merry outings and santa encounters

we are trying to pack as much holiday fun as we can into our weekends this month (and even our weekdays). i can't believe it'll all be over in a matter of days. i love this time of year so much. every place is decorated so beautifully, and every one seems to be in an extra good mood :) it feels weird to not be going to minneapolis this week as we have every other year, but thankfully we saw our family in the last few weeks and months. and i won't be mad come february when we hop on a plane to florida! 

backing up to last thursday, i had a holiday happy hour for the inc. coworking at super bueno in wallingford. it was also a special night to recognize one of our co-executive directors, marlene, who is moving on from the organization. she was the first person i met when i came to tour the space the day it opened. i will miss her presence at the organization, but i'm excited for whatever comes next for her. here is a picture of the group (board members, teachers, and users of the space): 

friday night we had a cozy night at home. saturday morning thatcher and azalea went out to do a little christmas shopping and got thai food for lunch together :) ashford and i had our own date to java bean and the grocery store. 

in the afternoon, vanessa, matt, and ewan joined us at the locks for the "christmas ships" event. it was our first year going. there are a bunch of 2 hour cruise boats that come through the locks and go out along the edge of the sound. santa is on board as well as a choir that performs. they had free cookies and cocoa at the locks. we saw lots of families there that we knew. it was fun! 

saturday night i got to see vanessa again (as well as a few other friends) to celebrate our friend erica's birthday in south lake union. we went to re:public and it was such a cozy place! great service and food too. 

me, heather, vanessa, erica (birthday girl!), and sara 

sunday we spent the morning at home and getting groceries. in the afternoon, we drove out to north bend (an hour outside seattle) to do the santa train! we've been wanting to do it since we moved here, so when my friend casey asked if we wanted to join their family, we were excited! it's a 30 minute train ride between two towns in the foothills of the mountains. after the ride, they have free cookies and hot cocoa in a train car, coloring crafts in another, and you can wait in line to see santa. they don't do professional pictures, it's more of a meet and greet. it was such a great event! all of the volunteers were amazing. the kids all had fun and so did the grown ups :) it's funny because ashford was complaining all morning that he didn't want to go, but he ended up enjoying it. ;) 

this little cutie is julie. her big sister ella kate (who is azalea's age) was not feelin the picture :) 

finally, monday after school we took our annual holiday trip to swanson's nursery to see santa. ashford was totally santa-ed out at this point, but he took one for the team. haha! as always, i just got a print out picture, so this is a picture of it: 

this is the last week of school before the kids have 2 weeks off. i can't believe ashford is turning 5 on friday! eeek!