goodbye snow, hello mid winter break

 it only took about 48 hours for the snow to melt here. the temperature was back in the 40s by monday and we got some rain. it was fun and pretty while it lasted! 

 

thatcher was off on monday for presidents day and the kids were off all week for their mid winter break. thatcher gave ashford his second covid-cut. the last one was in september. it was time! he took a silly selfie to send to granda jan and unkie brandon. 

 

 

on tuesday morning i got a text from a friend that there were about 25 sea lions down off the dock by rays restaurant. i was planning on running errands with the kids, so we went to check it out on the way. it was so cool! there were tons of them in the water and on the structure and they were barking away. i could have watched them all day. 

 

after that we headed to target in northgate (my first time since last summer i think!) and we picked up mcdonalds for lunch on the way home because the kids have been asking for it. ;) i laughed when i saw azalea's wishful additions to our grocery list. my mom says brandon and i used to do the same thing. haha.

the kids played outside with the neighbors in the afternoon. 

on wednesday we met our friends beth, audrey, and eliza at jibe espresso by the shilshole marina. it's just over a mile from where we live, but i had never been to that coffee shop (shocking...). the moms got coffee and the kids got treats and then we walked/scootered on the path down to golden gardens. it was such a beautiful morning!

 

 

i even sat out on the deck and read my book for a while in the afternoon. it was almost 50 degrees and glorious. except for the kids whining that they were bored after days of being entertained. too bad, kids!  

 

wednesday night i went out to a restaurant for only the second time in the past year. i met my friends beth and alison at la carta de oaxaca on ballard ave. they have a really nice outdoor set up with gas fireplaces, twinkly lights and a covered structure. it was about 40 degrees out, so our food got cold really quickly, but it was such a fun night of semi-normalcy. 

thursday we hung out at home in the morning. i made chocolate chocolate chip muffins (from a mix). they were delish! 

then went to hang out with vanessa and ewan in their garage in the afternoon. it was pretty rainy. 

friday we had no plans so we spent the day at home. we played board games and colored. in the afternoon the kids played with simone and thelonius outside.  

saturday was was sunny and beautiful, so i wanted us all to get out of the house. a few months ago we discovered there is a mini golf course just across the ballard bridge in interbay. we had driven by 1000 times, but only knew it as a regular golf course. the kids love mini golf, so we took them as a surprise and they were thrilled. built-in social distancing and killed a couple hours. we all had fun.

 on the way home we stopped to see the sea lions again, but about half of them were gone this time. we got take out for dinner and thatcher and azalea watched a movie together, and so did ashford and i. 

sunday was super windy and mostly cloudy. it was over 50 degrees, but it sure didn't feel like it. we hung out at home most of the day, i got groceries, and i took the kids to gilman playground in the afternoon, but we didn't last long. azalea's friend simone delivered the girl scout cookies we ordered, so that was exciting! 

it was a good break, but we (ok mostly me) are ready to get back to some structure ;)