mama nights out, birthday party, fall in ballard

it's officially fall, ya'll! i bought some little pumpkins at qfc the other day, but haven't taken out any other decorations yet. i'll get to it (maybe...) 

it was a busy week around here, especially in the evenings for me! wednesday night i had my monthly board meeting for the coworking space. thursday night i met up with a group of second grade moms from azalea's school for drinks at hotel albatross in our neighborhood. there were about 12 of us who came out. i knew most of the moms already, but it was fun to meet a few new ones. we are in our third year at azalea's school and there are still kids she has not been in the same class with yet. there are around 100 kids in her grade. 

i love hotel albatross

friday night i had a girls night that was planned a month ago with my regular group of mama friends: vanessa, erica, meredith, and heather. unfortuantely two of them had to drop out, so it was just erica, heather, and me. we went to the gerald in our neighborhood for drinks and super healthy (wink wink) snacks. they have fried cheese curds, so i sort of felt like i was at the minnesota state fair :) it was a fun, low key night and I was home before 10pm!

saturday morning thatcher got up before the sun to meet up with some coworkers for a day hike in the north cascades. he had been looking forward to it for the last month. it started as a big group going, but a few couldn't make it, so it ended up just being him and a married couple from work. he said it was the rainiest hike he's done here, but still beautiful. i have to agree: 

the kids and i kept busy while he was gone for 12 hours. in the morning i took them to top 10 toys to get birthday gifts for a party later in the day. they've been begging me to take them to mcdonalds for the last few months (because they love the playland), so i decided saturday would be a good day. our neighbors martine, bruce, and beatrice met us there and the kids had a blast. we hung out at home for most of the afternoon and then it was time to drive up to lynnwood to "pump it up" for the party. the party was for our friends ella kate (7) and her sister julie (2). we had been to a "pump it up" in minneapolis years ago and it was funny to go in another state and have it be exactly the same. lots of bouncy houses, slides, and padded fun. the kids had an absolute ball there. they had pizza and cake and watched the girls open their gifts. 

thatcher's ride happened to be coming through north seattle right when the party ended, so they dropped him off at the mall and we picked him up. it was absolutely pouring out! we haven't had a good downpour in months. it was off to bed for the kids when we got home. everyone was tired! 

sunday we had no plans, which was nice after such a busy saturday. we cleaned our apartment a bit and the kids played (and whined that they were bored and fought). after lunch we went up to the school playground with the kids' bikes. 

most of the trees in our neighborhood look something like this right now, but some look like they are at peak color already!

i ran some errands in the afternoon (including a walk through the ballard farmers market, which is magical in the fall). i got a hot pear apple cider - so delicious! 

we made dinner and relaxed at home the rest of the night. 

my mom comes into town for a week tomorrow and thatcher and i have our overnight to port townsend on friday. we can't wait!