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EP 49: Embracing Summertime
1.6k Plays3 months ago
In this episode of Mom Group Chat, we dive into the joys and challenges of summertime with our kids. Summer is a season filled with cherished memories, but it can also be tough with the heat and the constant need to keep the kids entertained. Join us as we explore ways to shift our mindset and embrace all that summer has to offer. We also create the ultimate summer bucket list to inspire you to make this summer unforgettable.
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Transcript
00:00:07
Speaker
There's no right way to do it.
00:00:12
Speaker
Oh, we're going to get into it. What up moms? Summer time and the living's easy. This is the mom group chat and I'm here with my best friend, Candace. And how's it going? Did you like my little? You've got a voice on you, Whitney. You're sneaky. you Whitney's a sneaky, good singer, I think. OK, that's a joke. OK, but I feel like no, no, no, but I feel like the voice you give us is like the jazz version of your voice or something. It's a jazzy fizzle. It's like you're always giving us a little taste. You know, what we're going to have to it's become actually this is funny you say that it's become quite a joke because I'll do a little tidbits of singing here and there. And I can't remember.
00:01:03
Speaker
what happened in my September mom group, but I sang a little something and they were like, wait, Whitney, you're good. And I'm like, okay, let's not know. Let's not do that. And so now they joke that I'm a good singer. And when I was at our friend, Claudia's wedding, I did a little singing, singing with the band and some guy, this is so embarrassing, had me sign a napkin. He goes, you're going to be famous someday. Did I tell you that? It was so embarrassing, truly. I'm like, wait a second. Do we have a pop star in our hands? No. Well, now I'm jealous because you know that's my dream.
00:01:43
Speaker
Yeah, Candace is like actually mad. Candace tried out for American Idol. Or was it? I think it was the voice, I think. The voice, okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no, no. That is a time in my life when I look back and I'm embarrassed. I cringe so hard at myself. It's like, do I like to sing? Yes. Did I have the chops to audition for a sing show? Absolutely not. Candace is a good singer. I feel like you and I are the same. We can follow music. We know the notes, but like don't don't sing a solo. He's God. No, I would definitely be not that. I definitely was like not that good. And should I had no, no reason to be auditioning for a singing show thinking that that was going to like be my big break. Like that's actually so embarrassing. I.
00:02:37
Speaker
i am I have secondhand embarrassment thinking no you were thinking you are so good and you still are so don't be embarrassed. Well now my chops are just used to like sing Moana like saying you know frozen all the all the Disney classics basically so Yeah, but it's gotten to the point where like I'll tell Chris and he looks at me and I look at him and we both like laugh anytime someone says that now because I'm like, yeah I'm going to be famous.
00:03:12
Speaker
Well, you're going to have to tell him that I said that. be like By the way, the intro to this week's podcast, we're talking about how I'm going to be famous. He listens so I can't wait for him to hear this.
00:03:25
Speaker
it's So funny. Gosh, tell me about everything. So Alice started school. Yes. So she had her first day of, I guess it's technically summer camp. I mean, that's like what it is. I called daycare school. I can't help it. I don't know. No, I, especially to her, like as a two year old, she doesn't know what the fuck summer camp is so like yeah but she does kind of understand school I think so we've been saying school but it is technically summer camp but whatever it's at her it's at where she's going to school which is another reason to call it school because it is where she will be going in the fall
00:04:01
Speaker
So we had her first day and the girl could not have cared less about me. Honestly, she literally, like as soon as we got in the, well, we have to walk past the playground to like get to her little classroom. And she was like, Ooh, a playground. And she was like all excited. And then we get, as soon as she saw the classroom, she said, I want to go in there. And I said, okay. And we stopped and we said hi to her teacher. And then boom, the girl was off. So. yeah ba She barely looked back at me. She was like, bye. And I was like, I love you. And I blew her a kiss. And I got a little emotion. Not like my mom was like, did you cry? And I was like, no. I mean, I got I probably had some some very light tears in my eyes. But it's hard. I mean, regardless of age and whatever, you're like, ah I hope you do well. I hope you like it like.
00:04:56
Speaker
you couldn't ask for a better situation with a good drop off. I think that's the part that if she was freaking out, like you would feel weird all day, but since she was like, bye, you feel good. You know? Yeah. The only, like my anxieties were never about the drop off. My anxiety lies about what is happening while they're there. And not even that, like I'm worried about the teacher. It's more so of like, This is the first time like someone is not solely looking at her for like just her needs. you know like My mom is like pretty much one-on-one, I guess sometimes two-on-one now that Evie's here. But like she's like, oh, you need more water? like constantly umm like yeah If her cup gets empty, like are they going to refill it? Does she even know to like who to ask for that? That's where my anxieties lie. That'll be good for her.
00:05:48
Speaker
you know She's gonna have to learn to ask for what she needs and ask for what she wants. So, I mean, I asked the teacher, I was like, how did she do? Like, how was it? And she was like, she was great. She played all day. She was great, like so sweet. She was great. And then she said, oh, she did get naked at lunchtime.
00:06:11
Speaker
That's your job. And she said, yeah, I turned around and she had taken, she wore a tank top and she had taken her arms completely and taken her shirt off and then took her shorts off at lunch. And I was like, that's my child. hours you were just like your mother i was like yep that's my child oh my god that is so funny i know i was like wow okay um something that was interesting is she did cry when i picked her up like when she saw me at pickup she immediately started crying so i was like huh okay
00:06:46
Speaker
Um, I was like, hi. And then when I asked her how it was, she just said, I cried, which the the teacher was standing right there and she was like, literally, she did not cry until right now. So I don't know what she's talking about. I think that that's actually like very common for children to cry when you pick them up versus I think so too. It's like, it's an emotional, like she couldn't show like how nervous or maybe she was there but when she saw you she was allowed to release those feelings or something and yeah you're her comfort so she's probably like oh thank god yeah it's also the first time i've been away from some from my family yeah it's it was clear that they had little like volunteers there to help like in the playground like
00:07:31
Speaker
They were definitely high school kids. like The girl was in a plant high school shirt, um which is like the big high school in my area, I guess. um and so They definitely had like teenagers there helping out, which is great, like totally support that. But one of them was holding her and I took Alice over the weekend to the gym with me because they have you there are two hours you can get two hours of childcare per day at my gym. so I went to the gym on Sunday and I dropped Alice off at the stay and play. And when I picked her up, I said, did you make any friends? Because there were tons of kids in there her age. And she pointed to the young like girl working there. And she was like, that's her. That's my friend.
00:08:14
Speaker
And I joked with Vinny that she was like, like attaching her, like she liked to hang out with the teachers more than she liked to hang out with the kids, which is funny. I feel like I was a little bit like that when I was a kid too. And then I feel like today when I picked her up, I saw in that she was with the high school girl. I was like, she attached herself to the teacher again. That's how so my best friend Morgan was growing up. She always hung out with like the older um and she Yeah, I don't know. She was always like way more mature than I ever was. like I'm obviously like the most immature out of all my friends, but she was always like that too. and Interesting. I couldn't be further from the teacher. Don't talk to me. I don't want to talk to the teacher. I want to just hang out with my friends. I don't want to like have any excuse to get in trouble. like I don't want you to know what I'm doing at all.
00:09:06
Speaker
Let's do that now with like authority. I'm like, I just want to hide. That's so funny. That's so interesting. I don't see you like that in my brain. But ah then I also, i I do know that you've always liked younger, like in college, you liked hanging out with the younger girls. Same. ah Still to this day, I'm like, yeah where's the 24 year old at? I want to hang out with you. what Maybe not that young. That's so funny. But yeah, older guys were never in the cards for you, huh? You know that. You like a baby face. A baby face! get mid i check Okay, I don't want to sound creepy, but give me the baby. That is so funny. still to this day um oh but Actually, this is so funny. I was talking to one of my best friends, Taylor.
00:09:55
Speaker
And she said, she just set her bumble to a lower age range. Like she usually goes older and she goes, I got my inspiration from you Whitney. I was like, me. I was like, I'm not even dating. and She was like, but you like, you always liked younger. And I'm like, ah yeah. And then she was sending pictures and I was like, yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. You're like, this is my style. Yeah. And then Des was like, yeah, why go for like the balding Kennedy when you can have the young, fresh Kennedy like for sure. Kennedy style man. So I was like, that is so funny. Oh my God. That's so funny. But you have always been that way. All of your boyfriends in high school were younger, too. I know. Wow, Chris.
00:10:38
Speaker
Chris is only younger by like a day, so. Hey, it still counts. Mine's six months younger. Vinny is six months younger than me. Oh, I didn't know that. Oh yeah, I guess I didn't know that. Whoa, Candice. So I like younger guys, too. But honestly, in my dating life, I did not discriminate. Everyone's welcome. I know, I was like, come on. I was trying to pinpoint. I was like, well, there's quite a range.
00:11:07
Speaker
No, honestly, I ain't got no tight. But for real, I don't know. I i like I like it if you paid any attention to me, I will make out with you. That's just how it goes.
00:11:23
Speaker
Well, I love you enough to cut that part out. No, no, I love it. So true. OK, so you just came on or you just came back from your first like, was this your longest trip away from? Yeah. the kiddos Well, no, I mean, when I went to California, like Chris and I were both gone, um which was felt worse back then because she was still four months old and not sleeping through the night. So I felt really bad about it. But like, leaving the kids with Chris is like so easy. It's actually ideal. like Wow. See, I don't feel that way. Sorry, Vinny. I don't know. I just I don't have to tell him what to do. So it's nice. Yeah. um The only thing he asked me to do was like set out the clothes for the kids for the week just so he could grab and go, which is so funny to me. It took me like two minutes to set everything out. But I was like, yeah.
00:12:18
Speaker
I'll do that for you. That's really hard. um yeah But yeah, it was so nice. I mean, I was gone Tuesday through of Friday and um it was a work trip, which it was still so fun. We're we're a group of all girls and women, I guess. And um so we just had so much fun. like We just worked during the day and had fun at night, like went out to eat. Cause you know, Charleston is such a foodie town and yeah they were so sweet. One of my favorite boutiques is there. Like I love tuckernuck and I like monkeys, remember monkeys? oh yes um But the one in Mount Pleasant specifically is the one I shop out of and they let me go in there and I basically walked in and it was like, I saw celebrities because I know everyone that works there. And I was just like,
00:13:09
Speaker
They do a really good job at marketing. They like try on all the new clothes and like we'll show it in the mirror and like how it fits. and so I just really like what they do. and i It's a really good like online store to shop from. but Man, I walked in and I was like, hello. Oh my God. Like, yes, I follow you online. And she was like, what's your name? And I was like, Whitney. And she goes, mine too. I was like, I know who you are. You're like, I know everything about you. But like my coworkers were like really hyping me up. They're like, Are you ready? Like, should we take your picture out here? and I was like, no, mom, stop. Like, you're making me nervous. Like, oh, my God. And so I just had I was like, everybody act cool when we go in here. Don't act like like I know these people, but even though I do. um But it was really fun. And um yeah, just a good time. And it's like so it's so it looked so cute. I mean, you're the content you were putting out was.
00:14:03
Speaker
Oh, well, it's fucking miserable down here in the south. Is it hotter in Charleston than it is in Nashville? Yeah, it was. I like got home and it was 78 here and I was like, thank God. Oh, my God. I would give anything for 78. It's like in the 90. It was 104 last week here in Florida. I think it was in the 90s when we were there. Like I had to shower twice a day. I was like, I am so miserably hot. it's So hot. yeah um I was gonna tell you that for your trip when you come down here. I'm like, I'm just warning you. We live in the double and the devil's butt crack down here in Florida. So it's just hot as fuck outside. like Like to the point when you open up the door, you're like, you like wanna cringe. It is so hot. That's how it was there. I'm like, okay, I'll just be in like my Nike shorts and t-shirt and swimming. So I loved it.
00:14:59
Speaker
I know your your trip looks so cute. The cocktails you had looked amazing. I was like drooling at all of your ah cocktail photos for some reason. like It was like I've been trying girls. I know I've been trying to be so good and like eat healthy. And it just all went out the window. I was like hard. I was like, throw it up baby, let's drink. It would be like noon, I'm like, do we have rosé? But I was like, no, we gotta to work, we gotta work, we gotta work. There's also something about travel, especially like with girls, like i'm it's all out the window, like it's so hard for me to, yeah. I had intentions of the first day and those attentions went away with that first glass of wine. I was like, why do, I was like, just enjoy yourself. Yeah, yeah.
00:15:46
Speaker
Well, I'm excited about this episode. We which is this is us talking about how fucking hot it is. It's a good segue into the theme of this episode, which is we're going to talk about like embracing summertime with our little chitlins because it's hot as fuck outside. And like I just said, it is miserable outside and there Like truly in my brain, I'm thinking I don't want to be out here at all. Like I don't want to be outside. I don't want, you know, to be out here a second longer than I need to be. But I was telling Whitney, like before, that before we decided on what we were going to record about today, I was thinking about this over the weekend. Like I feel like my strongest childhood memories are from the summer.
00:16:39
Speaker
and also specifically that the memories with my parents because both my parents worked like and in school like when I really think about how much time I spent with my parents while I was in school like it really wasn't a lot my parents worked like My grandparents picked us up from school. Like I didn't, and that sounds terrible, but I didn't see my parents like a ton when I was in school. But during the summertime is when we would see them more and like have more time together and they would take vacations and stuff.
00:17:10
Speaker
So I feel like my most fond memories are in the summer. And I was thinking about, okay, it's June, like we're really getting to the height of summer here. And I really want to make summer special for my girls and for our family and to create those like really solid nostalgic summer memories together. um Which takes a little bit of like switching my mindset away from how hot and miserable and hard everything is. And instead stepping into like, okay.
00:17:49
Speaker
I know that going to the beach with my kids is hard. I know that it's hot as fuck outside, but the memories we're making now are the memories they're gonna think about forever. So I gotta like, I gotta put my big girl panties on, my sweat resistant big girl panties and just deal with the heat and get outside and like, you're you're our kids don't care if we're sweating our asses off. They just- No, I love this. What are some of your like fondest summer memories? I mean, I just remember being at the pool all frickin day. And you know what I think about a lot is my I don't think my mom's head was on a swivel when I was swimming.
00:18:33
Speaker
And like every parent I know now, their head's on a swivel, which is great. I mean, water safety is so scary. But right like man, my mom really trusted me. And I was out there pretending to drown for the lifeguard to like come and get me. Did you ever do that? I would pretend I was a princess. And i'd be like under what I would try and hold my breath as long as possible. That is psycho. um But it's like, wow, my mom really was like, nah, she's a fish, she got this. But I just remember being at the pool all day um and like going home and putting on a big t-shirt and you're just so cozy curled up watching TV or being outside. I went to summer camp a lot too. Growing up, I went to summer camp every year. What else? Oh, the lake came into my life in eighth grade. yeah So the lake has been a big part of my,
00:19:30
Speaker
I guess adolescence and up. Yeah, totally. And yeah, that even played into you coming for the lake. It's just everything revolves around the lake in the summer, especially 4th of July. I always think of 4th of July being so fun. When I think of 4th of July, I think of you. A lot of people do that. You and 4th of July are like that in my brain. Which is maybe why we always gravitate toward each other. It's like either I'm at the lake or I'm with you. um
00:20:02
Speaker
And when you're at the lake, I wish I was with you. but yeah you said I think what you said about your mom is so interesting and I feel the exact same way. I feel like we swam alone 99% of the time. yeah And then the other thing I think about all the time is like, I feel like moms now are so like sun conscious as well. Like the sunscreen, I mean, yes, we put sunscreen on, but like do I remember my mom like not letting us do anything until we had sunscreen on? like Absolutely not. like i and No, we put it on once and all day. Yeah.
00:20:42
Speaker
And like, if that I'll, I'll never forget going to the dirt. And also I'm not saying that that, like, that people are two sons, son conscious now, because it is real. Like I am a Molly, Molly, Molly girl. I have moles all over me and I need to be so more sun conscious, but I'll never forget. Like one of the first times I went to the dermatologist, he was like, so how many sunburns have you had in your life? And I was like, Like I'm sorry sir like like I hundreds i I can't even tell you I would say like at least one a year because that first base tan you get like you'll get sunburned Like I've had hundreds of sunburns. I honestly like
00:21:26
Speaker
of all varying, like, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. It was just like such a strange question. And he was like, well, every sunburn that you I don't I'm not even going to get into it. But anyway, i just I just mean I feel like back in our summer days, like parents cared less about things. And nowadays there's just so much like knowledge of everything. And that kind of plays into what I was saying earlier about just like letting it go. for summer to like allow our kids to just like be a little more free and like make the memories without all of the like hoopla dude and like also growing up I never ever ever saw anyone in a rash guard
00:22:13
Speaker
like oh me either i'd have been like what a nerd he's wearing a long sleeve turtleneck in the water and now i'm like oh my god that kid's not wearing a rash guard i'm like do i need to get them one yeah totally then i would have been like what's happening it's just so different now it's so different and that's why it's like part of my intention for the summer is to just like let things go a little and also to I feel like there's I don't know if you feel this way I feel like you
00:22:47
Speaker
do too but it's fine if you don't you can just say so I feel a little bit of pressure to like make our summer activities like Instagrammable or like photo worthy or like super cute and like have specific outfits or like and I need and I feel like And then when I do that, it's like I'm putting this level of control on it that that stifles the fun. Like I want her to pose specifically for the photo or like, you know what I mean? And I hate that. way like
00:23:23
Speaker
If I, if there's a holiday, I don't know. Like for 4th of July, do I want a picture of our kids together? ah yeah Fuck yeah. Like, sorry. I just do. But it's like, yeah the only times I care is like a holiday, Margo's milestone photo. But other than that, like. I don't know if when I do it in that mindset, I put a lot of pressure on myself. So yeah, no, that's I'm trying to let go of that because I do put that pressure on myself sometimes to like take a cute photo and like have it be like.
00:23:57
Speaker
so curated and like needy ney and I hate that. So another like Instagram pressure thing is this concept of you only have 18 summers with your kids before they go off to college and they like leave your house. And I know there definitely has been like chatter or like I don't wanna say backlash, but like chatter about this topic on Instagram because it can kind of, I think it can do two things at once, at least it does for me. For me, it like makes me very conscious that like time goes really fast. like If we only have 18 summers, like this is Alice's third summer in... Yeah. You know what I mean? like That's crazy. I'm like, shit, time is moving so fast. But at the same time, it like kind of makes me like really sad and like fearful to the point where I just want to... like
00:24:57
Speaker
smother her and like make sure she doesn't grow at all. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. Um, but I mean, when you think about us, I'm with my fricking family all the time. True. I'm like, that's a good, that's a good, I spend a lot of time with my parents and especially now that I have kids, I'd say the only time where maybe there was a break was in college when my friends were kind of, priority. Yeah, priority. And like the summers where you had to stay in school there. But then after that, like you will spend time with your family. And like when I was in Rhode Island, like, yeah, maybe not as much then, but I'm back and I'm with them all the time. So I wouldn't be too worried.
00:25:48
Speaker
Yeah. They always come back. Yeah, that's true. Especially girls, I feel like. Especially Graydon. I love you, but you're leaving me, kid. already nice well I Well, I gotta to make Chris and I like so fun. We have got to be so fun, like that he cannot stay away. That is so true. That's so true. It's like it's your responsibility and actually that's true for any parent. It's your responsibility to make sure that they want to come back. Like it's how you like how you love them, how you treat them, how you make a fun environment. That's so true.
00:26:25
Speaker
And Graydon's kind of like me, so I already know I'm like, I can't smother him too much or he's going to be like, nah, like this is too much for me. I just got to be fun. Got to keep like the rules and like keep them in in line, but also like you can do what you want. But, you know, let's be like realistic about this, you know, so I'm just going to play that game and he's going to come walking right back and he's going to. Well, he's going to marry Alice, so. I mean, and yeah, and they can hang out with you. yeah They can hang out with you all they want. That feels good to me to set up that we will be able to hang out for the rest of time every summer for the rest of time. I always think of the movie's blonde princess. Did you watch that growing up?
00:27:10
Speaker
Oh, I don't think so. I don't think I've ever. What? Oh, my God. I think it's on Netflix. But I just watched it again recently. It was like one of my favorite movies growing up and the families try and get them together and they're like, stop pushing her on me. And then they fall in love because Odette was beautiful. So Odette. Her name is Odette. That's a cute name. Mm hmm. I'm always on the I'm i I'm on the lookout for Not that I'm having a baby any anytime soon, but I'm always on the lookout. Now I feel like because we have an A and an E, I feel like we need another vowel name, like vowels. So I kind of have always thought that our our third child, whether boy or girl, would have like an A E I O or U name, which I don't know when you to the U. Ingrid. Ingrid's cute. Candice, I'm just kidding. Do not name your child Ingrid.
00:28:08
Speaker
I actually don't mind that. No. Well, then the boy can be Ulysses.
00:28:16
Speaker
I was literally about to say like, what names even start with a U nothing? That's the only one I can think of. It's great. Oh, my God. Yeah, that's perfect. OK, anyways, sorry, I got to i got distracted by Odette. Odette's good. She's a princess. Oh, she's a princess. but hopefully I won't have another girl, Vinny would off himself. Okay. um
00:28:49
Speaker
Something that I did last summer with the girls and with Vinny, actually Vinny and I created it together is we created a summer bucket list of all the like fun things we wanted to do in the summer to try, cause I don't know if y'all feel this way. there If we don't have anything planned for the weekend, a lot of the time we wake up Saturday morning and it's like a, either Vinny or I look at each other and we're like, so what are we gonna do today? yeah I just, you have to have something planned or if not the days feel so long. We're really bad about that. So bad about that. About, well, this is gonna help you because what we're gonna do is create a summer bucket list. And then when you wake up or Friday night, you'd be like, what are we gonna do tomorrow? And then you're gonna pick something off the summer bucket list to check off.
00:29:38
Speaker
done. Let's do this. So we did this last year and it really did help us like fill the time in the summer. um So I was going to read some of the things that were on our list last year and then maybe we could I don't know, talk about some other ideas that we could add. The first one is go to a baseball game. If you have a baseball team near you, go to a baseball game. It is such a summer like thing. You can have a hot dog and a cold beer and it is hot. I mean, not in Tampa because they play in Tropicana field, which is covered in air conditioning. Shout out. So it's a good summer activity, ah but go to a baseball game.
00:30:21
Speaker
The next one is have a picnic. Cute. Cute. ah Invite friends over for a barbecue. Preferably friends with kids around the same age. I think Vinny and I did this twice last year and we like put a different spin on it each time. First was just friends with kids. And then the second time was um we said a new friend. Like someone we want to get to know better. or want to connect with more. So invite them. i you um Having with kids their age, it's like, how do you want to play it? Do you want your kid to be entertained the whole time or are you going to have to do a little?
00:31:04
Speaker
you know, parenting. So if you have kids the same age, it's chef's kiss. They just play. So good. So, so good. um Day at the beach. Obvious. I mean, this is like standard. However, harder for me. and I was. Well, it's hard in general, like even. Yeah. We're 30 minutes. This is like where the mindset thing comes in, because going to the beach with your kids is not fun.
00:31:36
Speaker
um This is like very reminiscent of my like Europe thing. It's kind of the same feeling, honestly. It's a lot of crap. like It's hot. If your kid doesn't like sand, mike Alice did not like the sand when we went to the beach. She was like complaining about it the whole time. I wish. Graydon was eating it, so I had to watch him the whole time.
00:32:00
Speaker
Okay, two different ends of the spectrum here. Not great. Candice, I'm surrounded. Okay? Oh my god, that's funny. um Yeah, it's hard, but I feel like if you keep going, like you if you keep going to the beach, you'll get more used to it. And like I said, some of my fondest memories are of beach days, like with my parents and with my brother. So, yeah I think it would be better now I think now that he's almost three I think he would understand like I don't want to eat sand like I will just play in it and I think he knows things are dirty now so he'd be like I want to wash my hands off so we could probably go the ocean but like last year he had no concept
00:32:44
Speaker
he had like a fruit bowl and sand got all in it. So he was just eating the sandy fruit and watermelon. And I was just like, I hate this. I hate this. I hate this. And he like also was a runner. He's a track star last year. So he was just like gone. run down the beach, Chris was just chasing him and he kind of looked like Baywatch. I'm like like, I was like, Chris has got it going on. I'm the six month pregnant bitch whale on the fucking beach. I'm just watching. I'm like, I can't today. Oh, my God. This is so funny. I can't wait. That was the perfect clip of this episode. Like that was perfect.
00:33:25
Speaker
Oh, I don't even need to edit. Oh, my God. that'm So funny. ah um That's how that's the reality of going to the beach with your kids. It's not fun. It's not fun. But it will be eventually. And even though it's not from for you as a parent, it could be a fun memory for them. So you just do it. And then I think of like my in-laws, God bless them, taking photos of me on the beach. Y'all so miserable. Please paparazzi, please no. I can't. I don't want to see myself like this.
00:34:01
Speaker
Oh my God, that is so funny. Yeah, not great. um Anyway, keep keep going. Okay. Homemade popsicles. We did this last year. So fun. um This is a great way to get sneaky veggies in, by the way, if you get a popsicle from Amazon. Yes. You just blend like fruit or whatever in a blender, but you add spinach or even like a scoop of the like greens, you know, the green powder. I need to do that for myself. Honestly, and then you eat it. They eat it as a popsicle. Alice loves them. So good. Chef's gifts. Cool. Homemade popsicles. Obviously, some of these are like so basic, but like go get ice cream. Like if it on a day, you don't know what to do. Don't do that very often. and Yeah, that sounds fun. Yeah. Explore a new park that was on ours last year of like going to a new neighborhood that's maybe a little bit more of a drive.
00:34:57
Speaker
um I mean for us it was just like I literally googled best parks for toddlers in Tampa and there was a whole list of ones I'd never been to so maybe that men slashsh um splash pad okay that's literally the next one list says splash pad tour of your town that's literally what we did we tried to go to as many splash pads as possible last summer he's never been to one and he would love it Whitney, we have to go while he's here. Oh, perfect. Well, there's one at the Yacht Club, so we'll go there. But um and we we should go to like, there's a really, really good one in Carrollwood. OK, um we should go there. OK. Oh, my God. So fun. ah Build a blanket fort.
00:35:45
Speaker
Yes, we do this a lot actually. Oh, do you? We've never done it. Yeah. Does he love it? Yeah. And um we put it like we make a tent so he could still see the TV. So he just lays under there. But we do that a lot. That is so cute. I think because Chris likes to do that. I feel like that's a good rainy day one too, because we it rains a lot here in the summer. So. um homemade pizza, like we we did this recently. ah Well, I say recently, it was before Evie was born, so it was months ago. But we like and she loved help roll it, like pushing down the dough and sprinkling the cheese. Like that's a good one.
00:36:29
Speaker
Uh, get a Slurpee. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I want that. I there are a few things I like more than a Slurpee. And if you're if you're a mom that's like, again, it's like red dye or whatever, this might not be for you, but I mean. A Slurpee one Slurpee this summer is not going to kill you. OK. All our California listeners, you might not be. That's so funny. um That's actually a reminder like like high school me summer, Sonic, ocean water. yeah Put it in my mouth. um like That was one of my pregnancy cravings, not ocean water, but I wanted a lymaid from Sonic and I drove, and there's not really one near me. I had to do a decent drive, but I went and got myself a fucking lymaid and it was the best thing I've ever had. It is truly right next door to his daycare.
00:37:22
Speaker
so Oh that would be dangerous. I was rolling in there and getting that and some cheese mozzarella sticks all last summer. Wow. Four count. That sounds so good. um Watch fireworks. Classic. We've never done that with Gray and he's always gone to bed, but I think this year is the year of the firework for us. I think we should do that. Oh, there's a huge firework display here in Tampa. Should we go? I don't know.
00:37:56
Speaker
It's late is the problem. Yeah. We'll have to talk about it. Um, I was just, I was going to add that like a fun summary thing is sparklers. Maybe we could just do that instead of like, or like set it off in the yard or like do some mini thing, but like just having sparklers would be so fun for them. I think and I feel safe that with him holding it right now. So I think I do. Yeah. We'll see. ah Not him. I'm talking about my own child, obviously. I'm not talking. No, I'm sure. Great in his. Yeah, we'll see. Oh, this one is we're, I think, going to do this while you guys are here. I haven't told you this yet. um Go on a boat.
00:38:40
Speaker
so Oh, okay. So I need to explain. Here in Tampa, there are these things called e-boats and they're rentable. They're like, I wish I knew how to explain it. It's like these little boats you rent and you kind of like, it's not like Alina's boat where it's like super open. There's like, um, you almost like sit down in the boat. It looks like one big booth, kind of. Yeah. And there's a, there's table in the middle, but it's a full boat and Vinny drives it and everything. And I thought that would be a good morning activity. Cause you can like bring snacks and drinks and we just can explore like around the bay here.
00:39:17
Speaker
And it's great cause the kids can't like jump out of the boat, you know? Um, so I think, I think we might do that one morning. You guys are here. yeah that's okay Sounds great. So I'll have a Candace's summer bucket list. We're packing into the few days that I'm there. I hope you guys are ready. We're going to check off 17 of these items while you're here. Oh, my God. OK, a farmer's market. Yeah, that's fun. Mm hmm. Actually, that is such a good idea for Saturday morning when they're already up at five a.m. Might as well hit the farmer's market at seven or whenever eight it opens. Good idea. Get some delicious baked goods. Mm hmm. Get some. Mm hmm.
00:40:03
Speaker
They have $5 bakery donuts at our farmer's market, which is so delish. Oh, wow. Um, okay. Just, just a couple more, uh, make homemade lemonade. I saw that on someone else's list and I was like, Oh, Alice has been into lemonade. I let her, I made the grave mistake of letting her taste my Chick-fil-A lemonade. And now she asks for lemonade all the time. I'm like. You're not supposed to be a kid that's drinking lemonade, but here we are. I live on the perfect corner where cars go in and out. I'm about to make bank with a lemonade stand for Graydon. You have to pass our house to go to the pool. You have to pass our house on the way to work. I'm like, Graydon, you're going to make so much money when you get older.
00:40:53
Speaker
Great. If you want to put yourself through college here, it starts now. Put it right on the. I've already thought about it because I used to do it with my family grew up on the golf course and I would sell it to the golfers on the golf course. So it was always so fun and actually you we would take all of Chelsea's mom's cokes and drinks and mix them together and like we would mix Dr. Pepper and Diet Coke and slice and we'd call it Diet Slice or Dr. Diet Slice and we would sell it to the golfers. We would drink it. Hell yeah.
00:41:31
Speaker
Were they just wasted or like, I'm having a memory. I can't remember where I heard it. I think it was like on arm chair expert or another podcast or something. And it was one of the guys was talking about his first job was stealing beer from his, this so clearly not a real job. was stealing beer from his dad and selling it to the golfers on the side of the golf course. And they would all stop and buy a beer from him. And he ended up making bank from the stolen beer from his dad. I should make um what's that summer beer? Yeah, I should make summer beer and lemonade and sell it. You got it. You got to be careful with that summer beer. I'm not drinking it. I'll tell you that I had I had I've had too many too many days on I didn't even learn about that till I went to the lake with Whitney.
00:42:17
Speaker
You know what happened to me. So can you remind me, can you remind me of what it is in it? It is a can of frozen lemonade. You fill that can with vodka and four beers. Yeah. And you pour it all in a little lemonade. Whatever pitcher. Mix it all together. Summer yeah beer.
00:42:46
Speaker
I'm just warning y'all absolutely will rip you apart.
00:42:52
Speaker
good is Oh my God, that is funny. All right. Well, that's pretty much. I mean, there's a couple other things on here, but they're like so like obvious, like Children's Museum Zoo, like yeah but I love I love this list because it's like. Yes, it's a lot of practical things you can do and things that may, yes, be hard like the beach, but you got to just, you know, bite the bullet on that one. And then things that are like so easy. And I wrote dang. I wrote down like.
00:43:23
Speaker
some fun things that like might be happening in the moment and you don't realize that it's like a core memory until it's happening and that's just like, like I said, the sparklers. um Letting your kids stay up late later than normal, which we don't typically do, but like if they're having so much fun outside, like why stop the fun? yeah And like cat catching fireflies. It's such like a fun cute thing. Oh, well, I think that that's like a fun little thing to do. Yeah. Cause now he would realize what's going on. I didn't, I saw my first firefly when I went to sleep away camp in Pennsylvania when I was like 12 or 13 or whatever. Like I remember seeing them for the first time and I was so.
00:44:10
Speaker
like enthralled by them and everyone was like, you're crazy. They probably thought it was a crazy firefly girl because I just had never seen them before. I honestly like wasn't sure if they were real or not. um Well, I used to catch them and put them in my caboodle and I thought that they were my animals and then I'd open it the next day and they'd be dead. And I was like, what the fuck happened here? but Learning lesson that maybe they'll learn the summer next. Oh, so Chris Graydon and I all last summer, like our thing was like, I would pick them up from daycare and we would sneak an ice cream sandwich on the back patio. So I think that that's kind of fun.
00:44:50
Speaker
um and Buying the inflatables for the backyard. yes It is such a game changer. Like just having like a mini pool or a mini like sprinkler. Like you don't have to go anywhere and it's so fun and they love it and you can let them run around naked in the backyard. So fun. Um, and I was going to say skip a day of daycare and go to the zoo versus the weekend so that you can like actually enjoy it. And then I wrote down, yeah, I wrote down the big t-shirts and seeing fireworks were like some of my main things I would like to do this summer. So.
00:45:25
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. We'll share this list on our Instagram story so you guys can screenshot it and check off and share with us some of the things you're doing. We'll do a question box too where people can drop other ideas if someone else has more ideas. That would be really fun. um But we just want to be more present and more like willing to just let some things go this summer and enjoy our kids. They are only little for this amount of... When I look back at pictures of Alice from last summer, I'm like, oh my God, she's a totally different baby. I know. And when you look back, do you think about... She's not a baby anymore.
00:46:08
Speaker
do you think about how hard it was in the moment or are you just seeing the picture and you're like how cute like i look back at pictures and like in the moment you're like yes you could almost be breaking down crying like this is so hard or maybe they're having a meltdown but like You remember it, but you're like, oh, but look how much fun it was. So I have got to remember that we are thinking about going to the lake this weekend and we might literally be there for like 24 hours. I was like, should we go? It's a lot of work to get there, but I'm like, they'll get to go on the boat.
00:46:41
Speaker
It's gonna be a memory I'm gonna look back and they're gonna love it. So I'm like, just fricking go. Who cares? You know? So it's a good combo. Yeah, the last thing I'm gonna say is for all of you moms who are not feeling your most confident this summer, or you feel like your body doesn't look how you wish it would look, or you're insecure about something, I want to challenge you to let it go. Your kid does not care about what you look like in a swimsuit. They think you're perfect and beautiful just the way you are. So don't even say a damn word about how your body looks in that swimsuit. Don't let it keep you from making happy memories with your kids. You are perfect. You look amazing in that swimsuit. You've created life. So I just want to say that because I know that's an internal battle with me sometimes. It's like, Oh, I don't feel good, but yeah. Creating memories with your kids is more important than how you look in a swimsuit and you look amazing, okay? I love that you said that. yeah
00:47:47
Speaker
Thank you, Candy. All right. Well, I love you. I can't wait to see all the fun things that you all do this summer and make sure to tag us on Instagram and show us. Toodaloo. Love you guys. Thank you so much for being a part of our mom group chat. New episodes drop every Tuesday. And don't forget, the group chat is blowing up on our Instagram page. So make sure you're following along over there. All right. Got to go. My toddler just put something in her mouth.