solo parenting followed by a weekend of parties

thatcher was in vancouver, bc for work from tuesday to friday this week, so it was just the kids and me for most of the week. overall it went well, though there may or may not have been a few moments where i was rage texting thatcher out of frustration ;) but we survived. i tried to fill our time because it always goes faster that way. i called myself the "yes" mom because we did so many fun things. 

it didn't hurt that it felt like summer here all week. tuesday was a record high of 78 degrees and it was amazing! ashford and i went to golden gardens with vanessa and ewan after school. the first warm weather trip of the year is always so exciting.

 that night i took the kids out for dinner to "the hi life" in our neighborhood. they have an all night happy hour on tuesdays, so dinner was super reasonable. then we went down the street to "full tilt" for ice cream and to play arcade games. the kids blew through their dollars pretty quickly, but they loved it. and it was time for bed when we got home! win-win.

wednesday we ended up going to golden gardens again after we picked up azalea from zumba class at school. it was warm and friends were heading there, so why not?! it was another beautiful afternoon and the kids had fun running around while i got to catch up with the moms. 

that night i called into the first hour of my board meeting while the kids watched a movie and then hung up to put them to bed. this week was a balancing act at times, but it worked out.

thursday after school we got together with our friends beth, audrey, and eliza. azalea invited audrey to her party, but she wasn't able to make it, so we got celebratory cupcakes at "cupcake royale". the kids took their flavor choices very seriously ;) 

friday after preschool, ashford and i went to the locks with a couple of his buddies from school. 

we were all very happy when thatcher got home friday night. we missed him!

saturday morning we did some last minute prep for the party before azalea's friends arrived at 11. we decided on a small kid party at home this year. she invited 4 friends and 3 of them were able to make it. it was nice not having to rent a place and they were all thrilled by the party games and just getting to hang out. we had a loose unicorn theme. we ordered pizza for lunch and also had some snacks and cake. we played pin the horn on the unicorn and i also created a scavenger hunt which lead to prizes in the mailbox (it took them 5 whole minutes to complete). ha. they also found their own fun by watering our flowers outside and making a bird house out of a shoe box. works for me! azalea was so excited to have them all over to our house at the same time.

saturday night i met my friend beth on ballard ave for dinner and drinks. the place where we planned to meet had a long wait, so we went across the street to "the gerald" and had a drink and an appetizer. then we went over to market street to "el borracho" for a margarita and tacos. it was fun to hang out and catch up with her. and i was in bed by 10, so that's always a win in my book! 

sunday morning we had a 5th birthday party for my friend chrissy's son eli. it was at "kids science labs" in green lake. i had heard of it, but it was our first time going. it was awesome! the people who work there are so animated and enthusiastic with the kids. they got to make slime and do some other cool experiments. the kids had a blast. then they had their second pizza + cake lunch of the weekend. ha!

 in the afternoon, i went shopping solo for a bit at northgate mall then we took the kids up to the school to bike and play basketball. it was a pretty nice weekend with temps in the upper 50s. 

azalea's birthday is tomorrow and thatcher's parents and our nephew arrive on friday, so fun times ahead! stay tuned.