2022: on the up and up

wow, another year in the books. i know i say this every year, but it seems like the years are passing at record speed now. it's kind of hard to wrap my head around it. 2022 was the most 'normal' year we've had since 2019. while covid is very much still here, this year it faded a bit more into the background and it was a welcomed change. i never want to take our health or enjoying the simple things for granted. 2022 brought travel to the czech republic, austria, florida, and minnesota, as well as some new and favorite spots here in the pnw. we purchased some land up by the canadian border and are dreaming about a future cabin there.

i've been doing these yearly recaps since 2010 - wild!

 january

we kicked off 2022 back at school after the break while covid cases skyrocketed all over the country (omicron was to blame). thankfully our school was able to stay in-person though lots of kids/teachers were out sick. we did a little house organizing and purging for the new year. thatcher went snow shoeing with friends in the mountains, and built model rockets with the kids and blasted them off at a park. we went to ewan's 8th birthday party. thatcher flew to washington dc for work and got to see anders & nith, and meet our new nephew moss. azalea dressed up for 80's day at school. kids in her grade were very into rick-rolling. ha! we started playing wordle as a family.

february

february brought (virtual) middle school info nights for azalea. we watched a lot of the olympics. ashford went to raleigh's 8th birthday party. azalea started playing on a winter futsal team (outside - brrr), we visited saint edward state park, the kids celebrated valentine's day at school for the first time in 2 years. we celebrated at home with a chocolate souffle and some small gifts. the kids and i spent a week in florida with my mom and brother for their mid-winter break. we had the most gorgeous weather for playing at the beach, swimming in the pool, and going out to fun restaurants. 

march

we explored a park on mercer island, azalea had more futsal games, covid cases plummeted to the lowest number since the start of the pandemic. hallelujah! the mask mandate ended in washington. i had a 24 hour getaway on bainbridge island with 2 friends, where i experienced goat yoga for the first time. azalea turned 11 and celebrated at school/futsal, watched sing 2, had DQ cake and a family zoom. the next day i took her and 3 friends to a cat cafe in wallingford. ashford's baseball season began. we got the kids their first passports and booked a trip to prague and vienna in june to visit anders and family!

april

ashford attended fritz's 8th birthday. i started volunteering at school again after 2+ years. the kids had their spring break. over the break we fed our friends' cats while they were out of town, we went back to the trampoline park, had lots of play dates, saw 'sonic the hedgehog 2' in the theater, and had a low key easter at home with just the 4 of us. ashford tested positive for covid easter night. he had a mild case and spent a week at home. thatcher also got sick and tested positive. azalea and i felt fine and never tested positive. azalea got a spot at the k-8 school in our neighborhood for middle school, which is what we wanted. my blog turned 12! azalea started spring (off season) soccer. ashford had a lot of rained out baseball games and practices.

 may

life really picked up in may! things with covid were feeling almost as normal as the 'before times'. thatcher went to miami for 4 days for work. i helped with teacher appreciation week at school. my mom came to visit for a week. we went out to eat a bunch, went on lots of walks, played racko and yahtzee with the kids, she got to see one of each of the kids' games. thatcher and i had a date night in ballard for vietnamese and ice cream. we celebrated mother's day with my mom. thatcher cooked/baked lots of delicious food for us and i took my mom to 'cloudburst brewery.' i got to have dinner downtown at purple cafe with my friend sara who was in town from minnesota. ashford went to alex's 8th birthday party. ballard held it's first syttende mai parade since 2019. azalea went to simone's 11th birthday party. thatcher and his friends did a hike at greider lake. thatcher and i saw 'oh wonder' in concert, on memorial day we went to rasar state park for a picnic and short hike.

june

june was full of travel and excitement! we all went '6th grade night' at azalea's new middle school. i met up with mom friends for dinner at 'cactus' in south lake union. june 5th marked 7 years of living in seattle! thatcher and i celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary on june 9th (20 years together!). ashford had an end of 2nd grade celebration. we went to the first school carnival in 3 years and it poured! ashford had his last baseball game of the season, followed by a team celebration. thatcher went on a day hike near mount rainier with friends. thatcher turned 40! we took a family day trip to bellingham where we enjoyed old town cafe, camber coffee, and the electrical invention museum. the kids had their last day of school and azalea graduated from elementary school! there was a ceremony followed by a party for the families at golden gardens. it was cold and wet! we had a very low-key father's day getting ready for our big trip. the last 10 days of the month were spent in prague seeing anders, nith, and moss, as well as a 3 days spent in vienna. it felt like a dream being in europe. there were some hard parenting moments, but overall the trip was amazing and i'm so happy we were able to go.

july 

the beginning of july was spent wrapping up our time in prague. i celebrated my 38th birthday there with a coffee walk, shopping, and a traditional czech dinner with nith. it was hard to leave such a wonderful city and our family behind. we had a whirlwind 3 days back in seattle to unpack and re-pack for our trip to minneapolis! we drove through washington, oregon, idaho, wyoming, and south dakota over the next 4 days. lots of beautiful scenery, lots of whining about being in the car, good food, and fun hotel pools. we settled in for 3 weeks of catching up with family + friends in our hometown. we went to a twins game, went to the st. louis park pool (x2), cleaned out our stuff stored in my mom's basement, saw some live music, ate a lot of ice cream, went to como zoo with friends, and celebrated my nephew jack's birthday. thatcher drove our car back to seattle by himself.

august 

august 1st marked 7 years since my dad died. the kids and i flew back from minneapolis and made the transition back to seattle summer. it felt weird, but good to get back to some routine after being gone for the first 6 weeks of summer. i took the kids mini golfing, swimming at mounger pool, to golden gardens, and back-to-school shopping. the kids did 2 weeks of boys and girls club day camp (with a week off in between), which they loved. we visited flaming geyser state park for the first time. azalea got her very first phone and started her fall soccer season with a half new team. i had some get togethers with my friends who i hadn't seen for a lot of the summer. our friends ian, joanna, and kyla visited from portland for a day. 

  september

azalea had a parent/student 6th grade orientation and another student-only orientation at her new middle school. our family spent labor day weekend at camp zanika on lake wenatchee celebrating our friends chris and lindsey's marriage. we stayed in a tiny cabin, swam, did archery & a ropes course, and danced the night away. ashford got to meet his teacher and see his classroom before the first day. the day before school was supposed to start, a teachers strike was announced. we did our best to fill what was supposed to be 5 school days with arena sports magnuson, playdates, and lunch/ice cream outings. ashford went to two friends' birthday parties in one weekend. azalea had sunday soccer games. seattle got super smoky after a couple years off :( school finally started on 9/14. the kids adjusted really well to their new environments. ashford had his first friend sleepover at our house. PTA meetings started back up. we went to our friends simon & virginie's housewarming party. my mom came into town for a week and we had fun going out to eat, shopping, going to pike place market, and hanging out. our family made a big purchase ~ 2.6 acres of land up near the canadian border. it will hopefully be the site of a family cabin in the next few years. azalea got to go to camp orkila on orcas island with all the 6th graders from school for 2 nights.

october

azalea continued soccer games every sunday (and practice during the week). ashford had his first sleepover at a friend's house. we attended curriculum nights at both schools. ashford went mini golfing and to a pumpkin patch with his friend arlo. i went to the ballard wine walk with friends. we finally got our first rain of the season in the second half of the month. we saw 'lyle lyle crocodile' in the theater. i went to my friends alice and joe's rock concert themed wedding reception. 10/24 marked 10 years since the day my dad was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. we carved our pumpkins. thatcher went to miami for a conference and missed halloween. i helped plan/execute a fall festival at ashford's school. ashford went to a halloween party at fritz's. i took azalea to her first haunted house with simone and her dad. we celebrated halloween and went trick or treating with friends! it was azalea's first year trick or treating without adults.

november

azalea wrapped up her fall soccer season, and entered a city tournament with her team. we voted in the midterm elections and were pleasantly surprised with the outcome. thatcher and the kids were off for veterans day, but we spent it at home resting up from colds. i did an embroidery craft class at 'monster' with friends one evening. we hosted thatcher's friends ryan & koren for dinner. azalea and i attended a swimming birthday party for audrey + eliza. the kids had the week of thanksgiving off and my brother came to visit. we went bowling, ice skating, and watched lots of world cup games. we had a nice little thanksgiving with just the 5 of us and tons of delicious food. we also put up our christmas tree + other decorations that day. on black friday, my brother and i flew to minneapolis and i attended my 20 year high school reunion over the weekend. it was such a blast from the past and i'm so glad i was able to be a part of it.

december 

the last month of 2022 brought all the twinkle lights, christmas movies, advent calendar, music, baking, and cozyness. azalea had a couple more soccer tournament games (brrrr), they were finally eliminated after 2 losses over 5 games. we did an overnight trip to portland for the first time in year and a half. we saw our friends ian, joanna, and kyla and also thatcher's cousins. it seemed like every one we knew was sick in december. winter break began with a sleepover for azalea and her friend simone. ashford celebrated his 9th birthday with friends at 'defy'. we helped celebrate thatcher's co-worker chris's birthday with dinner at their new house. we got a couple inches of snow followed by an ice storm. azalea, ashford, and i went to the pacific science center on ashford's birthday and we had pizza, cake, and a family zoom. we celebrated christmas eve with just the 4 of us. we went to olympic manor to see the lights, watched christmas movies, opened gifts, and ate lots of delicious food. my father in law had double bypass heart surgery on 12/27 and we are so happy he is recovering well. we spent the last 4 days of 2022 at a cabin on the hood canal hot tubbing, sitting in front of the fire, reading, watching movies, and eating. 

2023, we're ready for you!