blogger playdate, a wedding, minnesota zoo

it was a solo parenting weekend (well, whole week) while thatcher was in oregon for his cousin's wedding. i had hoped to make the trip too, but the tickets were really expensive, so we decided to just send him. azalea and i kept busy and had a fun weekend! friday night my best friend kelli came over to have dinner with us and then we all walked up freestyle yogurt for dessert. it was a beautiful night and frozen yogurt is always a win in my book :) 

saturday morning we met up with becky, dawn, sarah, and their girls at round lake park in eden prairie. i had never been there, it was so nice! it has a brand new playground and splash pad, which were really fun. the girls enjoyed playing (mostly separately, haha) and the moms enjoyed chatting. hard to believe that summer will be over in a matter of weeks! wahhh. 

lots of girls! :) 

saturday evening i attended my co-worker william's wedding while my parents stayed with azalea. the wedding was held at a nature preserve in hastings (about 40 minutes south of the twin cities). they had the most beautiful weather for their outdoor ceremony and reception. the wedding was non-traditional in a lot of ways (no wedding party, grand march, cake cutting, etc), and i loved the uniqueness of their day. william's dad is a pastor, so he married them and it was seriously one of the sweetest ceremonies i've ever witnessed. i have always loved weddings, but especially since getting married myself. not because of the festivities, but celebrating two people who are crazy about each other and are at the beginning of creating their life together just makes me so happy. ok, this might be the preggo hormones talking through, but it's true :)  

my work peeps + their dates

sunday morning we met up with our friends jeff, chrissy, tegan, and aaron at the mn zoo. luckily we got there early because it got really busy later on. we had a fun morning looking at all the animals and then had lunch at the farm fresh cafe. 

azalea was pooped after our outing and fell asleep for the last 10 minutes of the car ride. i tried to put her down for a real nap when we got home, but an hour later she was still awake and i caught her straddling her crib rail and calling out "stuck! stuck!" oh boy. so she did not take a nap for maybe the second time in her life. and i cried a little. i'm so not ready for this! maybe she didn't want to nap because she knew something fun was happening at our house that afternoon: my friend mollie was bringing her triplets over for a visit! mollie and i have been friends since 9th grade, so when my mom and brother found out they were coming, they both wanted to join. yes, my brother loves babies. so cute! we had a great time snuggling them :) they are doing so well and mollie and dave are rockstar parents! 

 we ended the weekend having dinner at my parents' with my brother. my parents were so good to me (us) all the days that thatcher was gone. always offering to help watch her and making us dinner multiple times. i appreciate them so much and hope i can be as selfless to azalea, even when she is an adult. hope you had a good weekend, too!