rooftop bbq, father/daughter hike, minnesota friends

july is flying by! friday night we actually had plans - that pretty much never happens :) our friends vanessa and matt invited us to come grill out on the rooftop patio of their apartment building. it was such a beautiful night! they made pork chops, a green salad and a watermelon salad, and we brought chips and guac and brownies to share. the kids were a bit crazy up there (running around and screaming despite us telling them every 5 seconds to settle down) and some one came up and complained. oops! so we moved the party down to their apartment for dessert. we didn't get home until after 9pm, so it was a late night for the kids. totally worth it though. it was such a perfect summer night. 

saturday morning thatcher wanted to take azalea on a hike. he also invited his co-worker chris and his 4 year old daughter penny to join. ashford does okay with hiking, but having him a long certainly slows things down, so we stayed behind. azalea was so excited for her special outing. i told ashford we could go to a playground or the library or the locks, but he just wanted to play at home all morning. so we did. :) finally we ventured out to get some lunch at royal drummer. it's a coffee shop in our neighborhood we frequent quite often because they have toys, but we'd never ordered lunch from there before. i got a quinoa salad and he got the kid's mac and cheese. of course when it came he had no interest in eating it, so i did. and it was delicious :) 

he said he wanted to go to the park after, so that was our next destination. it was super busy there! he fell asleep in the stroller on the walk home and stayed asleep for a long time. i sat outside and read my book in the sunshine for much of it. it was totally worth the risk that he wouldn't go to bed until late. thatcher and azalea got home in the late afternoon. they had so much fun on their hike. azalea is becoming our little nature girl and it's so fun to see. here are a few pictures from their hike: 

we had leftovers for dinner then i gave azalea a bath while thatcher and ashford ran to the grocery store. it was late by the time the kids went to sleep, ashford was particularly fighting us on it. seems the be the case any time he naps now :( 

the good news is everyone in our house slept in til 7:20am on sunday. yes, this is sleeping in. in fact, it's pretty much the latest the kids ever sleep. we had plans to check out a beach in kirkland with our minnesota friends mark, tina, and their daughter emily who live here. thatcher had to bail at the last minute because he wasn't feeling well, but the kids and i went. it ended up being a cloudy, windy, cool morning at juanita beach, but that didn't stop the kids from having fun. in fact, azalea was mad at me that i wouldn't let her put her swim suit on. the both ended up getting their clothes soaked, so it probably would have been more wise. ah well. we had a picnic lunch there and the kids loved playing with "baby emily" as they call her. she is 19 months now, so not seeming so babyish anymore. she was even saying azalea's name, which was so cute. this is the only picture i got from the morning: 

i handed off the kids to thatcher in the afternoon so i could go to java bean and get a little work time in. then i grabbed groceries for the next week two days. we grilled turkey burgers for dinner, played with kids (i recently taught them how to play "war" and azalea is obsessed). they were super tired from no naps and easily went to sleep at 7:30. success! 

this week azalea is attending a new (to her) camp at an elementary school a couple miles away. she doesn't know anyone in it, but she is a super adaptable girl and i know she will have fun :) ashford and i will be going to the coworking space/preschool 2 mornings. it's been closed for the last 2 weeks and I'm so happy it's open once again!