Can you believe we’ve been doing Monday Mash-Ups for more than three years now? There’ve been so many occasions when I’ve considered scrapping the series, but something always holds me back. Maybe it’s because it’s a way to keep friends, family and blog readers up to date with what’s going on in our lives, or maybe because it’s an easy post to start the week out with. Either way, I’m glad it’s still around!

This past weekend we headed down to the Peaks of Otter to celebrate my Pawpaw’s 75th birthday- it was a ton of fun! We went hiking, an activity I’ve staunchly refused to participate in since childhood, and I liked it. I think it’s because of the company, but either way, I’ll do my best to keep from completely writing it off in the future. And then we did another “new” thing yesterday- Matt & I played softball! We joined an adult softball league this summer and after 6 weeks of practice, yesterday was the first time I could actually make it. And you know what? It wasn’t terrible. My shoulder’s a bit sore this morning, but after getting over the initial fear of “dear-God-please-don’t-let-them-throw-the-ball-my-way” things went pretty smoothly. For the most part. If nothing else, I’ve watched enough Nationals baseball over the year to make it look like I know what I’m doing.

As always, lessons learned/events that transpired over the past week!

• Park rangers are huge liars. We saw one on the way up the mountain and, panting, asked how far to the top? “Oh, just a couple hundred yards further!” LIES. It took another 30 minutes to reach the peak.
• Or maybe we were just really, really slow, and it actually took us 30 minutes to climb 200 yards…
• I’m pretty sure Lily is just a crotchety old man in a 35-lb Corgi/German Shepherd mix’s body. This weekend we left her with a couple of sweet friends who have a 15-week old lab mix puppy, and their report was that Lily voluntarily spent most of the time in her crate to avoid the puppy energy.
• If you’re looking to make something summery and refreshing, I’ve been sipping on this over the last week. SO GOOD, and so easy!
• We’re starting to near the end of the #50daysinParis series over on Insta, and there’s a big announcement coming at the end of it! Make sure you’re signed up for the newsletter, because our newsletter community will be the FIRST to hear what we’ve been working on!

A sweet little preview of my time with these three last week! I can’t tell you what a JOY it is to document your college roommates as mommas!