mamma mia...here we go again!

oh my...where to start? seattle has decided to take this winter wonderland thing a little too seriously. never would i have guessed a couple weeks ago that we would be seeing this much snow, cold temps, and school closures. jokes on me! haha. 

last friday seattle public schools announced all schools would be getting out 75 minutes early because of impending snow. we had nearly gotten rid of what we got at the beginning of the week and people went nuts buying out the grocery stores. the snow started falling around noon. ashford's buddy callum came over after school for a play date, then we picked up azalea at 2:10. lots of snow was falling from the sky, but it wasn't sticking. i was cautiously optimistic that it would be over-hyped and turn into nothing. even when we went to bed friday night, there was nothing sticking to the sidewalks or street. 

we woke up saturday morning to about 4 inches on the ground. most areas got more than us, since we are not up on a high hill. it was the most snow i've seen in our 4 winters here. i have to admit it was beautiful, and i was happy it was a weekend so thatcher could be home with us ;)

 later in the morning, i called the gym to make sure they were open and headed there on foot. thatcher and the kids hung out at home and played in the snow. 

in the afternoon, ashford and i walked down to the locks to meet vanessa, matt, and ewan. it was really pretty there! the boys (attempted) to make a snow man and had fun playing together. after an hour, we were ready to head home and warm up. 

saturday evening my group of girlfriends and i had a dinner reservation at a lebonese restaurant up the hill, but it ended up being closed, so we went out in downtown ballard instead. i was thankful for a walking commute :) we had a drink and appetizer at "hotel albatross" then made a stop at "la isla" across the street, before ending up at "pie bar" for dessert. they are all on the same block, so it worked well! it was a fun night catching up with them. we forgot to take a group pic. oops! 

sunday morning thatcher left at 7am to meet up with some co-workers to go snow shoeing in the mountains. it was his first time going since we've lived here and they had a great time. here are a couple pics:

the kids and i were still snowed in, but we made the best of it. we walked to java bean for coffee and a treat, they played outside a bit, and we watched "hotel transylvania 2" in the afternoon. the official word came from seattle public schools that school would be closed on monday. the roads were still a mess and there is more snow on the way. 

so, here we are monday morning facing another snow day. we got less than an inch over night, but we are expected to get a few inches tonight. could be an interesting week. wish me luck! 8 more days until we get to escape to florida...