preschool changes, thatcher's hike, mom's weekend booked

my cold is still hanging on, but i feel much better than i did last weekend. whew! i guess it's time to think about flu shots so we can hopefully stay healthy this winter! i feel like i have a lot of updates to share since my last post. less about stuff we've done and more about things that are changing/coming up in our lives. so a list it is!

1. ashford is starting a new preschool today! you probably remember that he had been going to the coworking preschool 3 mornings a week for the last month. while we love his teacher and the school and my ability to work onsite, there simply have not been enough kids there since the start of the school year (some days he was the only preschooler. but the baby/toddler rooms are very popular!). people seem to be only using it as supplemental or back up option to their child's "regular" preschool. i didn't think it was fair to him to keep him there for the whole year when i was constantly wondering each day if any other kids would be there with him. so, i decided to put him in the preschool class at the community center on MWF (azalea went there the year before kindergarten). we know the teachers, it's right next door to azalea's school (a block from our house) and it starts 5 minutes after her school. one of ashford's best buddies bruce is in the class too. we are so excited! and no, we aren't totally abandoning the coworking preschool (i am on the board and still a huge supporter of it). we we will plan to go 2-3 times a month depending on my work load. i think this is gonna be a great setup all around! 

2. thatcher took friday off to go on a hike with his friend chris. i was very thankful that he did it on a weekday (when he wouldn't normally be around anyway) because it was a 3 hour drive each way to the north cascades! he was gone from 6am to 7:30pm. he said it was the most amazing hike he's ever done (and he's done a lot now!). here is a picture he took: 

gorgeous right? 

3. last fall my mama friend group did a weekend away at the suncadia resort in the mountains. it was the best thing ever and we have been talking about doing another weekend since then. winter is better timing for a lot of people than fall, so the last weekend in january we will be renting a house on vashon island. it's only a 15 minute ferry ride from west seattle. our criteria: a house with large kitchen and living room area, picturesque setting, a hot tub, a bed for each person, and a town nearby for a meal or two out. i think we knocked it out of the park! i think there will be 8 of us this time, which will be so fun. i'm bummed that it's still 4 months away, but at least i get the excitement of looking forward to it. 

doesn't this look like heaven? 

4. weekend update: thatcher was gone for most of the evening on friday. the kids were already in bed when he got home. he and i hung out the rest of the night and he told me about his hike. saturday morning we didn't have any plans. i took azalea to the library and thatcher and ashford stayed home and played legos. in the afternoon they dropped me off downtown for geekgirlcon (think comic con with a female focus). and no, that's not my normal scene, but women's business incubator had a table in the exhibit hall, so i worked a 4 hour shift along with our board president. there was some pretty epic people watching. so many crazy costumes! we didn't get an overwhelming amount of traffic at our booth, but it wasn't dead either. it was a fun experience. i bused home and we just hung out the rest of the night. sunday morning azalea and i took a trip to java bean and the grocery store together while thatcher and ashford played legos...again. in the afternoon we all went to bailey farm pumpkin patch, which is about an hour away. but i'm gonna save that recap for tomorrow because this post is already long enough! stay tuned!