middle school tours + kaylee and beau visit

last tuesday ashford had fritz over after school and then i took him to piano, we came home for a quick dinner, then we had our first middle school info night - at azalea's middle school. she came along too for her w.e.b. leader duties. back when azalea was looking at middle schools, it was during covid and there was no in person info night, so this was technically our first one. there were lots of families there that we know, and it was fun to see the middle school through new eyes.  

wednesday evening ashford had basketball practice. 

thursday i picked up azalea from school to go to an orthodontist appointment. they put some spacers in and added rubber bands to her invisalign. she's a trooper! we ate a quick dinner, then it was off to our second middle school info night of the week. this time at the big middle school that we are zoned for. we had never been inside before. it was fun to see the school. it's certainly bigger and more overwhelming than where she goes. ashford has a tough decision ahead as his friends are fairly split on where they want to go. 

friday i spent a lot of the day getting ready for our guests to come in town over the weekend. we had no plans in the evening, which was nice after a busy week. azalea went to sisi's after school. we made dinner and thatcher and i watched a movie while the kids played video games. 

saturday morning ashford had a basketball game. azalea and i were only able to stay for half of it, because we needed to drive down to the airport to pick up our friends. kaylee was my college roommate for three years and we've stayed friends ever since though we only see each other every few years because she lives in missouri. her son beau is 9, so i was excited to meet him for the first time (!) and for him to hang out with my kids. they all got along great. the weather turned cold the day they got here and lasted the whole visit, which wasn't ideal. we also had some flurries, but nothing stuck.

we came back to our house from the airport, made lunch, and then headed out to show them some fun seattle spots (it was their first time here). we went to gasworks park, which was cold and windy. 

then we passed 'meowtropolitan' cat cafe and the kids begged to go in, so we did for an hour. it was fun. 

we stopped at the fremont troll on the way home, which is always a hit.

we hung out at home for the rest of the afternoon and had carnitas tacos for dinner. thatcher was getting ready to fly to atlanta the next day for work. the rest of us walked down to 'hot cakes' for dessert. kaylee saw a picture i posted months ago and it immediately became a 'must do' thing for her. :) the desserts are unreal. 

a great way to end the night. 

sunday morning thatcher left bright and early for the airport and the rest of us hung out at home. ashford went to his baseball skills assessment, which his friend raleigh's dad took him to. did i mention it was outside in 36-degree weather? brrr. after he got home, we headed downtown to go to pike place market and the waterfront. it was still chilly, but the sun was out. we got some mac n cheese from 'beechers' and kaylee and i got coffees from 'ghost alley espresso'. we showed them the gum wall (ew). 

then we headed down to the waterfront to do the ferris wheel. we hadn't done it since azalea's 6th birthday, so it was really fun (and heated!). 

on our drive back, we stopped at kerry park to check out the view. we relaxed at home for a while and then walked down to 'lockspot cafe' for dinner. we ended the night with a movie back home. 

monday morning my kids headed off to school. kaylee, beau, and i hung out at home for part of the morning and then headed down to see the locks. 

then we got brunch/lunch at 'portage bay cafe'. in the afternoon i dropped them off at seattle center to do the space needle and chihuly museum and i went home to do some work and to be around when the kids got out of school. they came back on the bus and we had dinner at our house and watched another movie. 

tuesday morning they left in an uber around the time my kids get up for school. it was a short and sweet visit and i'm so glad we made it happen. now i'm turning my focus to our florida trip, which is coming up in 13 days. weeee!