2019: year in review

this year is very quickly coming to a close and we are not only entering a new year, but also a new decade (i know this is up for debate, but if 2000 was a new millenium then 2010 and 2020 are new decades in my eyes!) i love reflecting back at this time of year. i've done these recaps for as long as i've been writing this blog. this list of links sure is getting long! 

2010  |  2011  |  2012  |  2013 |  2014 |  2015 |  2016 |  2017  | 2018

january 

ashford kicked off 2019 by learning how to ride a two wheel bike! the kids did a three day minecraft lego camp during the second week of their winter break. we took a day trip to bellingham and checked out some new spots including boulevard park (pictured) and the railway museum. i joined a gym for the first time ever and started going 2-3x a week (and i'm still going strong!). the weather was really mild in january and we took advantage of it. we celebrated ewan's 5th birthday at the zoo and lunch at zeek's pizza. both kids took a 2 hour rock climbing class at REI and loved it. over MLK weekend, we went down to portland. we stayed at a hotel, swam in the pool, hung out with thatcher's cousins, and visited some new food spots. azalea had her second grade musical performance - "here we go round." 

february

this month will be forever known as the month with six snow days right before mid-winter break. seattle got walloped with a snow storm (well, for seattle). steep hills plus hardly any plows makes for one very shut down city. we had days where there was virtually no snow left outside our house but school was still cancelled because they had to make a district-wide decision and people high on the hills still had snow and ice. we spent lots of time with vanessa and ewan that week. also this month, thatcher did the "tunnel ride" on his bike, i got 7 inches cut off my hair, thatcher went snow shoeing in the mountains, we celebrated valentine's day with our tradition of making a chocolate souffle. the kids took their longest flight to date (6 hours) to travel to florida with me to visit my mom (and brother). it was a hot week and a struggle solo parenting at times, but we had a blast at the beaches (pictured), the pool, going out to eat, and attending two different drum circles. thatcher went to colorado for a long weekend to celebrate his grandpa's 95th birthday. 

march

we attended the "pajamboree" party at azalea's school, seattle got another dusting of snow but school went on, ashford did open gym at seattle gymnastics academy a few times, we met up with thatcher's cousin sage in south lake union who was in town from california for donuts and hanging out by the lake, i got to see my friend karen from minneapolis who was in seattle for a long layover - we had lunch at marination ma kai in west seattle. thatcher went to vancouver for a few days for work. we had record highs in the upper 70's and spent time at golden gardens beach. we hosted a small birthday party at our house to celebrate azalea turning 8 (pictured). the kids played some games we planned and otherwise just ran around the yard and had fun. on her actual birthday, we went to thai siam for dinner as a family. finally, we attended a 5th birthday party for my friend chrissy's son eli at kids science lab.

april

thatcher's parents and our nephew jack came out to visit for jack's spring break. it was jack's first time visiting seattle so we had fun showing him around and the kids were thrilled to get to play with him for so many days. they came along to ashford's swim lesson and azalea's zumba performance at school. the next week, over our spring break, we went on an 11 day road trip to san diego. we drove over 2900 miles. i was a little nervous going into it, but it ended up being one of my favorite trips we've ever taken. the scenery was incredible and we got to see so many sights (monteray, ca pictured), we visited some of thatcher's extended family in encinitas, and our friends along the way in portland and san francisco, and we went to the safari park at the san diego zoo. we had the best time together on this trip and i would do it again in a heart beat. the next weekend was easter and we did the egg hunt at the community center for the first time and we had a quiet holiday at home with just the four of us. the last weekend of the month, thatcher did a day hike with co-workers and i had a moms night out at swel restaurant in fremont. 

may

we explored a new (to us) area of the city - bitter lake, thatcher and i had a date night while matt and vanessa watched the kids. we went to sen noodle bar for dinner and frankie and jo's for ice cream. we had record high temps for early may so we spent lots of time at golden gardens. i had a moms night out at picolinos with some fellow preschool moms. we celebrated mother's day with a trip to whidbey island to have a brunch picnic. thatcher brought the camping stove and made us french toast, bacon, and fruit. we even saw a whale from the beach, which was a awesome! ashford lost his first tooth - it fell out at preschool and the tooth fairy came. we attended the annual syttende mai parade in our neighborhood on the 17th. we did a family hike at the "big 4 ice caves." my mom came into town (pictured). we went out to eat a bunch, thatcher and i got to have another date night (to rei and green leaf vietnamese), and we took my mom to bellingham for the first time. 

june

we attended the carnival at the ballard community center, we took an overnight trip to mount st. helens for the first time. it was so cool to see it in person and learn about the eruption that happened in 1980. we also visited clearwater lake and had dinner in kalama, wa. the next day we explored the "ape caves" lava tube and the "trail of two forests". thatcher went to minneapolis for work for a few days, june 5th marked 4 years of living in seattle(!), i had my mother's day massage, we attended the ballard criterium bike race, thatcher and i celebrated 12 years of marriage and 17 years together (half of my life now!). we took the kids out for ice cream at "parfait" to celebrate. our friends vanessa, matt, and ewan moved into their new home in magnolia, thatcher turned 37 and celebrated his birthday with a solo hike and we all went out to "uneeda burger" for dinner. we went to another carnival at azalea's school. i had board/staff social for the inc at "agrodolce" in fremont. on father's day i was feeling under the weather so thatcher took the kids to mount rainier on his own for a picnic and hike. they also visited ashford, washington which has been on our list for a long time. ashford had his preschool graduation from the ballard community center, we found out our landlord needed to sell the condo we were renting and had to scramble to find a new place to live, which thankfully we did in record time. then we started a hectic few weeks of packing/purging. we had an end of preschool picnic at golden gardens, azalea had her last day of 2nd grade (2 days early due to leaving for our trip to minnesota). the first few days in minneapolis we caught up with our families and i headed to duluth for a girls weekend with my college roomies. it had been 6 years since we were all together. 

july

our minneapolis trip spilled into july since we were there for 2 weeks. we got to spend lots of time with family and friends, and check out what was new around the city. it was hot and humid so there were many trips to the wading pool and hanging out in air conditioning! i turned 35 and celebrated with a manicure and shopping followed by dinner out at pizza luce with both of our families. we watched the fireworks on the 4th of july at 32nd street beach at bde maka ska with both of our families again. four days after returning to seattle, it was time to move! we got settled into our new house (4 blocks away from our old apartment). the day we moved thatcher and azalea attended a harry potter themed show at the seattle symphony. azalea did "spart" camp at her school. thatcher and the kids cleaned out the flower beds in the back yard, which were totally overgrown and planted some new stuff, our family friends kathy and garry were in town and thatcher and i got to have lunch with them one day while the kids were in camps. we had a kindergarten meet up at the school playground. azalea got her braces off after 7 months of wear and moved onto a retainer. we did a family weekend away (1 night of camping at lake wenatchee and 1 night in a lodge in mazama, wa). it was the first time we all tent camped together and it was a lot of work and horrible sleep, but overall it was a lot of fun. thatcher also took us on the route 20 drive through the north cascades and it was incredibly beautiful. 

august

august 1st marked 4 years since my dad died. azalea went to a strategy board game camp and ashford did a preschool camp with ewan. we finally got some over 80 degree temps in seattle, so we celebrated with some water activities like the north acres spray park. we had our final walk through at our old apartment. it was nice to have it off our plate, but sad to officially be done living there. we went to the magnolia summerfest (with matt, vanessa, and ewan) for the first time. it was insanely crowded, but the kids had a blast catching candy at the parade and going in the bouncy houses. i went to an everett aquasox (minor league baseball game) on a party bus with my old neighbors joe and alice and a bunch of their friends. we hosted some play dates for the kids' friends, which is much easier to do in our new place. azalea did a volleyball camp at the community center (following in her mama's foot steps). we celebrated vanessa's birthday at her friend's house with a bunch of kids running around, a blow up pool, and cake :) the kids fell in love with the dogs who live next door (in our duplex) and spent tons of time playing with them in the backyard. i call them our babysitters ;) we visited the "park in the heart" art tent at ballard commons a few times. the kids did a week of swimming lessons and we saw "angry birds 2" in the theater. we had another kindergarten meet up at the school. each kid had a back to school shopping date with me. our friends ian, joanna, and kyla stayed with us for a night on their way to vancouver, bc. ashford did a week of "kindergarten jumpstart" which was hard for him emotionally, but he did a great job. azalea did a cheerleading camp. we went to the outdoor magnolia pool a couple times with vanessa and ewan. azalea joined a soccer team again after not playing since 1st grade with all girls from her grade at school. we went to a 5th birthday party for ashford's buddy wren at green lake wading pool. we did a family picnic/hike at lake cushman and staircase. 

september

we tried to enjoy the last few days of summer/no school, but i think we were all ready for some routine by this point. we bought new twin beds for the kids for their shared room, we went to edmonds waterfront for the afternoon on labor day. azalea had her first day of 3rd grade! thatcher went to vancouver for 5 days for a work conference. ashford had his first day of kindergarten. he likes it overall, but he's still adjusting to the long days away from his mama ;) i had a night out at a lebanese restaurant with some mom friends from preschool last year. azalea went to her friend ella-kate's birthday party. my mom came to visit for a week. she and i had lots of day dates while the kids were in school. we went to the frye museum, elysian brewing, full tilt with the kids, and did some shopping. thatcher and i had a date night to casco antiguo and town hall for a talk on gender. i had my annual board retreat for the coworking space. we spent many saturday mornings at azalea's soccer games. i went away with my best girlfriends for our annual weekend together. we went to anderson island and ate, drank, and relaxed in comfy clothes or in the hot tub all weekend. thatcher took the kids camping while i was away and it was cold, but they still had fun. 

october

we went to swanson's nursery with our friends to play in the hay maze, we admired all the trees bursting with color, thatcher and ashford went to lego brick con, ashford went to a classmate's party at seattle gymnastics academy, there was a huge fire that took our 4 businesses in our neighborhood, the kids had a teacher in-service day so we got our flu shots and azalea had a birthday party for her friend. we had lots more saturday soccer games for azalea, we went to "bailey farm" pumpkin patch for the 4th year in a row, we had another kid birthday party - this time at funtastic playtorium, both kids attended parents night out at their school and thatcher and i got to have a rare date night. i stepped down from the inc coworking board after 2.5 years. i got to see my friend erin who i've known since kindergarten and was in town from california, i started volunteering in ashford's class on mondays and i also went on their first field trip of the year, we carved our pumpkins and celebrated halloween at the ballard ave trick or treat, dinner with vanessa, matt, and ewan and then more trick or treating in our neighborhood. 

november

the day after halloween, i went to a costume ball at the elks lodge with a bunch of parents from azalea's school (i dressed as christmas, of course!). azalea had her last soccer game of the season and the whole team celebrated with dinner and awards at giddy up burgers. thatcher went to his first grown-up lego meetup! we took the kids on a (trail) bike ride for the first time in bothell. our family traveled to victoria, bc for the first time. we took the clipper (passenger ferry) and stayed in a hotel downtown for two nights. we enjoyed the sights, food, drinks, and shops of the most charming city. grandma cheryl and grandpa durant came into town for 5 days and stayed in an air bnb a block away. we went out to eat, shopping, and thatcher took them to the east side during their visit. the kids had a whole week off for thanksgiving and my brother came to visit us. we went to funtastic playtorium, saw frozen 2 in the theater, decorated gingerbread houses, did lots of board games and drawing, and celebrated thanksgiving with a turkey dinner for the 5 of us. we put up our tree and decorated for christmas,

december

arguably my favorite month of the year! we kept busy with all sorts of holiday and birthday cheer. i went to a cookie exchange hosted by a new mom friend at school, the kids both attended a couple friend birthday parties, azalea had her first sleepover at a friend's house, thatcher and i got a date night thanks to parents night out (we christmas shopped for the kids. ha!), we baked soooo many treats, watched tons of christmas movies, we went to see santa at swanson's nursery, we celebrated ashford turning 6 with a bowling party with a few of his friends and dinner out with our friends casey, rob, ella-kate, and julie. we celebrated christmas with lots of cozy time at home for the four of us and also with a gathering at my friend kay's house on christmas eve and a gathering at my friend vanessa's house on christmas day. it was perfect! on the 26th we headed to portland for two nights where we visited thatcher's cousin's new house on sauvie island, ate our way through the city, and saw a high school friend of thatcher's on our way out of town. the kids did a half-day gymnastics camp for a few days at SGA. and tonight we will ring in the new year with vanessa, matt, and ewan at our place! 

happy 2020!!