summer is summering and we have a new family member :)

whew, what a week! it feels like every week this summer is jam-packed with fun things. i don't hate it :)

 last monday was back to work at 'super summer program' for azalea. i got the house back in order after being out of town: laundry, groceries, unpacking. i caught up on work as well. after azalea got off work, we met up with anders, nith, and moss at sebastian joe's for ice cream. it's definitely been our go-to summer activity with them, and i love it! 

tuesday morning we woke up to no power from a transformer blowing (we think). the energy company thought it was going to be out until 2pm, so thatcher went and got ice for the cooler. thankfully it was back on by 7:15am. in the afternoon i picked up jack to come hang out with ashford in the afternoon. i went for a walk around bde maka ska with my friend jess. the boys went to the park with anders and moss. ashford had a game in the evening. the first round of playoffs...and their team got their first win! we were so excited for them. we had all the grandparents there as well as jack, moss, and anders. we found out they would play again wednesday night. 

wednesday morning thatcher left for a 1.5 day trip to LA for work. it came up last minute and likely will be his only work travel this summer. ashford and i hung out all day while azalea was at work. he took this picture of our little croissant. 

i still had a free birthday drink from caribou, so i cashed that in while running errands. 

 after work, azalea got picked up by anders, nith, and moss to go to grandpa durant's birthday dinner. ashford had a zoom piano lesson and then we headed out for his next playoff game (we were bummed to miss grandpa's birthday, but we got a fun picture).

 his team ended up losing, which marks the end of the season, but that's ok. i'm glad they got their one win and that brandon got to be his coach. travel ball may be in our future next year, time will tell. 

the game actually had to be called early because it started pouring, so we were able to go have french silk pie at durant and cheryl's earlier than expected. 

thursday we woke up to the news that nith had gone into labor in the night and our baby niece/cousin would be born soon! winnie got me up at 5:25 of course and we spent some time on the deck, listening to the birds. 

 i was glued to my phone all day waiting to hear. she ended up being born at 2pm. welcome to the world, sweet kaia. 

in the late afternoon i picked up jack. we had planned to go to 'le burger' for dinner with anders, nith, and moss but obviously that plan changed. grandma and moss met us there instead. after dinner, i headed off to my book club (the one i joined after moving back, not the old neighbor one). we discussed 'yesteryear' which i'm still reading, but i didn't want to miss out! it was a beautiful summer evening and sit on the patio and enjoy the company of friends i'm continuing to get to know. 

friday just after midnight, thatcher got home from LA. in the afternoon the kids and i picked up jack to head to the hospital to meet kaia. (thatcher was booked with meetings all day). it was so fun to get to hold our beautiful niece/cousin at just under 24 hours old. 

in the evening, i walked over to the lake harriet bandshell to meet up with my mom to see the 'belfast cowboys' in concert. they play at the bandshell every year and around 1,000 people show up. in fact, i saw people putting chairs and blankets out at 9:30am on my walk with winnie. we got there about 90 mins before it started and had no problem snagging a bench seat. my aunt cindy came too. the show was so much fun. you instantly forget anything you were worrying about when they start to play, and tons of people go up and dance. i also ran into tons of people i had not seen in 10-20 years. mostly old neighbors. it was such a fun night. 

saturday morning we walked winnie in the morning (it was in the 90s multiple days last week) so we tried to get out before the heat. in the afternoon, we all got to go over to anders and nith's to see baby kaia (thatcher's first time meeting her). we can't get enough of her! in the evening, thatcher and i headed out to a birthday party for my friend em at 'surly brewing'. it was my first time there, thatcher was there once before we moved to seattle. some of our fellow high school friends also came, so i had the best night hanging out with them. 

sunday was another hot day. jack came over in the morning to go for a bike ride around the lake with ashford (before it got too hot). ashford hasn't done much biking since we moved here, but we thought it would be a fun activity to do with jack. he mostly enjoyed it, but it was pretty hot even at 10am. i got to have a special lunch outing to 'book club restaurant' with my friend liz and her former exchange student from prague, jula. we spent a lot of time with jula when she lived here in 2012 and saw her on our trip our prague in 2022. it was so nice to catch up with her now and it feels crazy that she's in her 30's now. 

azalea spent the afternoon at her friend sylvia's and the rest of us stayed home and tried to stay cool. i did some cleaning and packing for my trip to halifax this week. winnie got an evening walk.

this week is another week of SSP for azalea and i leave for halifax tomorrow!! i can't believe it's finally here!