Disneyland at Christmas Time

We took Hayden and his cousins to Disneyland along with Grandma and Angela. We got to the park right when it opened and hit all the kiddie rides before it got too busy.
It was a good thing too because Disneyland filled up and the morning waits were very short- typically less than 20 min.

As you can see from this picture he wasn't as excited to see Mickey this time. Maybe he thought he was Santa.

He did like Pluto.

They had a nice craft area with some live reindeer for the holiday season. It was a nice place to take a break from the rides and the crowds.

Pluto was there and very friendly with Hayden.

We had a great time and got our fill of Disneyland for a while.

Snoopy House

There's a house in Costa Mesa that's decorated each Christmas with a ton of snoopy stuff. I guess the family has been decorating it for over 30 years. It's very impressive- moving parts and all.Hayden was in heaven this year when we visited. The hardest part was keeping him behind the snoopy animal fence. He wanted to go touch and inspect all the moving pieces.My college roommate Ashley, who grew up in the neighborhood, took Jason and I by the house years before we had kids- now it's even more fun to enjoy. Thanks Ashley!They are a corner house and the decorations wrap all around- including Santa on the roof. The week before Christmas they have Santa come each night from 6-9pm. They serve hot cocoa and have singers. It's quite the neighborhood hit. There's always 20-50 people there at any given time. And in typical Hayden fashion, he cried when we had to leave. Maybe someday he'll just be grateful we take him places.

The Roommates and Family

Last night we had The Greywoode's and Itzen's over for dinner. It was so fun to see them and their kiddo's. Hayden loved playing with little Audrey.
And liked the new baby Oslo too. He said "He's cute!"

Here's miss Audrey playing with some toys Hayden had forgotten about.

We got out all sorts of fun toys for the two of them to play with. But Hayden was most impressed with Jewel's magic tricks of pulling a golf ball out of Hayden's ear.

So good to see you all!!! I only wish we could do it more often.

More Pre-Christmas Activities

During the Santa visit Hayden got to ride the merri-go-round which now has reindeer for the Christmas season.

Hayden's been a big fan of reindeer ever since.

For some reason I couldn't move these pictures around in the blog site- it's driving me crazy. So the next 5 pictures are in opposite order. We decorated Christmas cookies this afternoon.

I thought I had tree cookie cutters but apparenly I only have hearts.

But we made the green frosting anyways. And I got out some of the PlayDough animal molds to mix it up a bit. Not very Christmas but Hayden didn't mind.

He was most interested in eating the dough and frosting. He'd say over and over "Can I have just a little bit?"

It's amazing we had any left of make cookies with. And he'd want to eat the cookies immediately after we decorated them. Oh, and when we started he had a shirt on but he kept leaning over the floured work surface to grab more dough.

Santa's Scary

Jason, Randy and Sue took Hayden to see Santa at South Coast Plaza yesterday. Jason said Hayden was very excited (even trying to cut in line) while waiting but once it was his turn he wasn't too sure. He told Jason "Santa's scary". And I guess the Santa had zero personality which didn't help. Jason said he might as well have been a blow up doll. Here's the stoic picture- enjoy!

Thanksgiving 2009

Hayden had a great time at Thanksgiving playing with his older cousins, second-cousins actually.

And he was a big ham for their cameras.

Here he is with Carrie.

And striking a pose for Larissa.

And taking funny photos into the Mac.

He also got to see great-Grandma. He really liked the snow on her sweatshirt.

November at Papa and Grandma's

We've been traveling lately and unable to blog. But we're home now and I'll be updating it more frequently. Hayden spent a week at Mountain Papa and Grandma's house. He got to pick out his own Christmas tree and Papa cut it down for him. Very exciting. Although he wasn't fond of the loud chain saw.
And since we won't see this side of the family on Christmas, Hayden got a little pre-Christmas presents from Grandma, Grandpa, and Sylas.

He enjoyed some smores- this time from a real camp fire.

Building tree forts.

And playing outside.

"Make me a bee Daddy!"

I'm not sure where Hayden or Dad came up with this but it's a big hit.
Hayden says "Make me a bee Daddy". And Jason grabs the back of his shirt and spins him around. Hayden will flap his arms like he's flying.

Then the bee lands and tries to stand up straight.

Again, again Daddy! Hayden will play this as many times as Dad can tolerate. Dad's arm and equilibrium give out before Hayden does.

Try to stand up straight Hayden!

Halloween 2009

Hayden had a great Halloween. Before the block party started we carved pumpkins. Hayden wasn't very interested because we wouldn't let him use the knifes. Instead he parked it by the candy bowl.Here's the rest of the gang carving the pumpkins. Then we headed home, got our food ready (homemade chili for a mini chili cook-off). And Hayden got into costume. How many kids get to enjoy Halloween with both sets of Grandparents? Vivian helped Hayden put the finishing touch on this costume- she painted him a nose and whiskers.And here's a picture of the neighborhood kids.And Maggie came too! Notice the smeared whiskers... they didn't last long. And Hayden heading out to trick or treat with five adults! Randy stayed to pass out candy to trick or treaters.Hayden was always a few steps behind. But he did a pretty good job keeping up with the older kids. At one point we wanted to head back early and he insisted we keep going.He had plenty of helpers. Here's Maggie helping him at a "scary" house.And papa helping him at the next house. He was so happy to be out with all the kids. While running down the sidewalk he'd yell "Happy Halloween!!!".
And here's papa carrying home one tired tiger.