Our 9th Anniversary

Clinton and I celebrated 9 years of marriage this weekend. Since we usually aren't even on the same continent for our anniversary, we decided to make this a special one. I started off with a massage at home. Oh my goodness- It was HEAVEN!

The BIG event of the evening was Hot Air Ballooning. This is something on my bucket list so it was perfect! I am kind of an adrenaline type of girl and really enjoy anything with excitement. We met up with the company we booked the tour with at a grocery store parking lot. They transported us in a passenger van to a "launch location". There were 5 other couples ballooning also. Now I thought that there would be some type of launch pad where they take off every time- NOT the case. When you are ballooning you are totally at the mercy of the wind. We went to the first location (aka- the driver pulled over the side of the road beside a big grassy field). The hot air balloon guys got out and got on their phones ( something about getting weather reports, wind reports, etc...) They looked up at the sky a lot and released a couple of helium balloons. They then looked up at the sky more and put their hands to their chins a lot contemplating. Back on their phones, looking up at the sky, contemplating, etc...They then released a third helium balloon and it went in the totally opposite direction. At this point we had been sitting there about 25 to 30 minutes and I knew we WEREN'T going to be launching from that site. Sure enough the guys got back in the van and let us know that we needed to go to a second location.

We drove and we drove and we drove closer to the ocean. Let me back up and say before we all loaded up in the van we had to sign a release. You know where they tell you that you could die and all those things. Clinton ALWAYS reads any type of contract so he read the whole thing. He kind of laughed when he read it and said " There is a possibility I can go to jail for trespassing?". The guy just chuckled and said , "yes we cover everything in the release". OK so back to driving... We drove closer to the ocean and the driver turned down a road. He then turned down a dirt road and through an open gate with a "No Trespassing" sign on it ( ok I thought- this must be where the jail part comes in. lol!) He continued driving on this (road)- it was more like 4 wheel driving. We turned a corner and then I saw what must of been the "secret launch site" lol! There were already 2 other companies there setting up in a big field. Hurray! at this point I knew we WOULD get to hot air balloon. I really was starting to wonder if we would get to go up or not because they will only go up if they are 100% confident they can do it safely. In that case we would have done it the NEXT evening and we didn't have a sitter for the NEXT evening so I was sweating a little.

The guys immediately hopped out and started unloading and setting up. I think they did it in record time! They got our balloon set up before the guys beside of us who already had their equipment unloaded when we arrived. The balloon was inflated and we all climbed into the basket. There were 11 of us total- 5 couples and the pilot. Clinton and I got in first so we were directly under the flames and beside the pilot. I was a little worried about how we were going to all fit and about the weight. Lets just say there were some extremely LARGE men in our group. However, the basket accommodates more so there was the perfect amount of room.

Soon we were up up and away! What an amazing feeling to be off the ground and floating through the air! Since we launched by the ocean it was an amazing view! We then floated past some BEAUTIFUL homes!! We got to see Bill Gates' San Diego compound, The Kroc family ( founder of Mcdonalds) compound, Janet Jacksons old home, as well as the Nordstrom family home which was under remodel. The pilot gave us a really interesting tour and was really knowledgeable about the area. He cracked open a bottle of champagne so we all got to enjoy some bubbly.

We floated for about 45 minutes to an hour and then the pilot told us about the "landing position" we needed to take when he gave us the signal. Basically it was men in the back, women in the front, and hold on for dear life. He gave us the cue and then I saw the look of concern on the pilots face, which was NOT a good thing but he had been ballooning for 25 years so I wasn't THAT concerned. He told us to hold on tight because it was going to be a "bumpy one". HA! little did I know. I never really thought about the landing. Basically liked I mentioned earlier you are at the mercy of the wind. Landing a balloon is kind of like docking a sailboat with the sails at full mast. If a big gust of wind comes along you are basically screwed. Sure enough that is what happened to us- a big gust of wind came which made for a bumpy landing. We landed, bumped, and drug for a ways. Three of the ground crew jumped on the basket like some type of "hot air balloon cowboys" to attempt to stop it and keep it from tipping over. However, we tipped anyways and then we drug some more. Woo Hoo! ( Did I mention that I LOVE Adrenaline). Everyone was staying very calm but I couldn't help but giggle. Finally they got us stopped about 50 yards from a big cliff. Now THAT would have sucked. At this point I was really laughing and wondering how the heck we were supposed to get out. I did the natural thing and handed one of the cowboys my camera so he could take pictures and attempted to (cough) get out gracefully. lol! I asked the pilot if that was a normal landing and he said no it only happens about 10% of the time. Lucky us!

Man what a trip! I definitely do it again! However, I would not recommend it for young children or the elderly. lol!

We finished the evening at Ruth Chris Steakhouse for a late dinner. I love Ruth Chris. It is one of those places where I TRULY enjoy the food and say "hmmmmm" after every succulent bite.

THIS will be an anniversary that I will ALWAYS remember. Thank you Clinto for the memories! I love you!

unloading the basket at the second launch site. setting up the balloon....

The first balloon already up and our balloon still on the ground.

getting ready for takeoff...

here we go..... You can see the third balloon still on the ground as well as our van.

our shadow...

Just ONE of the AMAZING homes we saw...

woops! crash landing. Clinton was NOT amused but I was enjoying every second.

attempting to get out gracefully. For those of you who know me ,know this is an oxymoron.

Yay! Finally out.

This is NOT what the basket is supposed to look like when you land.

We watched the third balloon to see how they would land. They did the same thing but it was a LITTLE smoother. They tipped at the very end.

Me and our pilot enjoying some well deserved champagne.

Our desserts at Ruth Chris

Just a little update...

There are so many things that Aidan says and does everyday that I want to remember. He keeps me in stiches all the time. Some I have posted on facebook but I want to post them here too, so I can remember! Here are some of them....

- On Mothers Day I asked Aidan to come upstairs so we could call my mom. His reply was " mom you know I am apprahansive ( apprehensive) about talking on the phone" lol! He really hates talking on the phone.

- yesterday we walked outside to get in the car. He looks up in the sky and said " No clouds, No problem!"

- I told him the other day "Aidan you are my sweet little prince" and he replied " Mom you are my sweet queen". lol!

- yesterday he kept talking about "New Mexican" food ( Mexican food).

- He calls the gym that I have been going to " 42 hour fitness" ( 24 hour fitness)

- He still says ambubalance for ambulance.

- He confuses they and them ie. last night he was playing with some kids and he said " I am going to chase they"

This has been a really busy time of year for us. Aidan is still in school 2 days a week and will be until the end of June. We are taking July and August off to travel and then he will begin again at his current school in September. He absolutely LOVES school and is really thriving there. He would go every day if we would send him. :) He is also still in soccer one day a week. He is enjoying it and finishes up in a couple of weeks.

We start Physical Therapy next week. He was supposed to start a few weeks ago but his therapist had to go on leave. He will go once a week for a month and then we will reevaluate the frequency. I really think soccer is helping him some with his balance and coordination. I have ordered a writing program to start working with him on his fine motor skills. It is one that I used when I was a teacher only the preschool version. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this program. It was developed by an occupational therapist and used by them every where. It really teaches kids how to have nice printing and helps kids with fine motor issues.

Aidan is really becoming a READER! I found a box of high frequency words from my teaching days. These are 250 words on cards that first graders are expected to know by the end of the year- words like my, some, would, could, the, first, etc.. color words and number words are also included. Just for the fun of it I decided to see if Aidan knew any of them. To my surprise he could already read about 90 of them! My goal is to have him reading them all by the time he starts Kindergarten. Next year I am sending him to preschool 2 days a week and then will also be doing a modified homeschooling program with him using the writing program and working on reading as well as some math. I will then have to decide whether to send him to our PEPP program ( 2 year Kindergarten ) or to send him to full time Kindergarten. I keep going back and forth on this issue but I still have a lot of time before I have to figure that one out. :) I have decided for now NOT to go back to work and spend the additional time with Aidan and getting ALL of his skills where they need to be. :)

Lions, coasters, and swords oh my!

We have had a really busy and fun couple of days. I think it finally caught up with both Aidan and I today. After church today I took a long nap and Aidan slept for 4 1/2 hours! We were both pretty wiped and I think I am fighting off some type of sickness.

On Friday we had a meetup with the Moms and Munchkins group we belong to at the San Diego Zoo. We got to go in before the zoo opened and they took us on a little bus tour. The theme was "Lions are mammals and so am I". We had 2 employees of the zoo all to ourselves! They talked all about mammals on the tour and then took us to see the lions. What a treat! We got to watch them feed the Lions and got a really up close view of them! You would think that they would feed the huge creatures using a stick or something, but nope- they hand feed them and just stick the raw meat right into their mouths! I never had much of an appreciation of the large cats until Friday, but man are the GORGEOUS up close! After watching them feed, the kids got more education about mammals and a story about lions read to them. They then got up and got to "dance their wiggles out". I posted the video on Facebook so if you are friends with me then you will have to check it out. :), What a fun day! Next month they are doing the same thing only they are focusing on Gorillas ( my fav to watch!). I hope we get to go!



Yesterday Aidan, Clinton, and I went to Legoland. I was so glad Clinton got to go this time- we had a ball! Aidan rode his first big rollercoaster and I think it scared him a little. He really wanted to ride it and both Clinton and I attempted to talk him out of it the whole time we were waiting in line. He just met the height minimum requirement (and he was supposed to be 4 but we figured he was close enough since he will be 4 in a couple of months). I was afraid it was going to be to much for him, but he didn't cry. Yesterday he said he liked it but today he said it was to fast. So the jury is still out.

Aidan and his buddy Evan on the bus at the zoo.
The male lion licking the fence clean after his feeding.

The zoo worker feeding the female....

Isnt he gorgeous?

Relaxing after their meal...

This is what the boys were doing while the moms were entranced with the lions. lol! They really weren't that interested and were more interested in climbing. Boys will be boys.

Listening to the story...

One of the things I LOVE about Legoland is they have Legos to entertain the kids while the adults stand in line waiting to get on the rides. GENIUS!!

Aidan at the Dino Dig...

Dad and Aidan working intensely to uncover the fossils. lol!

We didnt get to play IN the water this time because it was to chilly but Aidan did get to shoot some water. :)

Aidans new sword and shield. Doesn't EVERY little boy need one?

Aidans favorite ride of the day- "The jousting horses"

The Roller Coaster Aidan rode! I still can't believe he did it!

Padres game

We were on our way to dinner last night when we got a phone call from our new friend James asking if we wanted to go to the Padres Game because he had a couple of extra tickets. It was short notice but we decided to go ahead and join him. I have been wanting to to go to a game for awhile now. I wanted to go when my mom was here but she really isn't into doing things like that so I was really happy when James called us. Aidan just happened to already have his Padres jersey on so we knew we had to go . James has a son Gabriel who is a couple of months younger than Aidan and the boys have a ball together! It wasn't the most exciting of games as it was tied up 0 to 0 until the bottom of the 9th when the Padres finally scored a run and won the game! It didn't matter if it was an exciting game or not, the boys had a great time playing together on the bleachers and running around. The adults had a great time too! :0)




Are they not the cutest? I just want to eat them both up.
Holding hands walking to the game. :)

running around before walking into the game. It is VERY hard to get a good pic of these two as they hardly stop moving!

James, Gabriel, Clinto, and Aidan- an AWFUL shot I know.

PETCO park

camping out

For awhile now we have wanted to take Aidan camping. We are not huge campers ( I think Clinton and I have gone twice in the 9 years we have been married) but I thought it would be something fun for Aidan and make for some good family time. For the longest time we couldn't find our camping gear because it was either in storage or "organized" by an overzealous organizer and we didn't know what happened to it ( I will never let someone else "organize" my personal belongings again- it just makes for lots of lost stuff). When we moved to the new house we found all of our "lost stuff" and our camping gear! We wanted to do a trial run in the backyard just to see how Aidan would do, so that's what we did this weekend.

We grilled hot dogs on our grill and played games in the backyard. We roasted marshmallows on our fire pit and made smores. When it was time to go to bed Aidan told me "no girls allowed mom", so I made my way to the house got his milk and a few books for Clinton to read to him and told him goodnight. I was actually HAPPY to sleep in my own bed and even happier that Aidan and Clinton would have daddy/son time together. It lasted all about 10 minutes. Aidan decided that he was cold and wanted to sleep in his bed. lol! He hands, face, and feet got so dirty in the backyard that I HAD to give him a bath. The whole "get dirty" thing is another reason we haven't been camping more. I am not a big fan of dirt and especially going to bed dirty. I guess maybe Aidan is NOT going to be a camper either and the only camping the Swaines will be doing is in the backyard. lol! Even if we didn't get to actually "camp" our "camping experience" was fun and we will probably do it again. :0)

Minute to Win It playdate

Yesterday Aidan and I went to a Minute to Win It playdate with our meetup playgroup. So far we have gone to the Easter Egg hunt, flying kites in the park playdate, a playdate at an indoor playarea, and the Minute to Win It playdate with this group. I have to say this is the most fun we have had yet! Aidan found 2 boys to play with and they had so much fun. The kids had a minute to complete different games..... There was the "eat the donut without using your hands game". Aidan lasted about 2.5 seconds before he grabbed it with his hand and popped it in his mouth. lol! He was so fast I didn't even have to time to get a picture. These are his 2 buddies Evan and Keaton.

There was the "Throw the pennies into the fountain" game...

and the unravel the crepe paper game.....

One of my favorites.... "Pick the animal crackers up with your mouth and put them in the cup game". Aidan did pretty well at this one. :)

The "sort the M and M's game". Again, Aidan didn't do so well at this one. He just wanted to eat the M and M's. Patience is not one of his greatest strengths. lol!

The "balance the blocks on your head game"....

Probably Aidans favorite part of the day was AFTER the games were over and the running around and climbing trees part... and...

the collect sticks and throw them in the creek part..... and....

the climb on rocks part... and....

the having fun with the other boys exploring the creek, throwing rocks, and looking at tadpoles part! :) :) :)

I can't wait until the playdate next week! We are meeting at the zoo and get a little tour before the zoo opens! I think one of the things they are showing us is the lion and her new cub. Love it!