our seattle re-entry

our first week back in seattle was a bit of a doozy. nothing terrible, but let's just call it stay-at-home mom bootcamp because that's what it felt like. while in minneapolis i had lots of help with the kids, and now i am back to the trenches ;) 

backing up to last weekend...we went to the viking days festival at the new nordic museum. they had lots of great kids activities. we all had fun. we went right when it opened, so it wasn't too crowded!

we reunited with our neighbors (and it felt so good!). we even blew up the inflatable pool i got at target at the beginning of summer and the kids danced in it. 

last sunday night martine and i snuck away for an hour to see the prince cover band that was playing at seafood fest in our neighborhood. i had no idea what to expect, but they were so good! the lead singer sounded exactly like prince. and for the last song, he ripped off his clothes and wore just a sparkly purple speedo. oh yes! 

azalea had "spart camp" (sports, art, science) at her school this week. it was an all-ages camp, so she got to meet some older kids, which she really enjoyed. she also knew a couple other second graders there. the camp was from 12:30-5pm every day. even with her gone for those hours, the kids fought with each other every minute they were together. it didn't matter if we were home or out and about. it was rough, and makes me worry how the rest of the summer will go. but somehow we will survive.

 

here they are, looking innocent ;) 

we spent a lot of time with our neighbors martine, bruce, and beatrice while azalea was at camp. and with them, we also started hanging out with a boy from ashford's preschool class who lives a block away. his mom is going to be giving birth to baby #3 any day now! the boys had a lot of fun together. we are spending as much time with martine and the kids as possible because come september they will be moving to mexico city for 2 years for her husband's job! we are going to miss them so much! i haven't officially told ashford yet, but i'm sure he has heard us talking about it. :( 

we spent the week at some different playgrounds, coffee shops, and the soundview wading pool. i forgot just how shallow seattle wading pools are, compared to minneapolis. they are only about 6 inches deep. it's sort of comical. the kids were pretty bummed after going to the minneapolis wading pools (that are more like 2 feet deep). oh well! 

thatcher went hiking with some coworkers on saturday and was gone for 12 hours (about 2-3 hours longer than he anticipated). after the week i had with the kids, i wasn't exactly thrilled, but he deserves a social life too ;) 

the kids and i kept busy by going to the wading pool and then to a brewery in the afternoon. yes, a brewery. haha. it was my friend julie's birthday (her son was in azalea's class last year) and she had it at a brewery in ballard, which was kid-friendly. there was a huge beer garden patio area with giant jenga, bean bags, and lots of room to run around. the kids had a blast and barely fought at all, so i was joking i should add different breweries to our summer weekday agenda :) 

sunday morning we got to meet up with some old neighbors from our minneapolis street. holly, adam, and their 2 boys were in seattle for a long weekend vacation and texted us that they were going to the locks and asked if we wanted to meet them there. yes please! we hadn't seen them in about 5 years, so it was really fun. it was a beautiful morning to walk around the locks. we also went to the farmers market. i love living in a city that people vacation in! 

after we parted ways with them, thatcher offered to take the kids for a few hours to give me a break. what was my first celebratory activity? 2 hours of invoicing for work at java bean. ha! i had lunch there and it truly was relaxing. then i wandered around ballard for a while, went in some shops, the library, and got groceries. when i got home, i sat out on the patio and read my new book - heaven! thatcher took the kids to cafe mox to play board games, a playground, and the grocery store. we grilled for dinner and the kids and thatcher played video games. 

i'm mentally preparing for the week ahead. it's ashford's turn to attend a camp. preschool camp at a community center a couple miles away. it's from 9:30-1 each day. it'll be nice to have some one on one time with azalea.