grandma jan's visit and port townsend overnight

i have lots to share from the last week. my mom came into town and we made the most of our time with her. the weather was beautiful up until yesterday (the rain has made its return now), she and i got a lot of quality time together while the kids were in school, and thatcher and i were really thankful to get an overnight together in port townsend while she took care of the kids. 

here is a rundown of our days together:

tuesday

i picked up ashford early from school to drive down to the airport and pick her up because i knew with traffic we wouldn't be back in time for his regular preschool pick up. my mom, ashford, and i had lunch at "mr gyros" in our neighborhood. my first time there, it was delicious. ashford even ate some of our sandwiches. that night we headed to azalea's school for an open house. it was fun to have my mom there for it, she got to meet her teacher and see what they've been up to in 2nd grade. 

wednesday

my mom and i walked around ballard and had lunch at "senor moose" while the kids were in school. it was early release day for azalea, so we went to gilman playground and then headed to populuxe brewing for a beer and some arcade games :) the kids had a blast because grandma was much more generous with the quarters than i usually am. 

azalea had her swimming class in the evening and then we met thatcher at "mod pizza" for dinner. yum! 

thursday

my mom and i ran some errands in the morning, including her buying christmas gifts to leave here for the kids (smart lady!). after we picked up azalea from school, we all walked down to "salt and straw" for some pre-dinner ice cream. ;) 

we made dinner at home and hung out with thatcher and the kids in the evening. 

friday

thatcher and i headed to port townsend after we got the kids off to school! it takes about 90 minutes to get there (including a 20 min ferry ride). we had been there a couple years ago with his aunt and uncle from alaska, but were only there a short while and i really wanted to go back. it's a cute town with great scenery. we first stopped in port gamble and had lunch at "scratch kitchen". 

then we drove through port townsend to fort worden, which is also the campus of peninsula college. we hiked the trails, explored the old buildings (some were super creepy!) and walked along the beach. 

then we checked into our hotel back in town, which was right on the water. it was such a pretty spot to look out on from the balcony! 

the hotel was about 4 blocks from downtown port townsend, so we walked to check out the shops and explore a bit. we settled on a thai restaurant for dinner, it was really good! then we walked out on the pier to enjoy the sunset. 

saturday

we were awake bright and early! thanks to the kids, we have lost all ability to sleep in, even til 7:30. ha! but we made the most of our morning - we got to see about 7 deer wading in the water below our balcony.

and the sunrise was beautiful as well

we went to a coffee shop on the water called "better living through coffee" where i enjoyed a cinnamon-vanilla latte (very similiar to by beloved cafe vienna) and the best ginger cookie i've ever had (it had fresh ginger baked into it. so good.). we walked to the farmers market, which was small, but enjoyable. then to a lookout above the city.

 we headed back to the main street and went to a few shops that had already closed the night before. i bought a cute, loosely knit gray scarf from a pirate shop - true story! 

we decided to grab a late lunch at the canteen at fort worden. it was one of the best "cheap" burgers i've ever had. and we got to sit outside across the road from the beach. we made our way back to seattle before dinner time. the kids had a great time with grandma jan. she took them to the "hi life" for dinner on friday night and bought them ice cream. on saturday they went to the library and had a 2 hour playdate at the neighbors. 

sunday 

sunday was my mom's last full day in seattle. we hung out at home in the morning and took the kids up to azalea's school with their bikes. in the afternoon, my mom and i went to chateau st. michelle winery in woodinville. it was her first time going, so it was really fun. we did the wine tasting and also took the tour. it wasn't the nicest weather, but it was all inside, so it was a good activity for that afternoon. 

 when we got back, we went to say good bye to our neighbors martine, josh, bruce, and beatrice who are moving to mexico city this week. we are going to miss them so much! i'm in denial that they are going. we've spent so much time with them over the past 3 years and i'm so happy they were/are a part of our seattle life.

sunday night my mom and i watched the mister rogers documentary "won't you be my neighbor?" i looooved mister rogers when i was little and he still holds a special place in my heart. the documentary is great, i definitely recommend it! 

monday morning i took my mom to the airport at 7am. we were sad to see her go and won't get to see her again until february when we go to florida! now we are getting back into our routine here. it's october and i'm looking forward to all the fun this month brings!