moms demand action, golden gardens, amazing weather

it was another amazing weather weekend. the best weather we've had this year so far! both days were around 60 degrees and sunny. heaven! we made sure to get out and enjoy it as much as possible...

friday night after dinner with the fam, i headed to my friend erica's house. she recently became a member of moms demand action and part of her involvement included getting trained to speak on behalf of their mission for different groups around the area. she formally starts next week, but wanted to have some friends over so she could practice her presentation. i was happy to help! she had 4 of us over and served us wine and snacks while she ran through her slides. we had a lot of great conversation too! i'm so proud of my friends who devote their free time trying to make a positive difference in the world.

saturday we didn't have any plans until the late afternoon. we went to our favorite toy store to get a gift for azalea's friend (technically thatcher's coworker's daughter)'s 7th birthday party. the store is always good for killing an hour as they have lots of fun stuff you can try out. after that we dropped off our car for an oil change in our neighborhood and walked to mighty o's for a donut. we don't go there as often as we used to (since thatcher can't eat gluten anymore), so it was a fun treat. i got the seasonal donut, which was "raspberry lemonade", a lemon poppyseed donut with raspberry drizzle on top. it was pretty and delicious!

 we came home for lunch and hung out for a while before heading to golden gardens beach. thatcher and ashford took the bike and trailer there and azalea and i drove. we hung out on the beach for a long time and though it wasn't super warm weather, it felt really nice in the sun. i even had my toes in the sand and the kids were running back and forth from the water. we are hearty minnesotans afterall :)

 in the late afternoon, thatcher and azalea set out for the birthday party which was held at "the little gym" in west seattle. azalea had a blast there. ashford and i went to "scooters" for an early dinner. burgers, fries, and chocolate shakes. it was quite the calorific day. but so good! no regrets!

sunday morning thatcher got up early to go hiking with a friend (which did not mesh well with daylight saving time - oh well). the kids and i hung out at home for the first part of the morning, then headed to maple leaf park to soak up the sunshine and quickly climbing temps. we weren't the only ones with that idea. it was packed! the kids had fun, though. we came home for lunch and thatcher returned from his hike. i escaped for a solo outing in the afternoon: ballard farmer's market (sooo crowded), buffalo exchange, and the grocery store. pretty typical outing for me, but the energy in our neighborhood was off the charts with the nice weather. i loved every second of it. azalea took a nap while i was gone...on the floor, in the sun :)

 we spent most of the rest of the afternoon on our patio and grilled dinner too. it was nice to have it light out until after 7pm! i can't wait for summer.

i have a busy week this week. i can't remember if i mentioned it, but the coworking space is opening a second location in west seattle in april! today they are having an open house there and it'll be my first time seeing it, so i'm excited. wednesday i'm chaperoning ashford's preschool field trip to a community theater in our neighborhood. incidentally, azalea's 1st grade class is going to the same performance! :) we might hit 70 degrees today, but then we'll be back to more "seasonal" weather the rest of the week.