Hoffman Family Summer Essentials List: Stories Behind the “Stories”

We just kicked off summer break with a family vacation to St. George for four days…like literally left from school on the last day and drove the five hours to get things started. And can I just say…it was incredible! Having something on the calendar to look forward to helped me get through those last few weeks. Did it add a bit of chaos to the chaos of the last week of school? Absolutely. Was it worth is? I’d do it 100 times over. Naturally I wanted to start this new blog series, Stories Behind the “Stories,” with a behind the scenes of our first week of summer vacation, and our summer essentials list for our vacation.

Summer essential list from our vacation

  • I use Just Ingredients products on a daily basis, and I definitely travel with them, too. It was 103 degrees, and I was super worried about my kids getting overheated and dehydrated, so I didn’t even pack my electrolytes, but luckily there was a Harmon’s nearby that carried the products. So must-haves are the electrolytes, the probiotic (b/c girls can’t be bloated and have tummy issues on vaca), the face serum and colloidal silver spray for sunburns, but I also use these as part of my nightly face routine. Make sure to use code: katyhoffman for 10% off your purchase.
  • Hattie has always used a puddle jumper, but I knew she was going to need an upgrade this year, and this life vest was IT. I also grabbed a puddle jumper for Wes, and I loved the straps underneath to keep them from riding up or slipping off. My kids didn’t even get bothered by them. Both their suits are from Old Navy.
  • I have had and loved my suit from Kiava for 3 years now. I really need an upgrade, but the material is such great quality and super supportive.
  • I put on a spray tan the morning we left…like woke up at 4 am to workout, and then let the tan bake for 2 hours..(I usually like it more like 3 hours), but it worked. This tan is my favorite and it lasts about a week if you exfoliate before application. One downside is that it does not last long in chlorine. Here are all of my sun care favorites from Amazon. I use the mineral sun screen on Wes, but the spray worked great on Hattie.
  • We pack all the snacks, water toys, life vests, drinks, and kids (haha) in the stroller wagon. We have absolutely loved our Wonderfold wagon, but this one from Ever Advanced looks super similar to the one we have and it has a drink holder, which I was complaining about on the trip. haha!

back to work…Dr. Appointments…& the start of summer

As soon as we got home, it was back to work for (just one day) me. Our district always does curriculum review days the week after we get out of school which I can never decide if I like or not.

The day after that, I headed to a doctor appointment to check my hormone levels because your girl is TIRED! Like wayyy more tired that normal at the end of the year. This school year actually kicked my butt, and I just wanted to see if anything was out of whack so I could take the summer to figure things out, but it only came back that I was low in Vitamin D…go figure? When you live in Northern Utah, you only see the sun for like 3 months of the year. So I ordered some Vitamin D from Just Ingredients and I plan on lots of laying out this summer. ☀️ (Doctor’s orders, right?) While I was in the city for the day…I did a thing…that I have wanted to do for like YEARS!!! I started my laser hair removal journey. I think I’ll share more about that in next week’s post. 🙂

Then I spent the rest of the week cleaning my house & catching up…because Lord knows it has been a tornado since Spring Break. I also just played with my kids, and took our first trip to Bear Lake for dinner. We love Summit Pizza & we played at Heritage Park. Here is a link to Wesley’s ice cream/popsicle holder. These ones are nice, because you can actually set them down.

Okay, and last but not least…we got our 4th of July outfits ordered, which it actually really silly because we literally only go to a parade usually. So if I am being 100% honest here, it’s just for a silly picture, but I made sure to order something for me that could be worn more than once…and it is sooooo good!

  • My outfit is from Pink Desert & I literally copied and pasted the entire outfit into my cart, minus the shoes. I added the LA hat, but I also added a few other inspo ideas from Roolee.
  • Hattie’s outfit is from Made by Molly. We also copied and pasted the entire outfit.
  • Wesley’s outfit is from Cow Kid Clothing Company.

Stay tuned for the picture we take for the Gram. haha!

Okay…this was so much fun! I can’t wait to hang out again next week.

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