more sickness, azalea's 1st grade musical, mn friends in town

this past week was a doozy! the sickness from the previous weekend stuck around through wednesday. azalea started having tummy troubles sunday night, so i kept her home from school monday. she was fine on tuesday, so i sent her to school, but then tuesday night was not so good again, so i kept her home on wednesday. i'm sure her teacher thought it was a little strange. i was really worried that she would still be sick on thursday for her first grade musical, but thankfully she was fine! as for ashford, his hives persisted, so i kept him home from preschool on monday. by tuesday his feet and hands were completely swollen, so off the doctor we went! they did a urine test to rule out any sort of kidney problem (thankfully it was normal). they concluded it was probably an immune system over drive thing that was causing the hives and the swelling. thankfully both were much better by wednesday, so he was able to go to school. it was a revolving door of kids staying home from school and i struggled with the lack of routine and extra challenge of getting my work done, but we all survived. whew!

thursday night was azalea's first grade musical, arf! each of the classes dressed up as a different type of dog, and they performed songs by class and as a group. it was adorable! i'm so impressed at the music performances they put on at her school. it was so fun to watch and she was thrilled to perform. i don't have the greatest pictures, but we got some good videos.

friday night i texted my friend vanessa saying we should go out for drinks after the kids went to bed. i was half-joking and didn't really think she would take me up on it, but she did! we also invited my neighbor martine. we decided on margaritas at el barracho in our neighborhood. mom life doesn't give me too many opportunities to be spontaneous, so when it does happen, it's very exciting. we had a blast chatting for a couple hours over drinks and nachos. they are my two closest friends in seattle and i feel so lucky to have met them. we help keep each other sane ;) 

saturday we didn't have any plans. we spent the morning at home cleaning and hanging out. in the afternoon, we all ventured out to REI so thatcher could do some shopping and the kids played in the play area. it's always busy there, but i think this was the busiest i've seen it. the play area was so chaotic. ah well, the kids still had fun. after that, we decided to check out a library we had not been to yet. it was in the queen anne neighborhood (which reminds me a lot of linden hills in minneapolis - especially the library!) it was such a beautiful old building with incredible windows. 

 

sunday morning azalea had her first soccer game! she has joined a team of 1st grade girls from her school. it's very relaxed, which is perfect: no practices, no jerseys, no real score keeping, parent-coached. just a 3 on 3 scrimmage every sunday at a nice field near green lake.

 

 the weather on sunday morning was the only downside. it was about 48 degrees and super windy and wet. it felt horrible. we did not bring gloves and our hands were red and raw after 15 minutes. ashford was absolutely miserable and cried for the entire hour we were there :( azalea was moving around, so she stayed a little warmer, but i'm keeping my fingers crossed for better weather next week.

meanwhile, thatcher did the emerald city bike ride (which he has done before with coworkers) in the very same weather. it's a 25 mile bike ride and they even shut down some stretches of the highways around seattle. he said the weather made it almost unbearable. 

right after the game, we picked up thatcher and headed to capitol hill to meet our minnesota friends ian, joanna, and kyla who were in town. they were actually vacationing in oregon, but they flew in and out of seattle so they were here for the night. we met them at elliot bay bookstore, which we had never been to. it was really cool! then we went to 8oz. for lunch. there is one in our neighborhood too, but we had never been to the capitol hill location. 

we were all stuffed after lunch, but still decided to get some dessert after (why not?!). we went to mighty o's, and frankie and jo's ice cream which are on the same block. yum! 

after lunch, we headed to seattle center to show them around. we saw the fountain, the kids played at the artist-inspired playground, and we walked around the grounds. the weather was a little better than in the morning, but not much. 

we finally parted ways, so they could go back to their hotel for the night. it was so nice to spend time with them! we were all exhausted in the evening. thatcher ended up meeting up with ian and another friend of theirs who lives in seattle after the kids went to bed, and i stayed home and relaxed.

and now, we are on day 2 of spring break. no trips and thatcher is working all week, so i'll let you know if i survive ;)