grandma jan's fall visit

it's been feeling like fall for a while here, but now it's official! of course i had to bust out my decorations over the weekend. i can't think of many things more fun than decorating a new space for the first time. and thinking about decorating for christmas makes me giddy. 

my mom was here for the last week and we had such a nice visit with her. we were excited to show her our new house and have her join us for school pick up and drop offs for both kids! this felt like a new era because the kids were both in school for 6 hours every day, so my mom and i had a lot of time together to do whatever we wanted. (namely: walking, shopping, eating, and drinking!). 

the night she arrived thatcher picked up thai take out for dinner and we enjoyed it at home. she brought the kids each a small gift (a lego set and mad libs), so they were thrilled about that :) 

tuesday while the kids were in school, my mom and i went to the frye museum. 

neither of us had been before. it's a free art museum in the first hill neighborhood. after we had lunch at a greek restaurant back in ballard (our first time trying it). we also popped into value village because it was across the street. 

wednesday we went to capitol hill to explore and go to some shops, then we had lunch at elysian brewing. it was a fun outing! 

wednesday is early release for school (2:10), so we decided to take the kids to "full tilt" in our neighborhood to have ice cream and play some arcade games. it was a hit! 

thursday we mostly hung out at home and my mom went to the library while i worked out down the street. 

friday we went to fred meyer in the morning. my mom even got the kids their christmas gifts. smart lady :) then we went to vanessa's for lunch and so my mom could see her new house. vanessa was in the process of buying it when my mom last visited in may. after school, the kids, my mom, and i went to "venture coffee" with my friend beth and her daughters. then i hopped on a bus downtown to meet thatcher for a date night! we had dinner at a place in pioneer square called "casco antigua" and it was amazing. then we walked over to "town hall" in first hill to see a talk. many of his co-workers were going, so we decided to make a date night out of it. it was on gender and our brains and it was really interesting. i got to meet a lot of people from his organization. 

 my mom took the kids to "the boars nest" for dinner. ashford tried his hardest to stay awake in bed until we got home, but he passed out 5 minutes before we got home at 10pm. 

saturday morning i had my annual board retreat for the coworking space. it's my last one ever because i will be stepping down from the board next month. it's been a great experience the last 2.5 years, but i'm feeling ready to move on with two kids in elementary school. it was scheduled to go all day, but i told them i could only stay through lunch because it was my mom's last day in town. azalea's soccer game got cancelled so thatcher, my mom, and the kids went to a new waterfront park instead. 

thatcher picked me up after lunch and we snuck in another mini date getting ice cream at "frankie and jo's". azalea and i went to the library and the grocery store while every one else laid low at home. we grilled turkey burgers for dinner and my mom, thatcher, and the kids played a few more rounds of "racko". (they had a running score sheet for the whole week). 

we took my mom to the airport early sunday morning. we may not see her again until next may, which feels so far away, so i hope we get to sooner. the rest of the day we relaxed at home, got groceries, the kids and i went over to vanessa and ewan's in the afternoon, thatcher baked us pumpkin muffins, and our family watched "matilda" for a little movie night.