a fond farewell to 2023
as 2023 comes to a close, i'm reflecting on the fun, fairly typical kind of year we had. some years really stick out in your mind as time goes on due to things like births or deaths of loved ones, moving houses, school changes, or a big trip, but 2023 was just perfectly chill. we traveled to minnesota and florida, we got to see thatcher's sister and her family between their foreign service posts, the kids started 7th and 4th grade, we made some upgrades to our sumas property, thatcher walked every block in nw seattle (yes really!), we hosted friends and family who were in town. i've done these recaps every year i've been blogging (since 2010) and i love going back and reading them. so, here's our recap of 2023:
january
we got back into the school/work routine after the start of the new year. i attended my friend meredith's 40th birthday weekend on whidbey island. we had some nice sunny, warm days - a little taste of spring. i celebrated my friend kay's birthday at olaf's. azalea started her winter enrichment program for school (a 6-week cooking class). ashford went to a skate park for his friend ewan's 9th birthday. ashford got an expander and invisalign at the orthodontist. azalea missed almost a week of school from being sick. i got to reunite with my friend teresa who moved back to seattle from the philippines. ashford practiced his recorder a lot ;) i organized and purged stuff from our house all month.
february
i took the kids and their friends swimming at ballard pool a couple times. ashford had a baseball pre-season assessment and got assigned to the same coach/team as last year. thatcher went to the bay area for 3 nights for a conference planning meeting. i had a night out with friends for a school fundraiser. we watched the super bowl. we celebrated valentine's day with a chocolate souffle and some small gifts. ashford exchanged valentines with classmates and they decorated cookies in class. azalea and i got pedicures for our trip. the kids and i spent their mid-winter break in florida with my mom and brother. we had beautiful weather for swimming in the pool, going to the beach, and going out to eat. azalea suffered from really bad seasonal allergies down there and ashford came home with swimmers' ear, but we made a lot of great memories.
march
i volunteered at the scholastic book fair at ashford's school. we went to the ballard commons park reopening event. we had our first 60-degree day(s) of the year. thatcher planted some trees at our sumas property. ashford's baseball season started (first year of kid pitch). i took ashford and a couple buddies mini golfing in interbay. azalea turned 12 and celebrated with 4 friends at the cat cafe for the second year in a row. thatcher also took her to 'portal' to try virtual reality gaming on her actual birthday. i had dinner downtown at 'chan seattle' with mom friends at the end of the month.
april
beloved cherry blossom time! ashford went to fritz's 9th birthday party at 'portal'. azalea started spring soccer (off-season) with her team. azalea also had her very first school dance, which was at the end of the school day and was a big hit. the kids had their spring break: we saw the 'mario' movie in the theater, celebrated easter (a low-key day with just the four of us. we went to carkeek park for the first time in a long time.) grandma cheryl and grandpa durant came into town. while they were here, we went for lots of walks around ballard, to pike place market, saw one of ashford's baseball practices and azalea's soccer games. thatcher and i took a day trip to bellingham and our property in sumas. my blog turned 13! ashford had his first baseball game(s) of the season. ashford went to his friend starryn's 9th birthday at 'elevated sportz.' we had a lovely stretch of summer-like weather. ashford had a lemonade stand with his friend arlo.
may
we attended lots more baseball and soccer games for the kids. ashford's school held their annual moveathon...in the rain. i went to a reopening happy hour for 'the inc' coworking space. seattle had a spring heatwave, very little rain, and the kids both had bad seasonal allergies. i helped stock the teacher's lounge for teacher appreciation week at ashford's school. azalea participated in a middle school 'battle of the books' competition and her team won. we celebrated mother's day with a bike ride to golden gardens and soft serve from little coney. thatcher went to phoenix for three nights for a conference planning meeting. we went to the syttende mai parade in our neighborhood. my mom came in town for 10 days. she and i saw james taylor in concert at chateau st. michelle winery, visited kubota garden, went out to eat, hung out with my friends, saw 'the little mermaid' in the theater, and she visited our property for the first time. azalea went to a slumber party for sisi's 12th birthday. thatcher and i had a 2-night getaway to whidbey island over memorial day weekend.
july
we kicked off the month with my 39th birthday: i went out for lunch with the kids, we all did the seattle underground tour together, and thatcher made a chocolate pie. we had a low-key 4th of july. we went to mounger pool with friends, grilled dinner, and watched some illegal fireworks near our house ;) we spent our days at golden gardens, DEFY, mounger pool, the seattle center fountain, the funko store, and hung out with friends. thatcher went to a concert at the tractor tavern and i had a night out in greenwood with friends. the kids both did one week of boys and girls club day camp. we went to a mariner's game. ashford continued karate twice a week. thatcher made many trips up to our property. we all went up one day and also went biking near bellingham. we went to minneapolis for 3 weeks for the kids and me (11 days for thatcher). we got to see thatcher's sister and her family who were in between foreign service posts. we got to meet our new nephew telemachus and celebrate our nephew jack's 16th birthday. we also saw my brother's new townhouse and caught up with friends.
august
our minnesota visit continued into august. august 1st marked 8 years since my dad's death. i'm thankful i could be with my mom and brother on that day. we all went to my aunt and uncle's cabin near park rapids. we went to 'can can wonderland', saw the barbie movie, went swimming at the st. louis park pool, to the uptown art fair, lake harriet, and caught up with more friends. then it was back to seattle for a few weeks before school started. we went to the mohai museum and hung out with friends. the kids did a week of day camp at the boys and girls club. we did some back-to-school shopping. the kids and i all got summer colds which took up our last week of summer. azalea started fall soccer with a bigger team and field for U13. thatcher spent time at our sumas property doing prep/yard work.
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