downtown holiday lights, ice skating, gingerbread cookies

we had a quiet work/school week, followed by a busy weekend. i'm *almost* finished with birthday/christmas shopping, but not quite. every year i vow to finish it early, but it never happens.

ashford asked me to take a selfie with him and "big pixie" the other day (we also have "little pixie"). how could i say no to that? these stuffed animals are practically part of our family at this point and i know when the kids are grown i will still remember all these stuffies and their names. :)  

  

on wednesday night i realized i had not yet busted out my christmas onesie this season (so much time wasted! ha). i fixed that right away and plan to wear it a lot over the next couple weeks. 

we went into the weekend without much planned, but a few fun things got added. friday night we got takeout from a pizza place up the hill and watched harry potter 7, part 2. 

saturday we hung out at home in the morning then azalea and i went to a holiday craft fair at the sunset hill community center. her teacher is also a photographer and was selling her art there.

  

i had seen online that there were holiday lights downtown, so i wanted to check them out when it got dark. we drove to northgate to take the new light rail into downtown (it was the kids' and my first time).

we first stopped at pike place market - we hadn't been there in years - and got a giant cookie and hot cranberry-apple cider. it was cold and windy by the waterfront, so we didn't last long. 

  

then we headed over to westlake park to see the lights. it was very busy there with live music and bonfires with marshmallows for roasting. everything was so pretty! 

 

 

we had dinner when we got home and watched "christmas vacation" 

sunday we made a big breakfast per usual and hung out at home in the morning. in the afternoon, ashford had a playdate with his friend arlo. i ran some errands and then azalea and i headed to northgate to go skating at the kraken practice facility with her friend simone and her mom louise. azalea went a few weeks ago for a birthday party and she was so excited to go back. the new rink is very popular and you have to reserve a session ahead of time (which we did). when we arrived there were signs that all skating sessions that day were sold out. it's a little pricey, but it was fun. 

 

 

when we got home, we decorated gingerbread cookies that we had baked earlier in the day. i loooove gingerbread cutouts. they turned out really well. 

now we are onto the last week of school before the holiday break. weee!