back to our pnw life

 our first couple days back are always an adjustment. getting unpacked, getting the house in order, getting back to grocery shopping and planning meals again. we miss minnesota, but i have to say getting to sleep in my own bed after a month was so nice! 

last wednesday we mostly hung out at home, but the kids saw their friends for a while in the afternoon. thatcher had a professional dinner in the evening, so the kids and i were on our own. we made an easy dinner and watched the olympics. speaking of...i found this box of wheaties in a bin of childhood stuff i brought back from minneapolis. i don't know whether to be amazed or horrified that i still have it, but it's kinda cool. it's from 1996. wow! 

thursday august 1st marked 9 years since my dad died. i used to write entire posts about it, but after this many years what is left to say that i haven't already? i miss him so much and i feel like he has missed so much that has happened in the past 9 years. i'm comforted whenever friends or family reach out and tell me they miss him too or tell me a story or a memory they have of him. i hope it never stops. 

we had no plans thursday, so i escaped to the gym in the morning. then i suggested we take a trip to northgate to look for a birthday gift for azalea's friend penny and a couple things the kids needed. then we got lunch at chipotle. yum. in the evening, ashford and i tried to go watch his buddies play baseball for their summer league, but we missed that the game got cancelled so we headed home to watch the olympics instead. 

friday was another no plans day for most of the day. thatcher took the day off to do a hike with his friend sloane who was in town. the kids and i hung around the house. azalea did a cleaning project in her room that was way overdue. in the late afternoon, ashford and i went over to kay's house. she also invited our friend lynsey and her son raleigh. kay made aperol spritzs and a bunch of appetizers and it was so nice to hang out and catch up with both of them. 

saturday morning i went to the gym. in the afternoon, azalea went to an event at a community garden in our neighborhood with sisi. they took the bus by themselves for the first time, and it went great. ashford got a spur of the moment invite to his friend elijah's, along with their friend trent. a couple hours later, elijah's mom asked if he wanted to stay for dinner and sleep over. lucky boy! thatcher, azalea, and i hung out at home for the evening. thatcher and i even watched our own movie, which is a rarity these days. 

sunday morning thatcher made biscuits, eggs, and bacon. i missed our sunday breakfasts this summer. i picked up ashford from his sleepover. he was tired but he had a blast. in the afternoon azalea had her friend penny's birthday party. it was at a pool in bothell. she had such a fun time and i was so thankful they planned to party for august even though penny's birthday was a couple weeks ago. 

this morning we were up early for the kids to go to boys and girls club day camp! i've been looking forward to this all summer since we've all been together for weeks on end and while i love my kids and the fact that we get to spend so much time together, we were all ready for a little break.