Hawaii 2010 Day 1 ~ The Flight and the Car

What can I say about the flight over to Hawaii. First, I will forever be grateful that my mom suggested we head to Scottsbluff around 9. I was thinking we could get there later since our flight wasn't until 11:30. Luckily, we did leave around 9 or so and got to Scottsbluff not much after 10. We walked in and the place was full of Marines! They had been in the area for training so there weren't many places to sit. We walked up to the counter to check-in and the girls says "You must be the Daltons!". Apparently we were the only "couple" flying that day! Since there weren't many places to sit, my Dad went ahead and headed back to Alliance and we headed to the lounge to get something to drink. As we were sittting in the lounge, a group of Freedom Riders came through decked out in their leather and shook every Marine in the building's hand. It was quite an AWESOME site to see! Those guys (Freedom riders and military!) are awesome!

Anyway, we waited in the lounge until they opened up security so we could board the plane (got to love small town airports!) Some guy asked Chad which flight we were waiting for and then went to find out why we weren't boarding yet, turns out it was the Mayor!!! (again, love small towns!) We made it through security, although they did randomly check Chad's carry-on! As we are waiting with the, oh let's say 14 other people, they come in with bad news. Denver has OVER fueled the aircraft, so it is too heavy, they will have to bump 5 people off unless people volunteer. Since we were barely going to make our connection in Denver, we were not going to volunteer. If nobody volunteered, they would be bumping the last 5 people who checked again. See why I am thankful to my mom??? We were not one of the bumped, thank goodness!

To say the airplane is small would be an understatement. Chad was seat 2A and I was 2C. There is no 2B because that would be the aisle! The flight is about 45 minutes and I think the pilot (or 12 year old playing dressup!) checked the map about 15 times! Luckily, we didn't get lost. We made it to Denver and had to run a little bit to our connecting flight! We made it out of Denver and off to LA! We had a longer layover in LA and were able to get some lunch/dinner before the big flight! We boarded our flight and were actually able to leave a little bit early, we made it to Honolulu 30 minutes early!!!

We called Geneva and told her we were there, got our luggage, and rented the car! We had our choice of a Gold, Blue, or Red convertible Mustang. We took the red with the tan top of course! Tan leather inside, it was AMAZING!!! We finally met up with Geneva at a gas station (there are next to 0 street signs so we had a hard time telling her where we were!) and went to Taco Del Mar for dinner. It was OK, but not exactly Chipotle. Sorry Gwen, I couldn't resist!

Gwen went home and we headed to our AMAZING Hotel! All the details to come!

Summer Vacation 2010

This summer, our family did summer vacation a little bit different. I am not sure we will ever do it this way again, but it was fun this one time!
Chad and I decided that since Geneva and Ralf would be leaving Oahu in the fall, we wanted to travel there one more time. This time, no kids. We were looking at it like a second honeymoon of sorts. We booked an amazing hotel and an amazing car! (Details in following posts!) The kids on the other hand, were going to have a great vacation adventure with Papa Mike and Grandma Mimi, including a trip to the Black Hills! They were so excited! Of course, Braxton mentioned a few times that we were "kicking him to the curb" (His words!) The kids were a little sad that they didn't get to go with us to Hawaii this time, I suppose that is our fault for taking them the first time. :)
All in all, we had a great time in Hawaii, a miserable trip home, and an exhausting week after, and the kids had a great time with the Grandparents, even if it was a few days too long! Stay tuned for a day-by-day account of our trip!

Home From Hawaii!

We are home from Hawaii. Since we had such an interesting trip home, we are all exhausted. I hope to get some pictures up this weekend. Long story short, we had a great time! Thanks Genny and Ralf for spending time with us and thanks to Grandma Mimi and Papa Mike for spending so much time with the kids!!!

Fast Summer!

This summer is going so fast, I can hardly believe it!
Braxton has been playing T-Ball, which he loves! Everybody on his team is from his school so he has lots of friends! We have been having lots of playdates with friends and lots and lots of swimming!
This weekend we have the annual 3rd of July party at Chad's parents house. We have been trying to slowly work the kids into firework mode, and so far it seems to be working. They are actually staying outside during fireworks and the other night Braxton actually lit a few! We'll see what happens on Saturday though.
The kids are so excited to spend time with their cousins that we haven't seen since Christmas or before! We are going to take some family pictures since everybody will be in town and then take some pictures of just the grandkids. I hope they turn out good! We are going to take them on our own, so cross your fingers!
In a few weeks we will be headed on vacation, so be prepared for lots of pictures!
have a great summer!

Braxton can Swim!!!

We have been doing a lot of swimming this summer at Grandma Virginia's pool.  Well, the kids and Chad have, I haven't been brave enough to get in yet!  Towards the beginning of the summer, I challenged Braxton to swim across the pool the short way.  He could make it about halfway.  He kept working on it and it was his goal to be able to swim across the pool with his cousin Ellie.  This weekend, he was jumping off the board and swimming to the ladder, so I asked him to see how far across the pool he could swim instead.  He decided he could get points.  If he made it halfway to the rope, that was 1 point, the rope was 2, and the wall was 3.  The first time he got 1 point, the second 2, and the third he ALMOST got 3 points.  After that he made it all the way to the wall!  WOO HOO!!  He figured out he could take a breathe and keep swimming!  Now he always swims to the wall.  I am so proud of him and he can't wait to swim at grandma's pool with Ellie!

Lilly Turns 4!

I can hardly believe it!  My little girl is 4 years old.  It seems like just yesterday she looked like this.

It seems just like yesterday!  For her birthday, I arranged for Lilly to have a playdate with her best friend from preschool, Lillian.  Yes it is a bit confusing to have two Lillian's playing together!  After Lillian went home, Lilly got to pick lunch and she picked McDonalds (of course!)  We took her to one with a play area since we usually avoid those.  She had a great time playing and then wanted to go swimming.  We headed over to grandma's to go swimming! 

For dinner we met Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Chuck at Dino's.  Grandma Virginia rode with us.  We had a great dinner at Dino's!  Then we headed back to grandma's to open presents and have cake.

Now let me tell you about the cake.  Lilly's request was a cat cake with a rainbow.  Since it was graduation weekend, there weren't a lot of premade cakes out there, so I set about making the cake myself.  I think it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself!

All in all I think she had a great birthday!  I still can't believe that I am the parent to a 4 and 6 year old.  YIKES!

Opening presents!

First Grade ~ Here He Comes!

It's official!  Braxton is no longer a kindergartner.  He has the diploma to show it!  Today was his graduation from kindergarten.  He was so excited! 

After 8 o'clock mass this morning, the kindergartners received their diplomas from Fr. Connor.  Afterwards they sang 3 songs.  Braxton really is quite the entertainer!  He had a great time singing and dancing!
We were very lucky that both Grandma Rosie and Grandpa Chuck as well as Grandma Mimi and Papa Mike were able to join us!  It was a special morning!
After the graduation they had a nice reception in the parish hall and Braxton had a blue cookie!  The rest of today and tomorrow he will be at daycare.  I happened to find out yesterday that his summer program actually starts on Friday of this week instead of June 7th!  He is so excited that he will only have to be away from his friends for 1 and 1/2 days!

Class Picture!

Braxton & Sister Pat ~ Martyrs Principal

Braxton & Mrs. Score (was Ms. Mlnarik!) his teacher!