goodbye august: richmond beach, friend dinner, alaska visitor

as fun as our getaways have been this month...it felt so good to have a full week at home! i know our definition of relaxing at home is different than a lot of people's but that's besides the point :) backing up to last week: azalea went to a full day camp at an elementary school nearby. it was her second week there this summer and though she didn't know anyone this time, she had a great experience! ashford and i went to the co-working space/preschool (which is now being called "the inc") 3 mornings last week! it was so nice to get a taste of what's to come this fall. i want him to be in a set preschool schedule this year, so we are going to be there every mon-wed-fri starting after labor day. it's from 9am-1pm (we will get there a tinge late because of azalea's school drop off at 8:50). i will do my book keeping work i have for the day and then i can use any extra time to run errands, have an appointment, clean the house, etc. before staying home with my kids five days a week, i always wondered why stay at home parents talked about needing a "break". i now understand it's the most demanding, consuming job i've ever had, so i'm looking forward to a little me time during the week even if it will mostly be used for boring stuff! ha! now onto the weekend...

friday night thatcher got home early from work (woo hoo!) and we were planning to make turkey burgers but discovered our turkey was expired (thankfully before we made it), so we chucked it and had frozen pizza instead. the kids were super tired and went to sleep early after a much-needed bath. thatcher went for a little sunset walk and i stayed home and watched sex and the city. that show never gets old!

saturday morning we had no plans, so we decided to go to richmond beach in shoreline. it was a beautiful morning and we hadn't been there since last spring! we played on the beach for a little while and then the kids played on the playground. i could have stared at that view all day :)

we came home for lunch and then thatcher and i each split the afternoon running errands on our own. i tried to get the kids (especially ashford) to nap since our friends were coming for dinner, but he refused (surprise surprise). azalea slept for a long while on the couch. vanessa, matt, and ewan came in the evening. it has been like 6 weeks since we all hung out because of both of our trips home this summer. we grilled burgers and hotdogs and the kids ran around the apartment screaming like feral children. the usual - haha. it was a really fun night, but i forgot to take any pictures. ashford crashed hard after they left.

sunday morning we had a visitor! thatcher's aunt georgeanne was in town from alaska visiting her daughter jade who is living in seattle this summer for work. they came to our house and we all walked down to the ballard farmer's market together. it was the busiest i've ever seen it! whew! we got some produce and kettle corn and enjoyed the live music, etc. 

  

azalea was thrilled to run into a classmate of hers...and this beautiful parrot!

me, aunt georgeanne, thatcher

we decided to grab lunch, but the first place we tried had an hour wait, so we ended up going to a vegetarian thai place thatcher and i have been to before. it was a stretch for my kids. azalea likes egg rolls/spring rolls, but she isn't too familiar with the other dishes. she was good about trying our noodle dishes in addition to her spring rolls. ashford didn't eat too much (his favorite thing was a lime wedge - ha!) but we managed to have an enjoyable time there. 

yes, there was a christmas tree up! haha! 

the kids both took long naps when we got home (which was immediately gratifying, but bad news later). thatcher ran some errands and then i went to the grocery store. we made homemade pizzas for dinner, then i took azalea up to the school with her bike and thatcher and ashford stayed home and played. we tried to put the kids to bed at 8:30, but at 10pm they were still awake and complaining they weren't tired. siiiigh. thankfully they fell asleep not long after that.

now it's monday again. the minnesota state fair started last week, so it's making me feel a bit homesick because it's one of my favorite things ever! it's the first day of school in minneapolis - i'm loving everyone's pics of their kids on social media. we still have 9 days to go here! 9 days of no camps or classes, so wish me luck keeping the kids entertained and somewhat peaceful. we have a bunch of playdates lined up for the week.