Christmas 2011

For actual Christmas this year, we went to my Dad's house. Hayden played with my step-sister's kids, Max and Maverick, we all ate great food and Hayden got a very special gift from Santa (whom we emailed to tell him we'd be at Papa's house).

Hayden did great on the plane ride. She got a little bored, but otherwise, she had fun.  

This was part of Santa's gift for Hayden - all Little Mermaid stuff. She liked the Ariel doll and the Ariel water cup (not shown), but her real favorite was that seashell necklace because it also plays Ariel's voice when you push the button. (It was actually really, really, really hard to find, but thanks to Gaby, I was able to get it for her.)

 She got to play with Max and Maverick a bit before we did Christmas. This is a park near Papa and Zizi's house. It was a bit cold, but sunny too. 

Taking a break to have a snack with Max. 

There were several little hills at this park, and boys being boys, Max and Mav thought it was fun to climb up and then roll down. They wanted Hayden to do it too, but she wouldn't. Instead, she would climb up and scoot down on her butt.

They had this fabulous climbing structure that you can spin, get inside and climb up. Hayden didn't do any climbing, but she was ok sitting in the middle of it while it was spinning and also helped spin it a little bit too.

This isn't a great pic, but I loved her Christmas outfit and none of the other pictures came out either. I just want to remember it later. Hayden actually loves the skirt because she says it makes her feel like a ballerina and she can spin in it.  

Getting ready to open all the gifts. 

Another of Hayden's favorite gifts was a Little Mermaid book, which Papa is reading to her.  

Sunday Christmas Service at Papa's church. I'm not sure if it's because she saw Papa on stage (and Uncle Brian too), but she wasn't shy at all about walking up to the stage and checking things out. She also helped out during the service by placing two nativity scene figures onto a mantel. She wasn't scared to do that in front of a whole room of people either!

Hayden got a LeapPad for Christmas and though she's a little young for parts of it, others are clearly a big hit. It's her own tablet, that we can load up with learning games, books and more. Right now her favorite is a digital pet that lives in the LeapPad that she can feed, wash and play with.