A Week in Review: Regular Workouts, Summer Activities, and Chocolate Cake

• I have actually started working out regularly again: lifting weights, walking, and doing yoga.  My physio did some acupuncture on Tuesday so I didn’t do my planned workout as he advised (weights), and then I had the mega migraine last night so I didn’t get my workout yesterday either (he advised something light, like walking).  So, I walked tonight.  Overall, I have lifted weights twice, practiced yoga three times, and walked twice in the last week.  It’s a start.
• I’ve got my kids for the next several weeks, before I start work/take over my future dental practice.  Last week was rainy, so there was more TV than I wanted, plus some indoors crafts and games.
• Over the weekend, though, it started to heat up around here, so we’ve been outside a lot more.  The kids stayed overnight with friends of ours on Friday night (another of my husband’s cousins and her husband) so that my husband and I could have some alone time (which basically boiled down to dinner out and a couple of episodes of Breaking Bad Season 1).
• Saturday, my husband and I tackled our mudroom.  Wish I had taken before and after pictures, because you couldn’t really see the floor for all the shoes, backpacks, and random gear strewn about, and now we’ve got shoes on shelves, summer gear in a bin, and even empty shelves for expansion.  I may get around to posting a picture of the end result…
• Sunday I did some grocery shopping and we went over to visit friends and their pool.  It was a beautiful day and I didn’t have to make lunch, so what more is there to say, right?  We then had another set of friends and their son (the friends who watched our kids Friday night) over for a barbecue and to watch the Rider game.
• Monday I babysat my nieces and the kids spent a lot of time in the sprinkler.  We also did some tie-dying and the kids loved it.
• Yesterday, I had my kids – no nieces – and we did some science projects, which you can find here and here, and again they ran through the sprinkler a lot.  I also baked and iced a cake for my husband’s birthday, which was yesterday.  It was totally delicious – probably the best chocolate cake I’ve ever made – and you can find the recipes I used here (Devil’s Food Cake) and here (Chocolate Buttercream Frosting).  Later, the kids and I  did some hopscotch on the front driveway, visited with our neighbours, and then went inside where I was hit by the migraine just before my husband came over and took over.
• Today, I had my nieces again.  We ran errand in the morning and then there was more sprinkler and swing time before I tried out some face-painting using these tutorials here and here as inspiration.  I didn’t want to post pictures of my nieces, but here are my kids:

• As for the exciting travel news I mentioned earlier, my husband and I are heading to London to watch his cousin compete in the Olympics!  We’re pretty pumped and have booked our hotel, flights, and some event tickets.  Neither of us has been to London (unless you count Heathrow), so feel free to send must-see and -do recommendations my way!

What were your favourite summer activities as a kid?  I loved jumping on our trampoline, running through the sprinkler, going swimming at the lake, and playing hide-and-seek with all the kids in the community.