a pretty epic holiday weekend

...if you enjoy ridiculous amounts of holiday cheer, which we all know i do, right? right! 

friday morning azalea started asking almost immediately if we could put up our tree and i wasn't going to argue! 

since i did not bring 95% of our christmas decorations with us to seattle, i went out and bought a few things, including glass ball ornaments. one broke in the first two minutes of decorating the tree, so i'm not sure why i thought that was a good idea ;) ashford did not want any help and was running from me with the ornaments, screaming. i think i should have poured a glass of wine for myself before we got started, but it was 8am. ha! 

we all survived and the tree and mantle looked beautiful when we were done. i just love how cozy a room feels when it's all decorated and lit up. 

friday afternoon while the kids napped, i took a little walk down to the business district in our neighborhood. i managed to find one christmas gift (and a gift for myself - oops!). it was nice to get out for a bit and the sun was shining again! 

friday night we met our new neighbors martine, josh, and bruce (who is around ashford's age) at the zoo for "wildlights" which is a holiday light display all across the zoo grounds. it was so impressive! the downside was we went the first night and it was mild and dry out, so everyone had the same idea and it was packed. i think ashford was overwhelmed by the whole thing because he cried the entire hour we were there! he couldn't tell us what he was upset about, but that's my guess. poor guy! it was fun to hang out with our neighbors and experience the zoo in this way!

 after the kids went to bed, i made thatcher watch a cheesy christmas movie on netflix with me in the glow of the christmas tree :) 

saturday morning we mostly hung out at home. thatcher took ashford to the grocery store and azalea and i painted nails and played the memory game. i usually have both kids with me, so it is nice to spend some one on one time with her. she is really maturing and absolutely loves my attention. i know it won't be this way forever, so i'm trying to savor it.

in the late afternoon, we drove downtown to meet our (minnesota) friends mark and tina at pike place for the holiday market. not surprisingly it was also packed, but ashford did better.

it was another beautiful, clear night, around 40 degrees.

  we walked around for a while and then watched them light up the tree and display at 5:00. it was so pretty! 

after that, we headed to the parking ramp to drive home, but ended up getting stuck for 35-40 minutes in a line of cars that were trying to exit! it was a disaster. the ramp was really narrow, so the cars that were coming in could not easily get through either. mark and tina took an uber ride to our house and beat us by a long shot! once we were all back, we had bbq pulled pork sandwiches for dinner and hung out. it was nice to spend time with them. their first baby is due in just 2 weeks and we cannot wait to meet her! 

sunday morning the kids and i headed to a nursery called swanson's with some friends (minnesotans, think bachman's!). they had an electric train, reindeer, pictures with santa, etc. ashford absolutely loved the train!

 i went in with zero expectations when it came to santa. last year was a disaster with azalea and i didn't want that to happen again. not to mention, it was $25 for a single picture with him, which is annoying. she insisted she wanted to sit on his lap and talk to him, so i bit the bullet and paid for the picture and we got in line. she was cool as a clam when it was our turn. she happily sat on his lap, showed him her pink nails, and told him she wants a doll house for christmas. i was pleasantly surprised! ashford was a bit more skeptical. he cried and clung to me when i put him on santa's lap, but the photographer handed him a toy and managed to distract him enough to take the picture. it turned out so cute!