2017: the mixtape

it's that time of year! every year i've written this blog (going on 8 years now!), i've done a recap of our year. it's always so fun to go back and read them - and i do! 2017 may not have been a good year for our country (3 more years....), but it was a great year for our little family. lots of exploring the pnw, visits from friends and family, ashford started preschool, we got every sickness known to man (ok, that part wasn't so fun, but such is life with little kids). here are my past recaps: 

2010  |  2011  | 2012  | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016

january

we kicked off the new year with our annual (2 years running) trip to golden gardens to watch people run into the freezing cold water and burn their christmas trees in the bonfires. we got to see our friends kelli and jake who were in town from the bay area. we attempted to potty train ashford, but it crashed and burned. he had his 3 year check up and first ever dentist appt. healthy boy! thatcher and i got a date night (thanks to vanessa and matt watching the kids). we went to "the red door" for dinner and "pie"/"flying" apron for dessert in fremont. thatcher and the kids went to carkeek park and out for lunch with friends chris, misty, and penny. we threw a joint kid party for ashford and his buddy ewan at the children's museum, which was a blast. we took a day trip to anacortes, wa and had lunch, walked around the downtown, and visited washington park (pictured). 

february



february 1st marked 18 month since my dad died. i went to my friend heather's to join some fellow civic-minded ladies in writing postcards to elected officials. it snowed a couple inches on 2/6 and school was cancelled! february was a cold/wet month in general. ashford and i learned about a new coworking preschool that opened in seattle, and we signed up and started using it right away! i got a pedicure with my friend beth and another friend of hers to celebrate her turning 40! we celebrated valentine's day. azalea made valentines for her classmates and had a party at school. we celebrated at home with dinner, some small gifts, and a chocolate souffle. our family traveled to vancouver, ca for a weekend. we enjoyed the capilano suspension bridge (pictured), lots of restaurants, the beautiful scenery, some boat & ferry rides, and swimming in the hotel pool. it's one of my favorite cities in the world!  azalea had a week off school for "mid winter break". we filled it with lots of trips to the playground, movies, board games, and 2 mornings at the coworking space. ashford stopped taking regular naps this month. i went out for dinner with my mom friends to "the sexton" in ballard. 

march

in march we passed around sickness in our family after being relatively healthy all winter. thatcher and i had a date night in ballard (thai food and ice cream) while vanessa and matt watched the kids, after 3+ years we finally took the side rail off ashford's crib and turned it into a big boy bed, we got to "walk the battery" highway tunnel before it was closed for construction, it rained and rained and rained some more. we got together with our minnesota friends mark, tina, and emily for the first time in way too long, i had a mom's night out with friends bowling at "the garage" in capital hill, azalea attended her classmate nicholas's birthday party at his house, azalea turned 6 and in lieu of a party we had a family fun day that included a ride on the seattle ferris wheel (pictured), lunch at chipotle, buying her a new bike, the batman lego movie (thatcher and azalea), and finally spaghetti for dinner (her favorite) and cake, and skyping with family. we made our second attempt at potty training ashford (and succeeded!). hallelujah!

april

in april thatcher's co-worker karen and her husband and 6 year old daughter came over for dinner one night, we went to see the cherry blossoms at uw (with everyone and their mom!), azalea started a ballet class at the magnolia community center, we traveled to portland and stayed with kathy and garry, and spent time with thatcher's cousins. his cousin lloyd's wife jammie took professional family pictures of us (pictured), so nice oh her! azalea had her spring break. we went to playgrounds and coffee shops, the zoo, the church playspace, and the coworking space. we celebrated easter with a visit from the easter bunny, skyped with family, and we had our friends vanessa, ewan, and matt over for lunch. it was so fun to spend another holiday with them! i joined the board of women's business incubator (the coworking space). we had a day trip to redmond with the kids. last but not least, my brother came into town for a few days at the end of april. he got lots of ashford time while azalea was in school. we went to the boars nest for bbq, azalea lost her first tooth (and we couldn't find it! eep!), went to the zoo, mighty o donuts, gasworks park, a uw baseball game, took the train to tacoma for a day trip. the day i dropped him off at the airport, i got to meet up with my manager susan who was in town visiting her daughter. whew! 

may

in may our spring visitor streak continued! thatcher's dad came into town and we did lots of fun stuff with him: a ferry trip to bainbridge island (pictured), a day trip to deception pass and whidbey island, scooters for burgers and shakes, mod pizza, and durant took ashford out a couple times to give me a break. so nice! i had my board retreat for wbi (really just a fancy name for an 8 hour meeting). i had my annual "pre-mother's day" mani/pedi and dinner out with my mama friends. i got to attend a mother's day "tea" in azalea's kindergarten class. on mother's day we had a coffee cake breakfast, took a trip to the ballard farmer's market and went to chipotle for lunch :) another day we went to the maritime festival in ballard and got to go on a free hour-long boat cruise. score! my mom came into town again! went ate out at lots of restaurants, went to the syttende mai parade in ballard, saw azalea's kindergarten music program "barnyard moosical", our friends kathy and garry came up from portland, went to richmond beach, thatcher and i had a date night in south lake union at ba bar and rei. azalea attended her classmate max's birthday party at the community center. thatcher did a day hike to greider lake with friends. we had a relaxing memorial weekend with beautiful weather: trips to the playground, the splash pad, thatcher did the emerald city bike ride, we all went to carkeek park. 

june



june marked 2 years in seattle for us. wow, time flies! the weather was slow to warm up. we did a kid-friendly hike in bellevue with thatcher's coworker karen and her family, we played frisbee at the locks (now the kids want to do that every time we go), thatcher and i celebrated 10 years of marriage (and 15 years together - wow!), we took a family trip to the olympic peninsula for a weekend, which was over thatcher's 35th birthday. it was our first time there and it did not disappoint! we went to ruby beach (pictured), stayed at an oceanside cabin in la push, visited the ho rainforest, and cape flattery. the scenery was breathtaking! we celebrated father's day with "dads and donuts" in azalea's class, and thatcher went on a day hike with his friend sloan. we went to the elementry school carnival, had two end of the year picnics for azalea, the eventually the weather got hot. we tried to beat the heat at the seattle center wading pool and a trip to sammamich state park after meeting thatcher who did a long bike ride out there. azalea had her last day of kindergarten. the school year flew by! hello summer fun! 

july



i celebrated my 33rd birthday on july 3rd with an overnight at a hotel downtown with my mama friends. it was actually a going-away party for 2 friends who were moving away that month, but it happened to fall on my birthday. it was a much-needed break! just a week after school got out was july 4th, which felt strange! we celebrated my birthday with our family and watched some amateur fireworks shot off at the field behind our house. azalea took an art class taught by her kindergarten teacher. we did a family hike at spada lake. ashford did some preschool camps at the community center and azalea started swimming lessons at an outdoor pool. we rode the light rail to othello area of seattle to attend an affordable housing grand opening that thatcher's work was involved with. we explored the columbia city neighborhood of seattle for the first time, we went to the locks centennial boat parade but it ended up being a bust. we had a rooftop bbq at our friends vanessa and matt's, thatcher and azalea did a hike with his coworker chris and daughter penny (pictured), we went to juanita beach in kirkland with our friends mark, tina, and their daughter emily. azalea started a new day camp at a local elementry school. azalea had a 1st grade summer meet up at a park that hardly any families attended :/ azalea took a soccer camp at the community center. we got to see thatcher's cousin jade and her husband ben from portland for dinner one night. we went on another family hike at cottonwood/mirror lake, it was buggy and hot, and generally miserable. ha! 

august



august 1st, on the two year anniversary of my dad's death, the kids and i flew to minneapolis for a two week visit! (thatcher came for the second week). we had lots of fun spending time with friends and family there and going to como zoo, the wading pools, the mill district, attending two kid birthday parties, having a family sleepover at our friends, thatcher and i had a date night in uptown. three days after returning, we left on an overnight trip to eastern washington. we rode a gondola to the top of crystal mountain, which had the most stunning views of mount rainier (pictured), we did a hike in mount rainier national park, enjoyed seeing the dry rocky terrain of eastern washington, stayed in the town of selah near yakmia, wa (the kids thought the hotel pool and game room were the best thing ever). back in seattle, we watched the solar eclipse! azalea went to one last week of summer camp, my coworking space rebranded as "the inc." we went to richmond beach in shoreline, we had our friends matt, vanessa, and ewan over for dinner, thatcher's aunt georgianne came in town from alaska so we went to the ballard farmers market and out for lunch with her and thatcher's cousin jade. no camps or classes at the end of august, so lots of playdates it was!

september



in september the kids and i went to the last "art in the park" as well as the splash pad before it turned off on labor day, we got azalea's first grade teacher assignment in the mail (a male teacher!), we went on a hike in discovery park in magnolia. on labor day we went to our friends mark, tina, and emily's for a bbq. it was a beautiful day and the kids had a blast running around together. azalea started first grade (pictured)! there was terrible smoke in the air from wildfires (and even ash falling from the sky at times!) ashford and i started going to "the inc" 3 days a week! it was so nice to get some work time/me time after over 2 years of taking care of him 24/7. ashford started swimming lessons at the ballard pool (with an instructor and 2 other 3 year olds). he loved it! i went out for dinner with my friends vanessa and teresa (who was in town from the phillipines). azalea started gymnastics class at a local community center, our family attended a lao festival at a park where we were the only non-lao attendees ;) i helped paint the inside of "the inc" as part of our physical rebranding, my mom came into town! thatcher and i got to have a date night before he left town on a work trip, with my mom we went out to eat a bunch, went shopping, enjoyed nightly happy hours on the patio, listened to mariachi music at the locks, visited pike place market, and i got a night out with my friends vanessa and martine on ballard ave. thatcher and the kids attended a street party on his coworker's block, thatcher went on his last hike of the season in the north cascades, i attended geekgirlcon to help run a vendor table for "the inc".

october



october 1st we went to bailey farm pumpkin patch where we first went two years ago, and there was hardly anyone there (pictured)! ashford started going to the community center preschool 3x week and we cut back on our use of the coworking space. the community center is just too darn convenient! we had azalea's classroom open house one night. i started volunteering in her class every friday from 11-11:45am. i went out one night to matador with some 1st grade mom friends. we attended lego brickcon at seattle center. we had a morning family date in fremont. we learned that thatcher's grandmother passed away at age 92 :( we went on a family trip to the zoo. azalea and i had a mama/daughter date to carkeek park. i had a halloween potluck with my group of mom friends. we got to see our friends becky and jeromy for lunch one day while they were in seattle for their 10 year anniversary trip. we attended a halloween birthday playdate for my friend erica's boys at their house. we went to the children's museum in everett for the first time. i attended the svp fast pitch competition with my fellow board members of "the inc". thatcher flew to minneapolis solo for a weekend to attend the 15 year anniversary show of his good friends' band flipsyde. my neighbor martine and i had a christmas movie night ;) we cleaned out our pumpkins and roasted the seeds, but never actually got around to carving them. ha! we celebrated halloween with trick or treating in the business district in our neighborhood with vanessa, matt, and ewan. we ended the night with dinner at "the hi life" with them. it was a beautiful night and we all had a blast.

november



november kicked off a month of non-stop sickness :( both kids missed school and my sanity was hanging on by a thread with all the days cooped up inside. i also got strep throat. we went to the beach in edmonds on a 30 degree day and froze our butts off. i participated in my 4th year of #onedayhh on instagram and posted each hour of our day. i started going down the christmas rabbit hole as i always do after halloween. ha! thatcher and ashford traveled to colorado for thatcher's grandma's memorial service (pictured). i enjoyed 3 days of minimal parenting while azalea was in school and i might have enjoyed it a little too much ;) we went to yulefest at the nordic heritage museum for the first time and it was insanely crowded. azalea had a whole week off for thanksgiving. we fit in some appointments, lots of play time at home, a jewelry class for her, and i attempted to get a bunch of my work done with the kids around. we had azalea's school conference with her teacher and she got a great report. we are so proud of her! we went out for ice cream twice in one week. we celebrated thanksgiving day with just the four of us. we took a walk to the locks and made a delicious feast of turkey and sides. we put up our tree and decorated for christmas. we went to the zoo with ewan and vanessa and thatcher took azalea to the game store cafe (she is obsessed!). we went to see santa at swansons for the 3rd year. the kids loved him!

december



we kicked off december with more sickness (it never ends!). this was by far the sickest fall i can remembered. seattle had beautiful weather - 2 straight weeks of sun and mild temps. azalea attended her classmate ben's birthday party at arena sports, we watched ewan one night and then next weekend thatcher and i got to have a date night while vanessa and matt watched our kids. we went to rays cafe for dinner and to see my friend amy's art at venue on ballard ave. we went to mighty os for donuts and a board game with the kids. i christmas shopped on ballard ave. during the farmers market and it was magical. i had my year end fundraiser for "the inc", a clothing swap at the space! it was so fun! we got to see thatcher's cousin lloyd and his wife jammie who were in town from portland. we all went to "hales ales" for dinner and then to see the zoolights. azalea wrapped up gymnastics and ashford wrapped up swimming lessons. i attended ashford's preschool conference, which went well. i had a member happy hour for "the inc". ashford had an "ugly sweater" party at preschool that i attended and azalea had pajama day for her last day before break. i had a night of holiday fun in belltown with my mom friends. we went to the christmas pop up bar and then to wasabi for japanese food. the kids and i flew to minneapolis for what was supposed to be a 5 day trip, returning on the 23rd to spend christmas with thatcher. all of us (including thatcher) got socked with the respiratory flu that week and we unfortunately passed it to lots of our extended family as well :( it made for an interesting trip! we did manage to have some fun, though, too. ashford turned 4, we had a family party to celebrate. i had a group of girlfriends over one night, we went to an indoor play area with friends and played in the snow (pictured). we ended up canceling our flight back on the 23rd because i was too sick to fly. we spent christmas eve with my mom (who was also sick) and my brother. it was low-key to say the least ;) we were able to fly back to seattle on the 25th and enjoy christmas day (a white christmas to boot!) with thatcher. it felt so good! azalea had another whole week off after christmas. we played lots of board games, went to a coffee shop, the library, and the zoo. now we will celebrate new years eve at vanessa, matt, and ewan's place along with some friends from their building. 

can't wait to see what 2018 has in store!