Category: my weekend in pictures

{As you may have seen on my Instagram Stories, we headed to the Museum of Flight on Friday with the girls. It was SO fun! We are definitely headed back soon and will probably get a family membership. It was that good, guys.}

{And Eloise kept asking if all of these statues were real people! She was really in awe of this astronaut. Maybe she’ll be an astronaut?!}

{Aaron took Eloise to ballet on Saturday morning since the studio isn’t super Daphne-friendly. So when she got home, I asked her what she did. And then she posed.}

{I really wanted to join in on the Women’s March this weekend, but got cold feet and chickened out. And I was lamenting about it all Saturday long. But THANK YOU to those of you who did march! In the current state of things, it is easy to stay silent and just go with the flow of things, even though it is really messed up, but we need everyone to speak up and shout out about what is going on! Thanks for being brave!}

{We had friends over for dinner on Saturday and Eloise convinced Aaron and Dave to play a game of Chutes and Ladders before bedtime. And she won!}

{Daphne did NOT want to take a nap by herself this morning and the only way she would sleep is if I held her. So I did. It was really uncharacteristic of her (she NEVER does this!) but I figured she is almost 1 and I probably won’t get that many more chances to hold her while she naps, so I just went with it and enjoyed the quietness of that sweet sleeping baby.}

{And the girls were playing together this afternoon which was the most adorable thing. I think they were playing store because Eloise was handing things to Daphne thru the windows and doors and then charging her for them!}

{Sunday night is Instant Pot night at the Lower house. If you have any good recipes, send them my way!}

{Semi-obsessed with this LOVE sweatshirt I picked up from Hanna Andersson (and also sweatshirts generally). I originally wanted to get one for me and both girls, but that ended up being sort of expensive… so I just got one for Mama! For reference I picked up the girls sweatshirt since I didn’t like the woman’s one as much.}

This was our final weekend of Aaron’s paternity leave, so it felt a little weird to me. Like this entire week is going to be really different as we find our new normal again. But I am going to survive, right?

How was your weekend?

M

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{Sisters. Watching them play together is the best.}

{Eloise and I bundled up and headed to the Zoo for a play date!}

{E and her friend Bea. These girls have known each other since they were 6 weeks old!}

{Eloise at ballet on Saturday morning.}

{I took a quiet (and quick) moment for an amazing cup of coffee in the middle of a very busy Saturday morning.}

{Last minute sign for a friend’s baby shower (which will now hang in the baby’s nursery) which I am loving.}

{We showered a mama-to-be (for the second time!) on Saturday morning with a fun brunch. These ladies have been with me basically since Eloise was born and I cannot imagine a better group of women. #mytribe}

{Saturday afternoon was so gorgeous and sunny that we just couldn’t stay inside after Daphne woke up from her afternoon nap. So a family walk around the neighborhood was a must! Eloise has been doing so well on her balance bike and Daphne was obsessed with the stroller!}

{Aaron power-washed the front and back decks and now they look amazing!}

{After Pure Barre I got home and Eloise asked me to take a picture of her in Papa’s hat. She was so proud!}

We had a really busy Saturday – ballet, mama brunch, and PEPS – but it turned out to be really fun! The girls got some good time with friends and Aaron, and I also got to be out with some girlfriends and catch up (which we rarely get to do since we have 10.5 kids between us! And the weather ended up being super nice and sunny on Sunday which was great. We didn’t have huge plans, but enjoyed the weekend and the time together.

We are headed into this week a bit slowly with the holiday tomorrow, but it’s a bit bittersweet since this is Aaron’s last week of paternity leave. I think we are all ready to be back to normal, but gosh we will miss having Papa around all day!

How was your weekend? (I am realizing now that it is a long weekend, but since every day feels like a weekend right now since Aaron is home, I am just going to pretend this was a regular two-day weekend!)

M

{Little Daph always wants to know what everyone else is up to so she doesn’t miss anything exciting!}

{We brunched at our old favorite Portage Bay Cafe for New Year’s Eve with an old and dear friend.}

{It has been cold, cold, cold here. Bundled up babies are the best!}

{Making popcorn with Papa!}

{Family movie night selfie. Our New Year’s Eve plans changed sort of at the last minute so we decided to start a movie night! It was Eloise’s first movie and she was BEYOND excited to stay up past bedtime and watch Moana. And amazingly, she watched the entire thing. She had a lot of questions, but the longest thing she had ever sat thru before this was an episode of Sesame Street so we weren’t sure how she would do. And before the movie started, I reminded her that we had met Moana at her friend Lily’s birthday party – it was one of those dressed up princess characters – but she had NO idea at the time who it was. And then Eloise asked me if we could have a play date with Moana. It was so sweet!}

{Got in my first workout of week 4 #BBG this afternoon. Originally I was planning on waking up at 6 am to do my workout (which is the normal routine for me) but this morning the alarm went off and it was not going to happen. But I am proud that I did it since it is so easy for me to talk myself out of a workout as the day progresses.}

{We headed over to the Andersons after naptime and the kids got to play together!}

{Just 6 weeks apart and right now they are grabbing toys from each other and poking each other in the eyeballs, but some day soon they will play and it will be so cute!}

{And we had to get in a game of Catan since it has been FOREVER since we have played. But playing with kids up is no joke. Definitely didn’t get into my groove when Daphne was constantly swatting at the game board… next time!}

Obviously we had a super mellow New Year’s weekend which was sort of perfect. As with Christmastime, the end of the year tends to get busy and chaotic, so it was really nice to just be at home with the girls and stay in, for the most part. We celebrated the New Year without much pomp and circumstance, but it still feels nice to have a fresh new 365 days ahead of us! And Daphne turned TEN MONTHS today which feels big.

How was your New Year’s weekend?

M

{Christmas crafts, always.}

{Eloise set up for “work” with her computer, monitor, and mouse. And Daphne wanted to join in on the fun!}

{First time using the HUGE cart at Target (Eloise insisted). Plus, matching snowman hats from Aunt Kelly.}

{Our Christmas tree. It will never be glamorous or magazine-worthy, but it means so much to me. Every single ornament on that tree has a wonderful memory!}

{Eloise at ballet class. So sweet!}

{We are making our way thru the advent calendar! Not always one per day, but it has sort of become of funny game to see how far we are behind!}

We had a pretty mellow weekend which was a nice way to spend the last weekend before CHRISTMAS! How is it already a week until Christmas?? Gearing up for a super busy week!

How was your weekend?

M

{We headed downtown to Nordstrom Flagship to see Santa on Friday morning, but had to sign-up for the waiting list just 10 minutes after opening… so we headed to Pacific Place (mall) to get our wiggles out and stay warm!}

{We were waiting for Santa during Daphne’s nap and, of course, she fell asleep in my arms and as soon as I laid her down in her car seat, she woke up! But Eloise was so sweet to her.}

{SANTA! We go with the same friends every year together which is super special. I shared some pictures I got of the girls on my Instagram and Facebook, but will be sure to share the official picture once we get it!}

{Oh these girls!}

{Eloise had her first (real) ballet class on Saturday morning! We had taken a dance class before, but it was a Mama and Me type of class. I did have to participate a lot more than I thought though since Eloise was in stage 5 cling mode for most of the class… but look how adorable this little ballerina is!}

{And stamps after class. The best part, of course!}

{We walked down to Greenlake on Saturday evening to see the Pathway of Lights at the lake and have dinner with friends! It was pretty chilly, so we all bundled up.}

{We were able to get down early to Greenlake and catch the hot air balloons. So fun! And then after dinner we walked part of the lake in search of Christmas music (which we didn’t find) but the entire pathway around the lake was illuminated with candles and it was so pretty!}

{And then we came back to the house, put the girls to bed, and played some Fibbage.}

{This morning after breakfast we headed out to the “tree farm” in our neighborhood to find our Christmas tree! And Daphne was feeling very festive in her Santa hat (thanks Aunt Kelly!) and her green jacket.}

{On the hunt. And Eloise has decided that she really loves my Kate Spade winter hat… so good thing I have another winter hat. #expensivetaste #getsitfromhermama}

{All smiles this morning!}

{A Christmas tree on the top of the car is a Christmas MUST!}

{And decorating the tree with a three-year-old. I managed to convince her to move a few of them around…}

{We headed to Optimism Brewing Co in Capitol Hill for a benefit fundraiser concert and dinner. Daphne loved crawling up and down the tables.}

{I was going to take a selfie with the girls, but Aaron insisted on taking one instead. And this is the best we got… my girls and their Santa hats. I am OBSESSED!}

{Caspar Babypants in concert. He makes kids’ music (mostly) tolerable since that is what we listen to most of the time these days (that or Raffi). Eloise and I saw him last year and he was equally entertaining. And he managed to get all of the kids to lie down! Eloise had such a fun time at the show (there are videos of her dancing over on my Instagram Stories)!}

We had a really fun and festive weekend! It’s definitely feeling a lot more like Christmas around here and I finally feel like I am catching up (last week I felt SO behind on everything). We are gearing up for Eloise’s last week of school before winter break and Aaron’s first week of (the second half of) his paternity leave!

How was your weekend?

M

{Love having a playground at U Village to help get our wiggles out between running errands. Eloise loves these butterflies!}

{The first time that Daphne has been on the shelf under our side table. Eloise spent so much time under there as a baby, but never tried to sit up like Daphne!}

{Sisters, guys. This is the outtake from Daphne’s nine month post on Friday!}

{I pretty frantically decorated for Christmas (minus the tree) at the end of this week but am loving the edition of this Merry Christmas card from the Shop. It is so cute framed! Cards are $5 and ship for free. Plus, there is still time to order before Christmas!}

{Hot chocolate bar set-up for our Jingle & Mingle Party we hosted on Saturday morning. This is one of the only pictures I got. Fail. But, it was fun and that’s what counts, right?}

{Such cute cups from Target. The Dollar Spot guys!}

{We got our Spirit Post package this weekend which is an alternative to Elf on the Shelf and focuses on acts of kindness. Eloise is obsessed already and got a letter from Santa this morning, courtesy of our owl, Macondrome (named by Eloise).}

{After hosting a party at the house in the morning, we were a little stir-crazy by dinnertime, so we headed out to a new Thai restaurant down the street. It was SO delicious! And Daphne was the best little dinner date.}

{We headed to a friend’s birthday party this morning and got to see the Sadliers again (third time this weekend)!}

{Daphne and Aaron hanging out in the smaller kids’ area while the other party kids were running around the big play space.}

{Meal planning for the week and ordering groceries online for pick-up tomorrow morning! The only way we make it thru the week.}

{I finally made it to my Sunday afternoon Pure Barre class and was so glad I did. It was a killer workout – already sore! – and I got to see this little cutie before class. (This is Ophelia who is the owner’s 3 month old daughter.)}

We had a fun and festive weekend and it is really starting to feel like the Christmas season! We had lots of social events booked for the weekend (family dinner, hot chocolate party, birthday party) and it was great to catch up and see so many friends. While I am not thrilled about being back in the rainy season (I know, I live in Seattle and should be used to it by now!) but I am excited that it is Christmas. My favorite time of year. And it will be especially magical with the girls.

How was your weekend?

M

{Finally found some time to start packing for our Boise trip and SO excited to use our Walker Family Goods duffel. My friend Lex that I grew up with started this company with her husband and it had a really successful kickstarter. I love this bag already and am already eyeing a pink one! It is perfect for packing both girls.}

{A big purple dinosaur joined Daphne and me on our post-lunch walk.}

{We had our monthly family dinner with the Sadliers’ and had the best time, as usual. It’s so fun that the kids all play together (for the most part).}

{A sunny and dry Saturday means yard work for Papa and Eloise. There were so many leaves and tree debris down in the yard from the crazy windstorms we had earlier in the week.}

{Just got this book and I am super excited to get into it. Getting a jump-start on New Year’s resolutions I guess!}

{Bedtime with the girls.}

{We woke up super early (okay, early for us, it was 5 am) to get on the road for Boise. Driving thru Snoqualmie Pass and realizing just how gorgeous our state is.}

{We stopped in Pendleton, Oregon for lunch and got some wiggles out at a local playground.}

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{And Daphne LOVES the swing! She has only been in one one other time but didn’t laugh and giggle like this. Eloise has never really liked swings so I haven’t tried it with Daph too much. Apparently I should change that!}

{The girls playing together. Okay, truth: Eloise setting up the dollhouse and Daphne wants to join in on whatever she is doing!}

We spent all day Saturday cleaning up the house and packing up, and then all day Sunday driving to Boise to spend Thanksgiving week! I am completely in denial that it is already the end of November (what?!) but excited to celebrate Turkey Day with my family and then head home to DECK THE HALLS for CHRISTMAS!

How was your weekend?

M

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