Thanksgiving Week in Boise: Day 1 & 2

Well,
the big day is just one day away now.
So I figure I better blog about Thanksgiving before Christmas happens.
So here goes...

We had a flight to Boise that left the Monday before Thanksgiving.
We left Ontario at 3pm, and flew to Phoenix.

All went pretty well.
It was funny that seated right behind us on the plane was a mom that I recognized from seeing at the girls school.  Her son is older than Hannah so she didn't know him, but they were very nice and I am always surprised when things like that happen and at how small this world seems sometimes.
Only glitch was that our first flight ran late.  We landed in Phoenix at 5:58pm, and our connecting flight left Phoenix for Boise at 6:02pm.  Everyone on the flight was worried about missing their connections, but we were told that the next flights knew we were late, and just to get there as quickly as we could.  So just imagine this if you will, Mr. H and I trying to tell our girls, "Ok, as soon as we get off we have to RUN!!  Carry your own backpacks, and RUN!!!"  And of course our next flight was so far away from where this one came in.  Mr. H had Hannah by the hand and I had Claire, and we were running through terminals, pulling the girls behind us, running past people on the moving walkway, trying to say excuse me as we passed, and as we were running , we heard the announcement "Last call for Hass party of 4 to Boise, last call for HASS... party of 4..."

Gulp.  For a quick second I panicked and thought about what a nightmare it would be if we really did miss our flight and had to find somewhere to stay the night in Phoenix.
But Mr. Hass left the girls with me and sprinted ahead of us to get them to hold our plane.
And as he ran away, us girls were kept running behind him (with carry ons and backpacks flapping in our wake), Claire starts to cry and scream "DADDY!!" "Daddy, WAIT!!! Daddy don't LEAVE us!!!"

The poor girl.  Maybe she really thought that he might hop on that plane without us.

In the end, it all worked out.  
Mr. H arrived at the gate just as they were closing the doors!
And Hannah slid in right behind him on her knees (Home Alone style) shouting "We're HERE! Don't leave! DID WE MAKE IT???!!!"
Everyone got a good laugh out of that.
After boarding the plane, we sat on the ground for a half hour before the pilot announced his apologies for the delay, and that we were still just waiting for the last 4 bags to make it to the plane before we can take off.
That's when Mr. H and I slouched down lower in our seats, hoping to avoid the stink eye from the rest of the people on our flight.  
So I guess it wound up being a lucky night for the Hass family.
Lucky that we made the connecting flight, and also lucky that our luggage made it safely to Boise as well.
Phew.

We arrived close to 9pm and my mother in law Diane was ready and waiting for us right outside the airport.
Once we were in the car on the way to her house, the heater was running full blast because it was 20 something degrees out, and Hannah sniffs around and asks "What's that weird burning smell?"
We were laughing as we explained that was the heater in the car.  I guess she's not really used to that where we're from.  ;)

The girls didn't quite sleep in like we had hoped the next morning.
But that's ok.
They ran right outside into the backyard to check out the frost on the grass and to giggle about being able to see their breath.
After breakfast we got dressed and headed out for some adventuring with Diane.

First we stopped in at the Audiology Center where Diane works to check it out and say hello.  She showed me the really neat sound proof room inside and I said I sure wished houses came with one of those.  I'd love a sound proof room somewhere in my house to just go hide in those moments of craziness with the crazies!  Maybe have a glass of wine, and then come out when I'm good and ready.  Hahaha.  

Right around the corner from her work is the first house that Mr. H and I ever had together.  So of course we had to go stop by and see it.  It's been 10 years since that was our home.  It was such a cute little place and it was fun to go see it again.

Next stop was the Boise Town Square Mall.  Diane had been wanting to re pierce her ears a little higher, and we thought that would be a good time for the girls to watch her and see that it's no big deal, and for them to get theirs done too.  They've both had them pierced before but they've let them close up.

Hannah was very brave and couldn't wait to get it done.

She got a little nervous, but Dad held onto her hand and she did great.

She was so happy.  Grandma even bought her another pair to wear after she can change them out.  

Claire Bear decided she'd pass on the piercing.  So she picked out a bear and a Sophia doll.  So very Claire.  :)

After leaving the mall we headed into downtown to roam.  First stop was lunch at a little brewery called Bittercreek Ale House.

It was a neat place.  Fun atmosphere.  Food was just so so.  Maybe a better place to go for beer.  ;)

We popped into The Chocolat Bar and that sure was fun.  We each got a truffle to enjoy.

Then Diane took us to BSU so we could check out the stadium and show the girls the broncos blue turf.

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know that Mr. H is the biggest BSU fan.  I think it was almost painful for him to be that close to the field and not get to see a game.  They were playing that Saturday too but we had to fly out on Friday.  Sorry Mr. H!

 After checking out the blue turf, we walked around inside and got to take an up close look at the Fiesta Bowl trophy from 2007.

 Such a big game for Boise State against Oklahoma, and so exciting that we were there!!! Mr. H often says things to me like, "You know that game will go down in history as the best college football game EVER.  You know that right?"  
Yes honey, I know that.  :)

After that we left BSU and headed back to Diane's.  It was getting cooler and darker, and we had to stop at the store and pick up a few things for dessert because we were having some old friends stop by for a visit after dinner and we couldn't wait to see them.
Mr. H's friend Dale from pharmacy school and his wife Molly live in Boise and we have kept in touch with them over the years.  We've even had a couple of fun trips where we met up with them different places, but it had been a while this time.  Their beautiful girls are both just months apart from our own girls ages too so it was really fun.

After Mr. H and I started dating and I began to meet some of his friends, Molly was one of the first girls that I got to know and I have always really liked her.  I remember sitting next to Molly at Mr. H's pharmacy promotion/dinner just days before his graduation. We watched Jake and Dale accept their copies of the parmacist's oath that night.  It's crazy to think of how much we've all grown and changed since then.  We had such a fun time catching up with them, and our girls played so incredibly well while we visited.

Claire and Noel became fast friends.
Such fun on our first day.
I'll be back with the rest of our trip soon.
For now I'll leave ya with this little bit of Thanksgiving humor...

Is that not hilarious???
I am still laughing.

Catching Up With What's New in the Hass House...

Man has life been busy around here!!!
Is anybody even out there waiting around for me to update this old blog anymore???

When my girls were both babies, and toddlers, I can remember wondering if my days would always be like they were, and if things were every going to change.  You know I love them both to death, but you know what I mean, the monotony of a mother's day can be so long, tiring, and thankless.  I used to think that perhaps when they both went to school for a few hours in the day I might have more time to myself.

Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  
Well, in some ways I guess,  yes I do have a couple hours in the morning.  But do you know how fast that time goes?!
And Wednesdays I am at work, and Fridays I am helping in both girls classrooms until Claire gets out of TK.  So really that leaves me three days from 8-11am of free time.  
And most days I seem to spend it running here and there so fast trying to get all of my errands and housework done, moving at whirlwind speed.
And then it's time to pick up Claire.
We come home, we eat lunch.
I clean up lunch.
And about one hour later it's time to get Hannah.
And then the whirlwind speed continues with homework, and sports and dance and daisy scouts and dinner and clean up and showers and time to pack lunches for the next day...until it is finally time for me to sit on the couch with Mr. H and maybe stay awake long enough to watch an episode of Breaking Bad or Homeland.

I'm not complaining, I'm just saying.
Tis the season of our lives, and I am a little afraid for how much busier it may become.
Free time has been hard to find, and when I do have it I don't always choose to blog.
But I do want to keep up this blog.
Plus I think it helps to improve my long term memory so I'll keep at it.

Here's some pics and randomness of what's been happening around here...
walking to school...

100 Mile Club afternoon runs at Dos Lagos...

Last month we all went to the 100 Mile Club Family Night at school.  They had Jamba Juice there, and the girls got to meet the school mascot, the Orange Bengal. 

 They also got free sunglasses for being first to arrive.

More walks to school...

6am sure does roll around so fast!!!

I try to remember to take a pic of the girls bento boxed lunches...  

I bought the new Weelicious Lunches cookbook and have gotten SO many great ideas from it.  And not just lunch ideas, but dinner too.  I'm so glad I came across her first Weelicious book randomly at Barnes N Noble one day.  Her books have been so helpful with ideas and easy meals to feed my fam.

Vino in the tub... because it's good, and because I can. ;)

The girls have been begging to sign up for dance classes lately.
All Claire talks about is becoming a ballerina, and Hannah says she wants to learn some hip hop moves.
So I did some research, and got them signed up at a non competition studio near us.

The first day Claire seemed like such a natural!

I didn't get to see much of Hannah's class because they shut the blinds once they began working on their Christmas routine.  We signed up too late for that so the girls aren't actually performing in it, but they don't seem to mind.

Claire's teacher reminds me of Taylor Swift.  She's so cute.

Today will be their third week and so far they still love it.

This is a few of the moms with kids in Claire's class that I have gotten to know this year.  She has really lucked out and has such a great group of kids in her class.  There are 6 of us who have been having playdates after school and gotten to know each other a bit.  
A few weekends ago my fam had dinner at one of the girls houses with one other family and we had such a fun time.  

We all bring snacks and drinks for the playdates and this group of kids all plays so nicely together.  

One of the girls is married to a brew master! He started home brewing a couple years ago and has really gotten into it.  He's got an amazing set up in his garage complete with a dishwasher for sterilizing his bottles, and he even grows his own hops.  He makes his own label, and the night we had dinner together he brought several of his brews for everybody to try.  His coconut porter is seriously one of the best beers I've ever had.  Maybe he'll teach Mr. Hass his secrets.  :)

One of Claire's friends from school invited the girls to a great birthday party a couple weekends ago.

They had a huge water slide, and lunch was served.  But that wasn't even the big attraction... it was the reptile guy that came and shared all of his slithery friends.  The kids LOVED it! And so did all the parents! It was a fun party for all.

Are you cringing yet? ;)
I couldn't believe the size of that yellow snake.
Ca-reeeeeeee-py!
And there's Hannah having a blast holding it!
She loved getting to hold ALL the snakes!!!
I could not believe it.

Claire was not quite so hands on with the slithery fellas.  But she sure seemed to enjoy it none the less!

I think this big crocodile looking one freaked me out the most!
It was fast!!!

Ok and the tarantula.
Yeah, the tarantula freaked me out quite a bit too.
Not Hannah.

What a fun time we all had at the party though!
Then it was time to run home, grab some In-N-Out for dinner, freshen up, and then I picked up the babysitter so Mr. H and I could go see a movie.
I can't even remember our last date before that.
Life has just been so busy with the girls lately, and often times the sitter isn't free when we want to go out, and some nights I don't think I can stand to stay home and sit on my couch for one more Saturday night.
So even though Mr. H had worked the 6am-3 shift that day, and then came straight to a birthday party to meet me and the girls, and we were both yawning and so tired from the day, we still jumped at the chance to get out together.

And the poor guy even had to be at work at 6am the next morning.  We saw The Butler.  Both of us enjoyed it.

Selfie in the car on the way to dance last week...

Mr. H had to leave work early that day and meet me at the dance studio so that I could leave and go straight to Girl Scout Leadership Training.

It was supposed to be from 5-8pm, and it went until 9pm!

And we had a 3 page test at the end of class!

But now it's done with and I learned a lot about Girl Scouts.

During training I kept giggling to myself every time I thought of Shelley Long in the movie Troop Beverly Hills.  The instructor talked a bit about the Girl Scout "camporee" (a two night camp excursion) and all I could think about was when Phyllis Nefler (Shelley Long) checks her troop into The Hilton hotel after attempting to camp and gets caught by the Wilderness Girls head honchos.  They say to her something about you think this is "roughing it", and she replies how sharing a bathroom with NINE people IS roughing it!  Oh, it kills me.  

I am now the co-leader of Hannah's troop and plan on being a leader of Claire's troop next year when she starts Kinder.  

The following night I was at work from 9-9.  It was a busy week!

This last Saturday I worked the first half of the day, and later some of Hannah's Daisy troop met up at Cooking 101 for a cooking class.

 It was such a cute sight to see!!!

 The girls seemed to really enjoy it too.
They learned to slice and dice pretty well.
They had to slice up pears for a dessert that they made.
And then they chopped carrots, onions, parsley, and garlic to go into their chicken fried rice.

 (I shared this photo on instagram and commented about the six pack photo bombing in the background.  haha.  That's a nutritional store behind Cooking 101 and it was on the window.)

 They cracked and scrambled their own eggs,
and this was the finished product...!

 And it was mighty tasty!

 The girls were all funny and hesitant to eat it, but once they did they scarfed it right down!

Such a fun outing!!!
Tomorrow Mr. H is taking the girls to meet up with the troop at a local pumpkin patch and corn maze.  I'm so bummed to be missing it but I'll be at work.

Last Sunday we went exploring in Oak Glen.
And as soon as I get the chance I'll share some pics from the day.
Until then, here's one of my little Clairey Beary and her binos.  :)