the rest of grandma's visit, friend in town, birthday party

i'm just realizing i didn't take any more pictures during my mom's visit, but here's a little recap:

 last monday she and i walked down to the locks and enjoyed the flowers and watched sea lions swimming in the water. then we met vanessa for lunch at the 'lockspot cafe' which is a classic ballard casual seafood place. i have only been there once, but my mom and dad actually went there in 2012 while on vacation in seattle. we all got fish and chips and my mom and i had chowder too. we hung out at home the rest of the afternoon and made chicken gyros for dinner and played some racko and yahtzee :) 

tuesday my mom and i ran some errands and mostly hung out at home. we went for a walk down to the ballard business district and went in some shops. the weather was much nicer the second half of her stay, but still not all that warm. the kids played with friends after school and then we made tacos for dinner and played more games. 

wednesday my mom and i went to my friend kay's to see her garden in the morning and then we all went to a restaurant on the water in interbay called 'maggie bluffs.' we were hoping to sit outside, but it was a little too windy and cool. my mom said goodbye to the kids after they got out of school, then i took her to the airport while the kids went to their friends houses. i'm so happy she could come spend a week with us and we only have to wait two months to see her again in minnesota. 

thursday was back to business as usual. friday morning the kids had a dentist appt to get sealant put on their teeth and then i dropped them off for school a little late. in the evening i got to take the bus downtown (first time in 2+ years!) to meet up with my friend sara and her friend cami for dinner. sara is a college friend of thatcher's from minnesota (and later became my friend too). cami used to live in minnesota, but lives in california now, so they decided to meet in seattle for a girls weekend. add this to the list of things i missed over the past 2 years - friends who happen to travel to seattle and i get to see them! we had dinner at purple cafe and wine bar, which is a favorite of mine, then went to target, and finally back to their hotel for a while. 

 

 

saturday morning ashford had a baseball game at 9am. i'm not a huge fan of those early ones ;) but i was happy they were able to play and they won their game. 

 

it was the nicest afternoon we had in a while here, 66 and sunny. i spent time on the deck, took azalea to the library, and ashford had a friend's birthday party at full tilt ice cream (also has arcade games). he had a blast! it was drop off, but the dad sent these pictures: 

after i picked him up, we got thai take out for dinner and watched a movie with the kids. 

sunday morning we woke up to rain. azalea was supposed to have a soccer game, but it was super wet and they were forecasting rain all day, so we skipped it. seattle seems to cancel baseball games for rain, but not soccer. thatcher made us homemade cinnamon rolls instead. ha! we ran some errands in the afternoon and relaxed at home. 

tomorrow night is the big syttende mai (norwegian constitution day) in ballard for the first time in 3 years! we are pumped!!!