grandma cheryl and grandpa durant's visit + memorial day weekend

 last monday evening ashford had baseball practice. 

tuesday i spent the morning cleaning and running errands in preparation for thatcher's parents coming in town. they arrived in the afternoon, about the time the kids were getting home from school. we visited for a while and then i took ashford to his piano lesson. it was another night of baseball after piano, so he came home to change, then we all headed to the field to watch the game. i was hopeful it would stay dry, but it steadily rained for the entire game. thankfully one of the parents set up a big tent for us to stand under. they ended up losing 2-12, so that didn't help either :) oh well. ashford caught two hits in a row while playing at second base, which was really fun! 

it was 8pm when the game ended and we were all starving, so we went to mod pizza for dinner on the way home. 

wednesday morning thatcher went off to work and the kids to school and durant and cheryl and i hung out at home. in the afternoon, they headed to the locks in search of harbor seals (they got to see them!) and i ran some errands and did my work. we made spaghetti for dinner and went for a walk in the evening. 

thursday morning i went to the gym and the grocery store. then i took cheryl to goodwill. she was a happy camper :) it was a beautiful day, so we spent some time on the deck. we made pulled pork sandwiches for dinner and took a walk in the evening again. we passed a favorite spot of ours overlooking the water. there are two chairs set out with a sign that says, "take a seat and enjoy the view". 

so we did :) 

we also admired all of the huge rhododendron bushes that are blooming right now. 

friday thatcher took the day off work, and the kids had school. i decided to stay home and get some stuff done while thatcher took his parents to 'kubota garden' in south seattle. it's a great time of year to go and they loved it.

 after school, ashford went to his friend starryn's with a bunch of buddies. i headed over to kay's for a mom happy hour. such a delicious spread she made! 

azalea went to the middle school play with sisi. i came back and hung out with thatcher and his parents and then thatcher picked up ashford from starryn's after what turned into an epic hang out including dinner out with his friends.

saturday morning we hung out at home and then after lunch, thatcher and i headed out for an overnight in redmond. just far enough away to have a little change of scenery. our first stop was a nature preserve where we did a 4-mile hike. it was really pretty. then we checked into the hotel and relaxed for a little bit before getting some pre-dinner ice cream at 'molly moons.' yum! we went to a mexican restaurant for dinner and then did even more walking :) i haven't spent much time in redmond, so it was nice and there is lots of new stuff being built. 

meanwhile back home, grandma and ashford built duplo towers and they all went out to 'little woody's' for dinner. 

sunday morning thatcher and i got up and got ready and headed out to find breakfast. we went to a cafe called 'farine' and i had one of the best breakfast sandwiches of my life. 

then...you guessed it...we walked some more. it was a beautiful weekend to be outside. memorial weekend is not always that way here.

we got back to seattle at lunch time and hung out at home for the rest of the day. 

monday was memorial day and grandma and grandpa's last full day in town. thatcher and i both had the day off work and the kids were off school. we made waffles, eggs, and bacon for everyone. azalea, cheryl, and i went to big 5 and ross. in the afternoon, the adults went for a walk to the locks. it was so busy there! both people and boats coming through. we made tacos for dinner and thatcher made a funfetti cake. 

then we headed to 'kerry park' to enjoy the view and take some pictures. 

now i'm off to drop cheryl and durant at the airport. we always miss them when they go, but we'll be in minneapolis in just over 6 weeks.