two graduations, the rest of grandma's visit, hello summer break

what. a. week. i felt alllll the emotions from both kids graduating from their schools. it was a fun-filled week, but also exhausting, and sad at times to be ending these chapters. i'm so glad my mom was able to be here for it. 

 last monday my mom and i ran some errands in the morning while the kids were at school. ashford hung out with some of his buddies in the afternoon. in the evening was azalea's 8th grade graduation ceremony at a local high school auditorium. i can't believe how quickly her 3 years of middle school went by. she got to have such a unique experience (lots of outside the classroom learning, camps, etc) and she made some great new friends. the ceremony was really sweet. it lasted a little over an hour and had lots of student speakers, handing out of the diplomas, and a photo slide show set to music. 

then they had cupcakes in the cafeteria and people went outside to take pictures. 

here is a photo from her first day of middle school in 2022. 

i also remembered i had this picture from my 8th grade graduation in 1998 :)

tuesday was a really busy day. my mom and i met kay and vanessa for an early lunch at 'maggie bluffs' on the water. it's one of my favorite spots because it always makes you feel like you are on vacation.

 we had a great time chatting over fish tacos. vanessa is moving back to canada in a matter of days and my heart can barely handle it. i'm sure it won't sink in for a while. after lunch, my mom and i stopped to visit our friends joe and alice at their new townhouse in our neighborhood. it was really fun to see it and nice to catch up with them. my mom is a popular lady when she comes. :) next up (are you tired yet?) we picked up ashford from school and then headed into the school to help with the graduation setup. the 5th grade parents did all of the planning and some of the setup, but the goal is for parents of younger kids to do all the tasks the day of, so the 5th grade parents can be in the moment and enjoy it.  we could only stay for a little over an hour because i had to take ashford to piano....whew! we relaxed at home the rest of the night. 

wednesday morning was ashford's 5th grade graduation ceremony - bright and early at 8:30! i took this picture as the kids headed out the door. azalea went to her school for her last day. 

and here is ashford on his first day of kindergarten in 2019. he's come such a long way. 

everything came together so nicely. i knew this ceremony was gonna be more emotional for me as we've been at the school for 9 years and we have loved it so much. i made it through the whole ceremony without crying until the 56 graduates sang 'let it be' with some of them playing hand drums and piano. it was the sweetest performance. even my mom was crying. :)

 they had a little reception on the front lawn with coffee and donuts and a photo backdrop.

 then parents signed their kids out of school for the rest of the day and headed to golden gardens for a picnic. it was cool and windy when we got there, but the sun eventually came out. we stayed for a couple hours. lots of food and fun.

 i was exhausted by the time we got home in the afternoon, but ashford was still going strong. he hung out with his friends until 7pm. azalea hung out with sisi after school and went out with their family for dinner and slept over at their house. thatcher had a late meeting, so my mom and i ate by ourselves. ha! 

thursday was the first official day of summer break. and thatcher had the day off work for juneteenth. ashford had a birthday party for fritz and raleigh a lot of the day. my mom and i went to pike place market because my mom hadn't yet seen the new waterfront park. it was a beautiful day. we hung out at home for the afternoon. in the evening, we all went out for dinner at 'isarn thai soul kitchen' in queen anne. azalea, thatcher, and i had been there once before and we loved it. we brought along some little graduation gifts for the kids to open. 

friday morning my mom and i were out the door bright and early to take her to the airport. it was summer solstice, but the weather said otherwise. we'll miss her, but we'll see her again in 3 weeks in minneapolis. i spent most of the day getting my house back in order. ashford went to his friend trent's for the afternoon. we really had no plans going into the weekend.

saturday morning i went to the gym. i hadn't gone all week. oops. i ran some errands in the late morning, then i dropped off azalea at her friend clementine's house. ashford met up with some of his buddies the park. thatcher and i got stuff done around the house and i read my book. it was a cool/gloomy day. i picked up azalea in the evening and dropped off ashford at his friend starryn's house for a couple hours of trampoline and out to dinner for pizza. lots of chauffeuring :) 

sunday was also fairly quiet. ashford went to starryn's again (which turned into an all-day affair of going swimming at the lynnwood pool and out for dinner with more friends and one of their moms). azalea and i went to target and dick's in northgate, but otherwise we just hung out at home. the weather was a little nicer so i was able to sit on the deck and read. 

this week azalea is starting her 'counselor in training' volunteer gig at boys and girls club. no camps for ashford this week. we are really in summer-mode now.