Thanksgiving 2016 - San Diego.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. It truly feels like it came on faster this year than in previous years but I'm pretty sure they didn't take any days out of the calendar, I think. At any rate, we had such a  nice holiday and now all of a sudden I find myself in the midst of the Christmas season!

We spent the week of Thanksgiving (Tuesday through Saturday) in San Diego with family. Unfortunately for us but fortunately for them, Gregg and Cathy were out of town for the holiday with her extended family. However, they were gracious enough to let us stay at their house on Coronado in their absence.

The first day we were in San Diego, we hit up several of our new favorite spots - Spreckels Park, the Coronado Library, and, of course, the beach. The water was too cold for swimming but that certainly didn't stop Madelyn and Sawyer from frolicking and getting wetter than they were supposed to get. We even found several live sand dollars. Pretty cool!

On Thursday, we had Thanksgiving dinner at Uncle Jerky and Aunt Sandi's house. Uncle Jerky was flying the whole weekend we were in town so he wasn't with us. Bummer. Even though we missed him, we still had a fantastic dinner and there was LOTS of cousins playing. Sandra's sister and her husband plus their two sons came over as well. They brought a fried turkey, which I had never had before, and it was SO GOOD.

The whole day was really nice. The only thing that could have made it better was if Uncle Jerky had been with us, too.

Friday: Legoland. Legoland was fun in 2012 when we visited. But, this time was definitely better. An almost 8-year old and a 5-1/2 year old can really enjoy themselves at Legoland. We drove boats, recreated pictures from 2012, found some Lego Friends, and even toured the Sea Life Aquarium.

I did lose Madelyn and Sawyer a few times inside coral aquariums but they seem to have survived. Maybe they were trying to find Nemo? Or, was it Dory?

Our travels were easy and uneventful. I feel so lucky that we can take these trips to visit family and create memories together. Here's to good times, making memories, and happy holidays to all.

Rockies pre season game

Day two of our Spring break trip to Arizona included a Rockies pre season game at Salt River Fields against the LA Angels. We sat in the outfield lawn and caught most of the game. We even had a spot of shade which stayed with us throughout most of the afternoon. The weather was perfect and the company was good. Rumor has it, the Rockies even pulled off a victory.

Meeting Dinger. No tears here!

Post ice cream mustache. (Can you guess the flavor?) And, a happy boy.

 Tuckered out.

Thanks for the lift, Poppie.

Arizona 2014

We spent Spring Break 2014 in Scottsdale, Arizona. Honey and Poppie came with us this year, too! Our trip lasted three nights -- Friday through Monday -- and we stayed at the Westin Kierland. The weather was terrific this year. No rain! And, once again, the Kierland proved to be an outstanding, accommodating, family friendly resort.

Notable memories include:

* Kids First Class on the airplane.

* Friday and Saturday evening s'mores. Somehow, there was confusion when s'mores weren't available on Sunday. I'm not sure who was more upset - Griff and Poppie or Madelyn and Sawyer.

* Boy bed and girl bed in our hotel room. Madelyn wanted to continue this after our return home but Griff and I vetoed.

* Family breakfast in the club room.

* Trying to sneak up on Honey and Poppie's room only to have our plan foiled by the time we made it down the hall. We don't travel quietly especially when someone has to be first and someone else doesn't agree.

* Pool time. (See post to follow.)

* Child sized Candy Crush throughout the hotel. Or, so Sawyer thought.

* Rockies game. (See post to follow.)

* In N Out. Enough said.

* Cruising around Phoenix six passengers deep in a rented Dodge Caravan. Sooo cool.

Thanks, Griff, for very fun Spring break trip. And, thank you, Honey and Poppie for coming along. We had a great time and made lots of memories that I know the kids will fondly remember.

Steamboat sillies

Sawyer aka Houdini escaped twice from his Pack N Play on Friday evening. One of those times, we are certain he had assistance from his older sister. As for the other, no one is quite sure or will admit to anything. On Saturday afternoon, he managed to get into the Pack N Play unassisted only to find himself stuck. Oh, Sawyer.

I never get tired of delightful decor of mountain condos. As is the stereotype, there was a lot of antique ski pictures, posters, and gear. However, this condo also had an equestrian theme which included a bridle, reins, and bull whip hanging on the family room wall and a friendly sign on the front door reading "Please wipe your hooves!" which we did. Sawyer was even so kind to wipe his hooves on the way out the door as well.

And, I almost missed this little beauty. Thank goodness I noticed it on Sunday afternoon so I could capture its essence.

One of the downstairs bedrooms featured denim bed spreads along with this fancy matching valence. Yep, handkerchiefs and jeans. Do you suppose this was found on Pinterest?

Children drinking coffee. NO, we didn't actually let them drink coffee but they did get to have their milk out of coffee cups each day.

On our gondola ride on Sunday, Sawyer literally had sweaty paw pads and left steamy handprints on the gondola window. He wasn't so sure about the whole thing. Luckily, he was able to relax a little on the way down.

All in all, I'd say we had a pretty good trip. Madelyn was sad to leave on Monday morning and return to the city. But, it was also time to go home to the rest of our family, including cats, and friends. Interestingly enough, Griff and I stayed at this same condo complex in August 2004. Hopefully it's not another 9 years before we return! Something tells me we'll be back sooner.

Country mice - Day 3

Breakfast at Winona's including a cinnamon roll. I would like to point out that the plate is a full size dinner plate. Ridiculous.

Gondola ride to the top of the mountain. Had we been better prepared, we could have gone for a short hike. As it was, we still had a nice time walking around...collecting sticks...and playing in the dirt.

Madelyn took this picture for us. Way to go, Madelyn!

Another nature walk for Madelyn and Griff. They found all sorts of things including "Indian toilet paper" and a solid walking stick.

Afternoon swimming.

And, a little night swimming.

Can't beat it!

Balloon festival

Slow to get started, the balloon festival was well worth this morning's early wake up.

We were out the door shortly after 600A, caught the shuttle, and made it to the launch field by approximately 630A. Right on time.

Based on the pilot balloon (Def: A small balloon used to determine wind velocity) that was sent up, there was a little too much wind to send up all the balloons right at the start. We couldn't feel the wind on the ground but could see the looming grey clouds leftover from a small weather front that was breaking up.

Regardless, one by one, about half of the balloons launched as the morning went along. In all, we probably saw 20-25 and each one was as exciting as the first.

Some our favorite moments included:

The balloon that was inflated and launched literally on top of us. It was the first one of the morning, too, so we had no idea what to expect. But, it was cool.

Video to be posted later.

The balloon -- Madelyn and I named it "Purple Lightning" -- that snuck up on everyone only to dip into the lake and then seemingly go straight up the ski jump ramp. (Dipping into the lake was part of the balloon rodeo portion and the teams were judged on this skill.)

The next balloon -- "Rainbow" also named by Madelyn and I -- to dip into the lake which actually skimmed all the way across the lake. Quite a daredevil feat! I wouldn't have been a brave camper had I been in the Rainbow's basket.

Donuts and coffee which lifted everyone on Team Anderson's spirits before the balloons really got started.

A sky full of beautiful hot air balloons and some fun for a group of country mice from the city.

I definitely recommend this to anyone and look forward to doing it again sometime.

Country mice 2013

Inspired by the house we stayed in for Shelley and Mike's wedding last Fall, we decided to take a trip to the mountains to be country mice. Destination: Steamboat Springs.

We were lucky enough to find a nice 2-bedroom condo at The Ranch for a very reasonable price. When Honey and Poppie accepted our invitation to come along, we upgraded our 2-bedroom condo to a 3-bedroom condo. Auntie Kate soon joined in on the fun and our party of four country mice became a party of seven.

Unfortunately, with the events of the last few weeks, three of the mice could no longer join us and we were back down to a party of a four. No biggie. We'll just have plenty of room to spread out in this three-bedroom condo.

We arrived mid-afternoon today. After checking in and stretching our legs, we noticed a hiking trail across the street from our condo. It was the perfect little trail for a mini adventure. Turns out, it led us the long way to the pool and clubhouse! Regardless, there were sticks collected and messages written in the trail by both Sawyer and Madelyn along the way.

And, we encountered a family of deer along our way. Thankfully, they were willing to allow us to pose for a few pictures.

We had rain after dinner so plans for after dinner swimming were postponed until another night. Tomorrow morning, we're planning on attending the balloon festival and rodeo. The event starts at 600A so it will be an early day. As I write this, two little mice are giggling and squealing in their shared bedroom. We'll see what time they fall asleep!