This past week, or month, or months, or… is feeling awful and heavy. Trevor Noah sums it up well. And also, it’s summer and being unplugged from news and being in nature is the best. And yes, it’s a privilege to be able to check out in the beautiful nature that is the PNW. Experimenting with “Both and” thinking, (more below under “Reading”).
Adventuring:
Camping at Jessie Honeyman State Park – This was our first time camping at Honeyman, which is in Florence (Oregon not Italy!). Such a wild landscape for camping! There’s ocean, lakes, dunes, trees, and a whole lotta wind! We’re lucky we were there in August, as I bet it feels pretty cold in early summer or fall. We had a great midweek camping trip (Sunday – Tuesday for the win!) and had the dunes and lake to ourselves for a bit each morning. And we got to see my mom for the first time since March. Distanced camping was a great way to make that happen since we were outside the whole time.
Kayaking & swimming in Cleawox Lake – the lake is part of Honeyman state park. The sand dunes go right into the lake, which makes an amazing beach. We swam, kayaked, and even attempted a little sand boarding or sledding. And tried out the Burton Riglet “mini” snowboard, which our kiddo decided made a great sand sled.
Sandy River & Sugar Pine Drive-In – after a few days in the neighborhood, after our camping trip, I let our kiddo pick an adventure. He chose wisely and we ended up at the Sandy river for some river and sand play in the sunshine, followed by soft-serve ice cream! It was such a beautiful and fun morning. After all the talk of it, we decided to go back as a family on Sunday. More river! More ice cream! Since it was only about 60 degrees when we arrived, we had the place almost to ourselves, until the sun came out. :)
Writing:
This week on Frugal Bon Vivant…
Best Beach Gear for Baby & Kids: Beach-Mom Approved! – Hey, it’s still summer somewhere! I finally finished this beach roundup. All the best supplies – divided by baby and toddler/kids. Legit beach-mom approved!
2020 REI Labor Day Sale: My Top Picks – Instead of spending all my money at REI, I decided to do a top picks post from their Labor Day sale. So many cute things!
DIY Seesaw: Our Easy Bike Obstacle & Teeter Totter Ramp! – I wrote a simple DIY of our Teeter ramp, as we call it. Part seesaw, part bike obstacle, part ramp. And super easy to make!
IKEA LEGO Storage Set Collaboration: 5 Clever Boxes + LEGOs! – Did you see this IKEA LEGO news?! We’re pretty excited about this collab, and can’t wait for more pics. Oct 1 release.
Powell’s Books Coupon Code: 20% Off Everything! – This one ends Monday! So jump on it. In celebration of Independent bookstores.
Reading/Watching:
How to Vote in the 2020 Election – I liked this outline of how easy and difficult it is to vote by state. In Oregon, we have vote by mail. It seems like a no-brainer and we have voter’s pamplets that outline everyone’s platform and local measures. I wasn’t even aware until recently that not all states do this!
Your ‘Surge Capacity’ Is Depleted — It’s Why You Feel Awful – Here’s how to pull yourself out of despair and live your life. This was an interesting read about mental health and anxiety and pandemic life and all the other chaos going on in the world. Our brains struggle to process this much stress. “Our new normal is always feeling a little off balance, like trying to stand in a dinghy on rough seas, and not knowing when the storm will pass.”
Using/Buying:
Happy camper shirt – 2 summers ago, we got the cousins matching “happy camper” tees and it was just about the most adorable thing ever. They’ve since grown out of them, and we won’t be seeing each other this summer. But I couldn’t help but snag this cute $4 tee in a size up for next summer, but can still wear a bit big now.
Hope you’re having a lovely weekend!
No Comments