weekend wrap up // weekly mantra.

This post may contain affiliate links

This weekend was everything a gal could ask for.

Late Thursday night my parents came info town from Kentucky. Even though we love, love, LOVE our sitter, Ari skipped for the first time and spent the day with Mimi + Papi!

But Mimi was too excited to make him nap [cough-cough–that’s right Mimi–I know you’re reading this!], so my babe was a cranky mess Friday night.

Saturday Ari slept in! Oh hooray! Once he finally woke up [at 8!!!!!] Ari, Mimi & I went for a 30-minute run followed by an hour long walk.

Then we hit up the Haymaker Farmers’ Market in Kent. Fresh produce, local meats & cheeses & food vendors are what our foodie dreams are made of!

It was Ari’s second visit to the market but his first experience tasting all the food. And that wasn’t our choice! My parents got a local beef burrito & a bean + veggie burrito from one of the vendors. Ari saw it & immediately opened his mouth & started kicking his legs with excitement.

This is where the baby led weaning is really fun. The kid gnawed on the burrito like a champ! Follow it up with three — that’s right; 3!! — samples of sheep feta (he tasted 1 & freaked out until I gave him some more). The kid is going to have the most sophisticated pallet of any baby!

We finally got him to lay down for a nap after the market for a short time. And once he woke up, we headed out on another adventure. This time to a festival in Highland Square, a local neighborhood here in Akron. The community was hosting a food and music festival called Porch Rokr — where families and homes in a ten-block neighborhood host dozens of bands to perform on their front porches! How cool is that!? We walked for a couple of hours and stopped to listen to bands for as long as Ari would let us stop moving. And then we moved on.

After our legs were sore and our baby was getting sleepy, we grabbed some dinner from The Lockview. When my grilled cheese arrived, Ari started to get excited again and jump up and down. I had no choice but to let him ‘take a bite.’ I say that loosely because it was really just sucking on the sandwich. But he loved it.

My parents had to leave Saturday night, so we tucked one sleepy baby boy into bed.

After getting some rest, I woke up and went to an early yoga class at Yoga Bliss Sunday morning. I stretched my way to a completely full heart. After yoga, Ari & I met up with Gretchen and her baby for some coffee at Nervous Dog. And after sipping our lattes and playing with our babies [and chatting up a storm], Ari and I went for another walk. This time to the Riverfront Irish Festival. I was sure all of the walking would make him nap. But it didn’t.

Our weekend was busy but incredible. Filled with everything I needed: family, food, friends, and fun.

And that’s why my mantra for the week is:

To me, showing up means making the most of every day. And this weekend, I’m confident that I accomplished this. And I want to remember to do this every day. <3