Category: Weekend Recap

Weekend Recap…Newsies!

By: Emma Faulkner

Emma here! Back to reality after 4 weeks of summer camp putting on Disney’s Newsies the Musical with the craziest, silliest and most wonderful group of kids.

Our little Newsies family dressed up for a Disney theme day at camp!

This show was produced by a company called Rocky Mountain Theatre for Kids with locations in Denver and Boulder, Colorado. They offer multi-week summer camps culminating in a full-length musical performance at the end. Sounds crazy, but somehow with the magic of theatre we always put on an incredible show.

I stage-managed this production and worked alongside some incredible creative adults who kept me sane and made this crazy process the best it could be. They were especially when I sprained my ankle the weekend before the show–the worst timing for a job which requires me to be on my feet! Luckily I got a walking boot, which was my savior and I highly recommend it for anyone with a sprained ankle; it supports you and gives you the freedom to walk around (Walking boot plug over).

My cute fans! Dylan and his sisters Hunter and Taylor!

We opened the show Friday night and had a sold out show with a packed house. The audience was so eager and excited to see all the hard work their children and loved ones had put into this show. A few of my favorite fans were there to see the show and support me! The company even made a photo booth with a newspaper background and newsboy props and costume pieces to go along with the Newsie theme. So cute!

The show was in Boulder and I’m based in Denver. This was the perfect excuse to make a little staycation out of the weekend. Dylan and I found a fun little hotel in Boulder and stayed there for the weekend. We got up on Saturday morning and had a delicious buffet style breakfast with his (orange juice) and hers (coffee with cream and sugar) breakfast beverages and warm cinnamon rolls we both enjoyed! I was full and energized for the double show day! We loved our stay so much we spontaneously decided to add another night and stayed Saturday night as well. I loved being five minutes away from the theatre and waking up to a beautiful view of the mountains!

Sunday we had one final show! It was so fun to watch these little ones do their thing. This show was a big undertaking and these forty nine students stepped up and put on a really fun show. I am so proud of each and everyone of them! They memorized all their lines, choreography and music in just four weeks. We had four shows in three days and it’s safe to say we all slept well last night. This was my last show with this company. I have been with them for two years and it was a very fun note to end on. Bravo to all these kiddos, all the parents who supported and the staff who stuck through it all. I am lucky to have shared in this experience!

Being the stage manager I had to wear all black for all the shows, It’s what the technical crew wears in theatre! Here a couple of cute things I found at Old Navy for my backstage wardrobe!

Emily’s Weekend Recap from WDM!

By: Emily Heaston

June is zipping by so quickly with the kids’ summer programs and lots of trips to the pool!

This week, my girlfriends and I celebrated our beautiful friend Michelle’s birthday with dinner and dessert at one of our favorite locally owned restaurants, Table 128, and another local fave, Trostel’s Dish, for a nightcap. Love these girls!

The next day, the girls and I got a good workout in at Lifetime, then had a pool date all day with allllllllll the kiddos! It was my favorite day of this summer so far! The kids all kept each other so busy and we enjoyed the beautiful weather with mimosas and plenty of good poolside snacks! I think we all felt like we were on vacation-mode for the day!

The kids and I have been spending a lot of time in the sun, so I restocked my favorite sunscreen for our beach bag. I keep Sun Bum shampoo and conditioner in our kids’ bathroom and in our beach bag and try to get them to rinse the chlorine off their hair shortly after swimming. Pro tip: apply conditioner to kids’ hair before playing in the pool, so their hair absorbs the conditioner and NOT the pool chemicals that end up making their silky hair turn crunchy or green. Sun Bum just smells like summer! I also added the Sun Bum Sunscreen Coconut Lip Balm to my Target store pick-up order this week and can’t wait to try it!

After a busy week of swimming and activities, we had a few cloudy hours and decided to make a little pillow and blanket fort for some downtime with movies and popcorn! We also put new batteries in our old friends, Violet and Scout, that the kids have had since they were babies. Teddy and Cate have been taking them everywhere again now–so cute!

On Saturday night, Tim and I had a surprise birthday party for his friend (and boss) Brent! My mom offered to have Clare, Cate and Teddy over for a slumber party at her house. She always makes even the smallest get together feel special and the kids were so excited. Mom always makes every detail so pretty.

After dropping the kids off, Tim and I headed over to the party and we had a blast! Brent was completely surprised and Esther had tons of delicious food and desserts for the celebration! I didn’t get a picture with the birthday boy, but lucky for Tim, I did have him take a picture of what I wore. Our husbands are all really enjoying their new jobs as photographers so we can share our outfits with you guys!

On Sunday, Tim and I enjoyed a relaxing Father’s Day morning by sleeping in and drinking our coffee before it got cold! Then we went to pick up the kiddos from Nanny’s house. They had made Daddy lots of homemade cards and wrapped his presents themselves!

  • Leftover piece of Casey’s cheese pizza for Daddy from Teddy

We also discovered a little family of cardinals living in our playset!

…and we got in a couple of hours at the pool!

That evening, we went over to Grandma and Grandpa’s to celebrate all of the great Heaston dads. My mother-in-law and niece had baked lots of homemade desserts and we brought over one of Tim’s favorites, a key lime pie! My mother-in-law, Ramona, is from Puerto Rico and she had made coquito using a recipe from one of her favorite cookbooks!

I’m thankful for a happy and sunny summer weekend with special girlfriends, healthy family, and a day dedicated to the best husband and daddy I know!

Thank you so much for joining us here on ClearLakeCousins.com. We are having so much fun doing this together and we’re learning so much along the way. Make sure to check out our new Shop page–we’ll be updating it as we find cute new items for ourselves and our kids. As Annie said, “I always feel like I need to save my cute outfits and this is giving me permission to wear my cute stuff on normal days!” We all agreed! So thanks for giving us an excuse to get a little more fancied up than usual!

Stay tuned for more fun to come! Xoxo, Emily

Omaha Weekend Fun!

When you have little kids, your weekends revolve around them and their activities. But I wouldn’t trade this busy stage of life for anything!

Friday night pool time with Turban Tina

Maeve’s suit is last year’s Hanna Andersson but I am linking something similar!

We had so much fun watching Lily play softball on Saturday morning. She had three big hits and is really enjoying her first year on the field!

Saturday was my day to work the snack shack. My little helper (who also happens to be a junk food fanatic) thought this was the BEST job ever. She even earned some tips!

We had friends over Saturday evening after games! We grilled and made ice cream sundaes! It was a perfect summer evening! Find Lily’s striped dress on our shop page. There are three great color options!

Grill Masters
When in doubt, SUNDAE bar!

This poppy colored ruffled tank is perfect for humid Midwest evenings. I love these Gap sandals – so comfy, and they come in four colors. Linking the denim shorts and jewelry to our Shop page as well.

Find this look on our Shop page!

The temperature dropped 30 degrees on Sunday so our options were limited! I had been hearing great things about the Children’s Museum in Lincoln, so we headed about 50 miles west to check it out! It was a great time and a perfect indoor activity for the day.

The Lincoln Children’s Museum was so much fun!
The Ninja course was a favorite!

My girls are thrilled to start Vacation Bible School this week! Signing off after another great Summer weekend!

Cheers!

Nicole

Weekend Recap from Ann Arbor

By: Annie Wagner

It’s beginning to look a lot like summer…

We started off our weekend on Friday afternoon when Brian came home early from work to enjoy the perfect summer weather with us. We had a pool party playdate followed by a BBQ with friends! I linked our Ingenuity SmartClean Trio Elite 3-in-1 High Chair – we use this all day everyday and LOVE how easy it is to use and clean. Also linked our Charbroil Gas Grill – where most of our meals come from all summer long, and the Intex Kiddie Pool – Margot’s home for the next few months 😉

A big storm came through Saturday morning so we decided to stay in and bake. First we made pancakes for breakfast and Margot was in heaven…she downed six pancakes and wanted more #ParentingGoals. Then I was inspired by our favorite show – The Great British Baking Show – to make a Victoria Sponge Cake (recipe below). I had all the ingredients in my pantry and it was much easier than I anticipated. Not to toot my own horn, but it was DELICIOUS (toot toot).

  • Find someone who looks at you the way Margot looks at pancakes

Saturday afternoon we went over to a friends house to watch the Champions League soccer game and enjoy homemade paella. Two teams from England were playing (Liverpool vs. Tottenham) which is what inspired our British themed day. #LongLiveTheQueen

  • The Paella Master and his Protégé
  • Go Sports!
  • Paella Heaven

While we were there, the other kids were napping and Margot decided to take advantage of six adults watching her and show off her walking skills for the first time…such a ham! This Vtech Baby Walker is awesome. It has different speed settings so she can slowly control her steps while she learns to balance.

After two days of partying and eating, we enjoyed a low-key Sunday at home. After updating our front porch and herb pots, we took a long walk through County Farm Park with our City Select Baby Jogger Stroller. We LOVE this stroller and it has a second seat kit for future kids (or to use with friends), and there are tons of accessories and attachments to add as your little ones grow! We had pesto chicken pasta for dinner using the pre-marinated Pesto Genovese Chicken Breasts from Trader Joes with our favorite simple pasta recipe: olive oil, garlic, chopped tomatoes, salt & pepper and a splash (or a cup) of white wine sautéed together and served over your favorite kind of pasta. We ended the weekend binge watching VEEP – highly recommend if you have not yet seen it!

Happy June!

Recipe: Victoria Sponge Cake

INGREDIENTS:

Cake

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 2/3 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp whole milk

Filling

  • 1 1/2 cup lightly sweetened whipped cream
  • 1/2 cup strawberry jam
  • 1 cup sliced strawberries (optional)
  • Powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare two 9 inch pans.
  2. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy..
  3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time until completely combined.  Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as you go.
  4. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture.
  5. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until completely combined.
  6. Spread in your prepared pans and bake for 12-15 minutes or until they test done.
  7. Cool for 10 minutes in the pans and then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.
  8. To serve, spread jam over bottom layer of cake.  Top with strawberry slices if using, the spread with fresh whipped cream.  Top with remaining cake layer and dust with powdered sugar.

Weekend Recap From Denver to LA

By: Emma Faulkner

Hi all! Emma here with a special Memorial Day weekend recap. I decided to go ahead and make my long weekend a little longer by heading home to Long Beach, California on Wednesday night. Because… treat yo self! My cousin and roommate, Frances, and I traveled to go visit my parents in California.  

When I visit home, I make sure to stop at all my favorite places and even try some new ones. We decided to start off the weekend with a delicious lunch at one of our go to spots Belmont Brewing Company right on the water in Long Beach. My mom, Frances, and I continued the ocean-side fun later that day with drinks at Ballast Point. My beer of choice was The Sour Wench Blackberry Ale which is by far the prettiest beer I have ever had.

I continued my food tour on Friday trying some new places. I am very much a can’t do anything without coffee in my system kind of gal, and always on the lookout for fun new coffee shops. My dad and I had a coffee date at Lord Windsor coffee shop in Long Beach. We shared scones and stories and I had the most delicious oat milk latte. Later that evening we ventured down to Santa Monica and got happy hour drinks at a rooftop bar called ONYX. This bar sits atop the historic Shangri-La hotel right across the street from the beach. Safe to say I think I have found some new favorite spots to visit.

I had the pleasure of attending the Ben Platt concert at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on Friday May 24th and this may or may not be the real reason we were visiting. Ben Platt has quite the voice, he can hit notes that make my head hurt just thinking about them. He is incredibly talented but I particularly enjoyed the atmosphere he created. I was in the very back row but felt so pulled in and a part of everything that was happening. We danced, we cried, we wondered how Ben Platt is single, and we confirmed he is a gift from God. He shared stories and gave hope and encouraged us all to strive to be our most authentic self. He talked openly about his journey, his anxiety, his sexuality, his family, and his faith. These are the themes that are so beautifully strung through his music, and as he sang and shared, a sense of comradery filled the room. Everyone could relate to him in some way and for me it was through his song ” In Case You Don’t Live Forever” which struck a chord in my heart as I looked down through my new teal vans and heard the lyrics “I have a hero whenever I need one, I just look up to you and I see one” I thought of my little sister cousin and how she too created a world for everyone to feel welcome, to connect.

After a lovely relaxing few days with family and friends I waved goodbye to gorgeous Southern California and the ocean and headed back to Denver.

Memorial Day is typically a day off people take to relax, well we did the opposite. We gathered 11 runners to participate in the Bolder Boulder which is a Memorial Day 10K that takes place in Boulder, Colorado. We ran for #MilesforMollie sharing in something she loved and challenging ourselves at the same time. It was definitely a challenge and at times a literal uphill battle. My boyfriend Dylan and I ran as best we could but at the same time stopped and engaged with the live bands and race-watchers handing out Doritos to runners. We even saw Elvis and a Pirate! We wanted to take it all in, running, sharing kindness, and having a good ole time just as Mollie would’ve. I didn’t think I could cross the finish line, but I did! When I crossed I saw my family cheering me on in the bleachers and I was overwhelmed with joy and relief. I think we should all do something that scares us, challenges us, do something because someone inspired you to do it.

After a jam packed 5 day weekend of good food and good company I am going to rest my noodle legs!

Weekend Recap from WDM!

By: Emily Heaston

Whew! This month is crazy!! Our weekend was packed full of end of the year activities for our kids and family celebrations for a special graduate!

The fun started on Thursday night with a family dinner at Fire Creek. Then Nicole and Aunt Julie got to town on Friday. They brought lots of our favorite treats from Trader Joe’s!

I woke up early on Saturday to shop the vineyard vines® for Target collaboration! I shopped a little online and saw that most of the apparel was only available in store, so I ran to Super Target and snagged some cute summer outfits for the kids! I’ll share my online purchases soon!

Then we drove to Ames for Clare & Cate’s dance recitals! So proud of my girls for working hard all year!

Every year on recital day, we get lunch at Hickory Park!

Saturday night, we had fun with family at my mom’s. Clare, Cate, Teddy, Lily & Maeve were so happy to be together. Our family had all been in Grinnell for the day for two special statue dedications in Mollie’s memory.

Sunday brought Scott’s high school graduation! We’re so proud of him–Salutatorian, football captain and quarterback, Homecoming king, and a leader wherever he goes. Congratulations, Scott! We love you!

After Scott’s graduation, we all went for lunch in Grinnell. We were having trouble finding the restaurant and couldn’t get it to pull up on the map app either. Julie visited the restaurant’s website to get the address and I plugged that in manually to get directions on my phone…well it didn’t take us to the restaurant, but instead it said, “You have arrived at your destination…” at the location of one of Mollie’s statues. I really can’t do it justice how surprised we all were as we pulled up. We all had goosebumps! She must have known I was sad to miss the dedication the day before during the dance recital. So happy I got to see it with my family. Mollie has so many ways of letting us know she is with us!

Today marks the last Monday of the school year for my kids! I spent the day trying to get my house in some state of order after our many trips to Ames for rehearsals and recitals last week! Clare’s Daisy troop bridged to Brownies this evening, and I think we just have a few softball games left before we can enjoy a little break for the start of summer!

  • One last picture of
    Troop 1190 as Daisies!
  • Our first picture of
    Troop 1190 as Brownies!

So proud of Troop 1190! This was a great excuse to enjoy some treats baked by my girlfriend Christine!

This weekend was a marathon! I might just go to bed with the kids tonight!

The cutest cake for the cutest girls!