thatcher's birthday, grandpa norman, last day of school

thatcher's 38th birthday was actually a week ago now, but we didn't celebrate until after i published my post, so i'm including it this week. he took the day off work last friday and went on a hike on the peninsula with his co-worker/friend ryan. here's a picture from his hike...

my mountain man

when he got home in the evening, we order thai for dinner and he opened his presents and we had cake (that he made) :) i hope he had a good day! 

 

on saturday i got a pedicure in the afternoon and it was so nice! i could let my hair grow out forever, but my feet were in bad shape! there were only 2 employees and 2 customers (including me) allowed in the salon and we all wore masks and it felt very safe. these things we took for granted 4 months ago feel extra special now :) 

 azalea has been spending lots of time with her friend simone who lives down the street. we keep the play dates outside, and i'm so glad they can still have fun together. we've also been letting her go biking at the school/field with a friend unsupervised, which is hard on this mama's heart, but she is at that age where we have to let her fly a little bit. she is loving it!

we returned some classroom materials to ashford's teacher this week and signed a class cookbook for azalea's teacher at school. it's the weirdest end to the school year ever. usually this week is filled with the school carnival. class picnics, and field day. their school has a nice black lives matter community fence going though! 

thursday evening i got to meet my friends vanessa and alison at peddler brewing in ballard. it was my first time going out to a restaurant or bar since they re-opened. they have a huge garden in the back with spaced out picnic tables. they asked that you wear your mask any time you are not at your table. and that you only send one person up to order drinks. it felt so nice to be there! it was a beautiful night and the sky was still a little bright when i left at 10pm. 

 

life is made up of happy moments mingling with sad ones and thursday evening we learned that thatcher's grandpa norman passed away at age 96. i hadn't seen him in many years, but thatcher got to visit him a little over a year ago. even into his 90s he was super tech savvy and sharp. he was a veteran who fought in 3 wars. he will be missed. 

this was from our visit to colorado in 2012

today is finally the last day of school! it's been a long 3 months of "remote learning" but we made it. i'm very hopeful that school will return at least part time in the fall. until then we will try to enjoy summer a much as we can. i'm proud of how these kids have adapted to our new normal this spring. i always love seeing their first day/last day comparisons...

they each had a "goodbye zoom" with their class and their teacher. it wasn't the closure they usually get, but i am thankful for this technology. to celebrate, i took them to cupcake royale for a treat.

 and we're going to a park to join a few other families from school. the weather sure feels like summer today!