a spin on a bike trail. Transitioning from a dirt bike with foot brakes to a mountain bike with hand brakes went smoothly for her. Weâre thinking next time that weâll have a picnic after the bike ride and to maybe feed the geese or ducks.
Today, my daughter and I were excited to stop in St. Maarten on our very first cruise and did an excursion based off of the show âAmazing Race.â We connected with others and formed a group of ten. There werenât many children participating in this event, so I was glad that another child just one year younger than Quinn was on our team whose name just happened to be Quinnlin.
However, what initially started as a fun activity quickly turned into a stressful, less enjoyable time for Quinn and her new cruise friend, Quinnlin. While I most certainly can be competitive, when it involves working with a team, especially when team members have specific roles, I try my best to make everyone feel like they are contributing while having fun in the process. We had a team captain, a team navigator, and I was the team âclue master,â which involved me reading clues to the team to solve riddles and successfully complete the race.
Everyone was excited and ready for fun. We had a team member, who quickly sprung into action, which may seem great, but she also quickly left team members behind, including her own child. She would then grow frustrated if others gave input on solving certain clues if it was contrary to what she thought. Quinn even told me that she thought I was competitive, but this woman had me beat!
I told her that part of being in a competition with a team is working as a team and not making people feel left out and that part of the excursion is to have fun. Luckily the other members did work well together. âșïž
While we did win the race beating out ten other teams, I wish the experience was better for Quinn. But she shared with me the lesson she learned about the importance of working together and listening to others.
Plus, after the race we were able to spend a couple of well-earned hours at the beach just relaxing.
One of the moments both my ten year old and I were looking forward to on our very first cruise was our formal dinner.
Iâm either wearing workout clothes or business attire for work, and Quinn mainly wears casual and fun âtweenâ clothes, so this was a wonderful opportunity for us to both step out in high fashion!
Alas, the dayâs arrived! My ten year old and I are going on our very first cruise! Weâve boarded the ship and are excited for our destinations on Royal Caribbeanâs Wonder of the Seas!
Quinn was so excited to attend her first Phillies game, tickets courtesy of my friend & trainer, Joe and his family! Thanks so much! âșïžWhat a wonderful way to not only have fun with family and friends but to celebrate the Spartan Race triumph together. Citizens Bank Park is where it all started with my first Spartan Race. đ€đđœâŸïž
Summer went by so quicklyâŠmaybe because itâs been almost three years since my family has had a schedule full of activities outside of the home due to the pandemic. While I happy that we had so much fun, Iâve been negligent in sharing my mommyâs baby steps journey. Though summer IS officially over, I just have to provide a recap on some of our favorite moments.
We went to the beach so much this summer and even took our little toy poodle to a dog beach as well. Something simple that brought back childhood memories for me was catching and releasing lightning bugs with my daughter. While Iâm no longer a roller coaster enthusiast, Quinn had a ball getting on just about every ride at Six Flags Great Adventure and Hersheypark with family and friends.
She even enjoyed coming to strength training with me and cheering me on and occasionally jeering me on in a playful way to encourage me.
This was a wonderful summer, and Iâm grateful for the moments we had this summer.
Two things I really enjoy are spending time at the beach and with my mini me. We had so much fun playing in the ocean, sand and just catching the summer breeze. The icing on the cake was twinning in our matching swimsuits. it really made my day knowing that my eight year old enjoyed it as well and is excited to twin again. đ„°
Just like that, summer break is winding down, and the new school yearâs about to start in the coming weeks. With this summer quite different from the past ones due to COVID 19 restrictions, I tried my best to be creative and even asked my seven year old to come up with a list of activities she hoped to do. We successfully tackled most of the activities on the list and even added a couple along the way.
Though we did cancel her postponed birthday party, we still had a great time at a restaurant with outdoor seating with my sister and niece. With a smile on Quinnâs face, she said, âI had a great summer, Mommy!â Thereâs so many memes circulating about how 2020 is the worst year ever, so it definitely puts a smile on my face knowing that despite all of the negative circumstances my daughter still has a positive outlook and enjoys the little things, just like her mom đ.
Mommy's Baby Steps 