our 19th wedding anniversary, last day of school, two birthdays!

 i remember from when we lived here before that mid june was always nuts: our anniversary, multiple birthdays, father's day. it got a little less crazy in seattle since we didn't have family around, but now it's back again. and i am happy (and tired) :) 

last monday was very mondayish. we went into a new week of winnie's recovery. she had been doing fine with the bodysuit they gave us to cover her incision, but i came home from getting a pedicure with my friend anna m and discovered that she had chewed through the bottom of the onesie and it would no longer snap. siiigh. so i took her to the vet to get fitted for a cone. the cone is much harder. she does not like it and bumps into everything. poor girl. they said she would have to wear it for a week. 

in the evening we had an extended family gathering at my aunt cindy and uncle corey's to celebrate brandon's 40th birthday (a few days early). they did a taco bar and apple crisp. it was nice to spend time with everyone. but there was also some sadness as their 8-year-old king charles cavalier, oakley is dying of kidney disease so we all had to say our goodbyes to him. :( he only made it til the weekend, so i'm glad we got to see him one more time.

tuesday was thatcher's and my 19th (!!) wedding anniversary. i can't believe we are thisclose to 20 years. wow. we pretty much had a typical tuesday :) in the morning i went to brunch with our realtor sandy who helped us buy our house. it was nice to catch up with her. it was my first time going to 'gigi's cafe' despite it being around forever. the rest of the day was work and errands. ashford had baseball practice in the evening. it was another hot day! 

wednesday was the last day of school! i cannot believe how quickly the kids' first school year back in minneapolis went. i was nervous for them to start brand new schools where they knew no one, but they both rose to the challenge, and we are so proud of them. i love doing a comparison picture from first day to last day. they both grew a lot and azalea's fashion continues to evolve :) 

 ashford got to go to a pool with all of the 6th graders and azalea had a day of nothingness in all of her classes. ha! azalea went to her friend aly's for a while after school. our neighbors were throwing a huge last day of school party that evening. they blocked off the street and got a bouncy house. we didn't know most of the people, so we just made a brief appearance. also thatcher and i had tickets to see one of our favorite musicians, josiah and the bonnevilles. we saw him once before in concert in portland a couple of years ago and it was one of the best shows i've ever been to. he released a new album last month that we both instantly loved, so we were excited to see him again. the show was at first ave downtown. it was a standing concert and there were two openers, but any backpain we felt dissolved when josiah took the stage. his voice is so mesmerizing, and his personality is so full of gratitude and joy. once again my cheeks hurt from smiling all night. i'm so glad we got the opportunity to see him again, with a full band this time. 

thursday was the first official day of summer break. we kicked things off with an orthodontist appointment for ashford :) it was time for him to start phase 2 of invisalign. he did phase 1 back in 3rd (?) grade. he was not thrilled to do it again, but he needs an overbite corrected. he was complaining that it hurt after we got home, but i know he'll do fine once his mouth gets used to it. in the afternoon, the kids and i walked over to anders, nith, and moss's condo in our neighborhood. i had seen it before they came into town, but it was the kids' first time. we had fun hanging out with them for a while. in the evening, ashford had a game. it had rained off and on all day and it was the coolest day we had had in weeks. ashford's team lost again and it was a bummer. anders and moss stopped by for some of the game. 

friday was thatcher's 44th birthday! we get woken up early by winnie anyway, so we decided to make the most of the morning and drove out to victoria to get coffee and then went to the landscape arboretum to walk around and enjoy the scenery. it was a beautiful sunny morning and we had a great time chatting while walking the 3-mile loop. 

the kids slept in and took care of winnie. she was very over the cone by this point. i wish you could explain to a dog how much longer they have to wear it. 

we spent the afternoon cleaning and prepping for thatcher's family to come for dinner that night. azalea went to the beach with her friend aly. we had durant, cheryl, anders, nith, and moss here for dinner. we grilled chicken with some sides and thatcher made a funfetti cake. it was a fun night. 

saturday morning ashford had a game in northeast. it was a beautiful crisp morning. my mom came too. unfortunately his team lost again. it's been a rough season :( we ran some errands in the afternoon and then my mom and brother met us at our house for another birthday dinner for brandon. we all went to 'animales bbq'. bbq is my brother's favorite and only my mom had been there before so we were all excited to try it. it was a really fun space and they have live music there, but it wasn't starting until after we were done. the food was great. 

then we went back to our house for dessert and gifts. 

i hope he felt how much we love him. he's the best son, brother, and uncle. 

sunday (are you tired yet?!) was the first day with no plans in a long while. i was ready for it. somehow i felt like i didn't hardly sit down all day. we were working on little projects around the house and i had laundry, grocery shopping, making meals, taking winnie on a short walk, etc. i did get a little reading time in, but not as much as i would have liked. thatcher put up the slack line that was azalea's christmas gift. it still needs some of the attachments added, but the kids enjoyed it. 

 thatcher and i went for a walk in the evening, which was nice. 

this week is looking a lot less crazy. azalea has one more week until she starts her summer job.