A Day in My Summer Routine | Summer Edition

Good MONDAY Morning, Friends! How was your weekend? Ours was VERY laid back and we soaked in every minute of the (EXTREMEly warm) sunshine. We are trying to get the gals (and ourselves) re-acclimated to the Texas heat and whew it’s HOT! Thankfully, they are enjoying the pool and it’s an easy way to wear them out daily 😉 There are so so many posts that I’ve been dying to write and quite frankly our Summer routine hasn’t really allowed for it, so I’m using today’s post and am cramming lots of fun content into just one blog. I’m going through a day in the life of a blogger (summer routine edition), what we eat, easy outfit inspiration, can’t live without Summer shoes and a few tips to keep you sane along the way. Here goes…tell me your schedule in the comments!

-This post was written in partnership with Nordstrom and I always appreciate you supporting brands who make Style Your Senses possible. 

Kicking it off in the morning! I typically wake up between 5-5:30am depending on the day. Some days I will get in a morning sweat session and other days I use the quiet time to catch up on emails and get blog stuff scheduled for the day. The girls usually wake up between 6:30 -7 am and have a few minutes of playtime in the playroom while I finish my coffee up there with them.

My Pajamas (See also the Short Set HERE) | Landry’s Pajamas | Lawson’s Pajamas (similar)

If you have not tried THIS BRAND OF PAJAMAS yet I promise that you are missing out. I own 4 pair (long and short sets) and honestly they are the best I have. They are lightweight, breathable, cute and unreal comfy. Trust me and treat yourself to a pair. I always size up to a M in them because I like some room in jammies.

Around 7 (detailed below) I bring them into the kitchen and get breakfast started…

For breakfast the girls have one of the following:

Gluten Free Waffles (Trader Joes) + Fruit

Silver Dollar Pancakes (Trader Joes) + Fruit

Oatmeal + Pecans + Fruit

Puffins Cereal + Fruit

On Fridays we have a tradition of making either chocolate chip pancakes or chocolate chip waffles and we all look forward to it! I use the Kodiak Cakes mix and we LOVE it.

For Breakfast I Eat:

This Coffee + Chocolate + Banana Smoothie is my FAV Summer breakfast

Two Eggs Over Easy + Avocado

“noatmeal”  (1 mashed banana + 2 eggs + dash of cinnamon). Scramble, pan fry in ghee stirring constantly. Top with chopped apples, cashew butter and nuts.

Puffins Cereal with walnuts + almond milk + fruit

Magnetic Dolls Dress Up Set (Landry loves playing with these!)

Side note: you guys know that I work on the blog full time, but I like to have a more flexible Summer routine so that I’m able to spend as much time with the girls as possible. During the week, the girls have a darling sitter who’s with them MWF from 8-1. I try to get as much work done as possible during that time and then can usually squeeze a few more hours in during afternoon naps. It’s not a schedule that’s maintainable long term, but during the Summer it absolutely works. To keep things consistent and structured for the gals, I copied my sister’s genius idea and came up with this clock that breaks down how their days will look. Landry likes to know what’s coming up, so this gives her a breakdown of the day and also helps her to tell time. It makes it easier for the sitter too because if it’s not on the clock, it makes it much easier for her to say no to consistent snack requests, etc.

Here’s a Summer Routine Breakdown: 

7-8am | Wake up, change diaper, fix breakfasts

8-9am | Get ready. While mommy gets ready Landry can have 30 minutes of screen time so long as her bed is made.

9-12 | Daily Activity. I try to make these super fun, especially during the Summer. Our go-to’s are the park, the library, the kids museum and the splash pad, but I also have a jar filled with paper slips of EXTRA fun activities and once a week will let Landry pick one out so we are all surprised. A few examples are “get a snow cone,” “visit Daddy at work,” “ride the train” and “waterpark.” I love the element of surprise just as much as they do!

12 pm | Lunch

1-4 pm | Naps + Quiet Time. Lawson will nap for a solid 3 hours most days and Landry is usually around 1.5-2 hours. When Landry wakes she can play in the playroom or get out her “boredom box” and sit with me at the table while I wrap up work. Her “boredom box” is filled with crayons, markers, kinder prep books, scissors, puzzles and coloring books. It really does keep her busy for a while. Some days when I can tell she’s over it, I will allow her to watch a movie.

4-5:30 pm | Afternoon Activity. These I can’t always guarantee to be fun, but they get us out of the house. Likely it’s running to the grocery, short errands, or taking a dip in the pool.

5:30 – 7 pm | Dinner + Baths

7:30 | Lights out for Lawson / 8:00 Lights out for Landry.

My Summer Routine Outfit: Button Up Cami | AMAZING Crop Jeans | Slides | Similar Belt Bag | $14 Sunnies | Earrings 

Lawson: Bubble | Headband | Shoes

Landry: Dress | Shoes

I haven’t really talked about how much we love our new area (I promise I’ll share more in an upcoming post), but we LOVE our new area! There are 3 amazing parks within one mile of our house and the girls love to choose which one they want to play at that day. Here’s one of our favorites and what we would wear for a fun park day. I swear every mom needs two things to be a part of their #momiform this Summer…one is a great cami and the other is a belt bag (aka fanny pack). Both are super functional mom life and both keep you feeling cute while still running after the kids.

Mama’s I know that the thought of owning a fanny pack may not strike you as glam, but I’m promising you that they are super chic and unreal functional. Wearing my “belt bag” I can be completely hands free with the girls and still have my keys, cards and phone with me at all times. Try one of these, I promise you’ll be hooked!

We adore Tea Collection for the girls! It’s amazing quality, washes and wears really well and I’m partial to it because they always have sizes and prints for the girls to coordinate in.

Other super cute Sister + Sister matching sets:

p.s. We also love THIS brand of headbands for Lawson. She’s pretty picky and these seem to be the most comfy for her noggin.

The girls LOVE the park. In Dallas, it’s pretty common to sacrifice on yard space in lieu of a pool and that’s exactly what happened with our house. We have very little yard for the girls to play in, but are thrilled to have so many parks around us, so they are becoming pros. It’s insane how quickly Lawson makes it to the top (with me trailing her, of course), but she’s SO nimble. I love watching her. Landry would stay on the swings all day and her little curls blowing in the wind make me insanely happy.

If there was one MUST HAVE Summer wardrobe staple for kids I would hands down, 100% say that it would be at least one pair of Natives. I resisted the idea of a rubber shoe for a long time, but honestly Native makes them so dang adorable now that I happily agreed to get Landry a pair a few years back. I was absolutely blown away by how cute, truly functional and versatile they were and am now hooked. The girls wear them casually, to the pool, to the beach…I mean you name it! The best news is that they can be hosed down and shined up with a magic eraser…mom win in a major way! Landry prefers the Mary Jane style and little Lawson is loving her Millers. I also cannot believe that they came out with these cute SANDALS!!! Landry is definitely getting a pair in time for our beach trip!

Our Favorite Natives:

Here are our swimmy looks. The girls love the water and if we aren’t swimming in our own pool we are at the huge community pool down the street or at the splash pad. I love having the girls matching (clearly you know that by now) and these are my fav matching suits of theirs. Bonus points that they are made of SPF50 fabric, too. I wear this black one piece nearly every time I’m swimming with them because it allows me to chase them around and still feel confident. It’s on Price Match right now for a steal!

Girl’s Suits (SPF 50!) | Landry’s Shoes | Lawson’s Shoes | My Suit (ON MAJOR SALE)| My Favorite Cover Up | Similar Fedora | Sunnies

We really take advantage of the extra daylight in the Summer time and get out for dinner often. Truthfully, cooking is not really my favorite and it’s been fun to get out and about in our new area for dinners during the week. Fun fact: per capita the Dallas area has more restaurants than nearly any other place in America. Our area in particular is blowing up with new places and we’ve loved trying new things. It’s great because Dan works so close that he just meets us for Dinner and then we head home for bath and bed time.

p.s. How cute would these outfits be for July 4th???

My Summer Routine Outfit: Stripe Top (Under $50!) | THE BEST WHITE SHORTS | Slides | Sunnies | Similar Bag 

Lawson: 2 Pieces Set (Comes in 3 darling colors!) | Gold Sandals

Landry: Flutter Sleeve Romper | Gold Sandals

These swing tops and bloomer sets are some of my absolute favorite outfits that little Lawson wears. I love that they keep her cool in this Texas heat and looking at those chunky thighs all day doesn’t hurt either! See all of the cute prints below, they also make a super cute gift!

Landry’s little romper is by a (new to me) brand at Nordstrom called Stem. It’s a line of comfortable, practical and cute clothes for boys and girls and she really liked the romper! Here are some other cute favs from Stem:

*Side note on Lawson’s sandals! I usually just default to Salt Water sandals at this age for my babies, but something about these little metallic beauties screamed Lawson’s name. I’m so glad that I went with them for her because they are sassy and so so cute. They also appear to be super comfy and mamas give them perfect reviews online.

During the Summer, I really try to wake up each day with purpose and intent. Even if I am working during the morning, I try to focus and get as much done as possible so that I can be fully present in the afternoons. If I am with the girls all day I really try to be intentional with them…putting my phone down, going with the flow a little more and allowing myself to get down on their level and have fun. It’s hitting me right in the gut that Landry’s going to Kindergarten in the Fall and I want to look back on this Summer and remember how much fun we had! I’d love to know your summer routine, fun things that you do with your kiddos, and/or how you savor the Summer!

Other posts that you may like:

No Fail Mom Suits

Denim Short Review

*Thank you so much to Nordstrom for partnering with me on this post.