San Diego, Day 1 - Flying

We're back from San Diego and we had a blast. I'm going to post a bunch about this trip; it was only five days long, but we packed a lot into those five days.

The first day was our big test, flying with children. It started out well. We had to get the kids up really early to get to the airport in Gillette and get checked in but they were in good spirits. When we actually got up in the air everything was still great. Ainsley is a perfect flyer. Sam, however, was a different story. He was doing fine, a little ancy, but not bad, until the descent at which point the shrill screaming commenced. After the first flight, both Sam and I were in tears. The second flight was more of the same, but by the third flight, we had things figured out and got Sam hooked up with some earplugs and had him drink through a straw during the descent to help with his ears. Things went much more smoothly after that.


We got checked into our hotel at San Diego and headed straight to the beach. We were in a bay so the water was nice and calm, and Ainsley found lots of sea shells. Sam loved the ducks that swam in the bay and the seagulls that stalked you in the hopes for a bit of a snack. After the beach, we headed to the pool. However, we all ended up in the hot tub because it wasn't super weather while we were there and the pool was a bit chilly. I prefer the hot tub anyway. :) We then got a quick bite to eat and went to bed. It was an exhausting day and both kids were asleep by 6:30. It was a good start to the vacation.

The Swing of Things

I wish I were better at posting, but this is me take it or leave it. I'm a procrastinator that wishes she wasn't, but doesn't have the motivation to change yet (I'm keep looking and looking, but I can't find it).

Happy New Year to everyone. It was a busy holiday season, and I'm kinda glad it's over with, but sad at the same time. Christmas was really fun, and there was lots of laughter and a little too much wine. :) My favorite times are always the ones surrounded by family and laughter.

We're getting back in the swing of things here in the house of Hokanson. Ainsley's started back to preschool, dance, and gymnastics. Poor Sam doesn't have anything structured at all unfortunately, but I think I'm going to have to start taking him to baby gym or something, Ainsley had a good time with it at his age and I think he'll have just as much fun. Unfortunately it's only a few times a month, so we'll have to figure out some other fun stuff for the little monkey boy to do.

We're all pretty excited around here for our upcoming trip to San Diego. We've got about five days there and four of them are dedicated to Sea World, the zoo, the wild animal park, and LegoLand (at least that's the plan, we'll see how it goes). At least a few times a day at our house, we're logged onto Shamu.com watching the whales swim around the tank on a webcam. Every few seconds Ainsley will yell "Shamu!! Shamu!!" and Sam will yell "Moo!! Moo!!" at the top of his little lungs.

We're hoping for good weather, but I think Brian and I are mostly worried about the plane trip. This is our first time flying with kids; if nothing else, it should be interesting. Wish us luck!!

Timber!!!

Here's our Christmas tree also, but it is not in the best shape right now. Yesterday, when Brian was at the shootout and I was home with just Sam, the darn thing fell over. I sat at the base of that tree holding it up for about five minutes pondering what the heck I should do. I couldn't get it screwed into the base any better, and I couldn't reach the phone to call my neighbor for help. I finally just sucked it up and got a face full of pine needles in order to reach the other side of the base to screw it in more. Needless to say there was a huge mess, and the decorations just did not look as good as before it fell over. Amazingly enough, only one ornament broke.

Hello Santa!!

I took the kids down to the "Jingle Bell Hike" at Cam-plex park last weekend. We actually skipped the hike because Sam was still sleeping at the time, but we made it in time to sit on Santa and Mrs. Claus' laps and give them the Christmas list Ainsley had made. Then Sam and Ains each got to decorate there own Christmas tree cookies. It was a good time for everyone, except for my car which got a broken tail light and cracked bumper as we were leaving. :-( Oh well, it's just a car.

The 2008 Christmas Tree Hunt

We took our annual trek to find the Griswold, I mean Hokanson family Christmas tree on the day after Thanksgiving. First we swung up to the Mistletoe Ranch in Hill City to get a Christmas tree permit, and Gramma and Grampa Taylor bought the kids an ornament each. Then it was on the snowy trail to locate the perfect tree.



We tried out a new spot this year and found a beauty right beside the Mickelson Trail in the Black Hills. Our niece and nephew, Ashlynn and Jonathan, got to come along as well since they were staying a few days with Gramma and Grampa. We got out the sleds and the kids had lots of fun being pulled down the trail. It was tons of fun, and I'll think we'll probably have to head up there in years to come as well.

Halloween (finally)

Here we are halfway through November, and I'm just now getting the Halloween pictures posted. So goes my life. We had a"twinkle" princess and her frog for Halloween this year. They were awfully cute. I found a princess dress with LED lights on the front of the dress, she was so excited and told everybody about it. Unfortunately, the batteries died on Halloween day, so the twinkle princess didn't twinkle. She didn't care though, she was focused on the candy. Sam did surprisingly well keeping his costume on also, he seemed to even enjoy it after a while.




Have you ever seen a frog eating a dog down by the bay........................ :)

Here are some other cute pictures. Enjoy!!

Fall

I love the fall. Except the wind, which is currently blowing garbage cans all over the neighborhood. But fall is just such a time of anticipation. We've had a very busy time. Thank goodness Brian is back from hunting. Even though he didn't get an elk, he's got two little animals around here he can help chase.

Ainsley is in full swing in preschool, dance class, and gymnastics. She's so darn cute in her little leotards. We had her birthday celebrations a few weeks ago. I can't believe she is four years old already. The weekend before her birthday, we went to pumpkin festival with some of her little friends then had food, cake, and presents at our house afterward. On her actual birthday, so chose to go out to Hong Kong's for her birthday dinner. She had cupcakes at preschool the next day. We went to the aquarium in Denver the day after that, then had another little party for her down in Laramie. So it was really more of a birthweek than a birthday.

Sam's been very tired but very patient through all Ainsley's activities. He had fun during her birthday week as well. He especially loved the aquarium. He run up and down the windows in the panoramic shark tank room, saying "WOW, WOW, WOW" over and over. Too cute. He's had a cold, is getting several teeth in, and is just getting over a little stomach flu, so he's had a very long autumn so far. We're hoping he gets to feeling better so he can enjoy the outdoors a little more.

As for me, I've been fighting tooth and nail to maintain the order of the house, but I'm loosing the battle. Oh well. It's clean enough I guess. :) It's just hectic around here with a sick kid.

Well, I suppose I should get back to my battle. Enjoy the pictures!