Day 12 - See ya next year!

Day 11 - Shaving with Reddi-Wip (extra creamy)

Dale was shaving this morning....with a pink disposable razor and reddi-wip.

Day 10 - Making snowflakes with another elf

Dale met a new friend...they decided to cut out snowflakes since we are headed home to the cold, ice and snow.

Day 9 - Playing "Go Fish" with friends

This morning we found Dale in the bathtub playing Go Fish with Sharkie and Peng. Looks like Dale was winning!

Day 8 - Selfies

This is Dale...while Cale and his mom were sleeping I took some selfies and am posting them on the blog.

Day 7 - Bubba Gumps

We ate at Bubba Gumps yesterday and Cale LOVED the 2 signs - Run Forrest Run and Stop Forrest Stop - that we used to have the waiter stop at our table. Dale must have made a stop at Bubba Gumps and our waiter gave him the signs from our table because he had the Stop Forrest Stop sign up and was drinking a Gingerbread Latte this morning. I already reminded Cale that I plan to use that sign if/when he complains and he agreed.

And yes, that coaster says, "Love of Beer".

Day 6 - Making Snowmen

This morning we found Dale had made 2 snowmen (a boy and a girl) and was in the middle of making another one. He even had confetti from the Macy's parade we saw at Universal Studios yesterday!

Day 5 - Riding a dolphin like the Sea World show

This morning we found Dale with all the other animals, riding the dolphin like the Sea World show we saw yesterday. On a side note, Dale has noticed how hard it is to show up while Cale is sleeping in a 1 room hotel room.

Day 4 - Researching Sea World

This morning we woke up and Dale had starred a few pages in the Sea World brochure. Cale wanted to know 1) where did he get the Sea World brochure and 2) where did he get the permanent marker.  He did agree with Dale's selections of the Antarctica Empire of the Penguin and TurtleTrek.  He also thought it was a big deal that Dale put a smiley face on the map so we'd know where we were going.

Day 3 - Playing hockey with Grouchy (and boy is he GROUCHY!)

Day 2 - Building a fort with friends

Holiday festivities have begun!

We rang in the 2013 holiday season with friends at Holiday Hoopla on Main Street in Cedar Falls Friday night.  There were 100's of people, it was chilly out, yet it was still magical and Cale loved it.  We shared some pizza and "warm" chocolate.  We danced to The Chipmunk's singing Wrecking Ball and watched the magic show...where Dorothy from Oz and the Grinch showed up.  We had to sing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" so Santa could make his appearance.  When Santa and Mrs. Claus were making their way to their sled, Santa stopped and tugged on Cale's scarf while saying his famous "ho, ho, ho...Merry Christmas little guy".  Cale couldn't believe it...out of all the kids, Santa stopped to talk to him (I was shocked too...so shocked I didn't even have my camera out). 

In other holiday news, Cale spent time writing his letter to Santa and we mailed it on Sunday.  We worked on wrapping presents...Cale likes to cut the paper and hand me tape.  He's also good at writing on the labels.  We got our Christmas cards mailed (Cale helped put the address and stamp on each) and made cookies for our neighborhood cookie exchange. 

And last but not least, Dale made his 1st 2013 appearance on Sunday 01 December with a special note to Cale. 

I am leaving on December 4th for Florida but thankfully my mom and Cale will be flying down on the 13th...we'll spend a week in Florida.  On this trip we plan to go to Sea World, Lego Land, on a pirate ship cruise and at least 3 days at the beach.

Guess who is back?!? DALE!

Dale showed up this morning with a special letter to Cale.  We heard something last night in the living room and this morning figured out it was Dale writing a letter with Cale's paper and marker.

Dear Cale -

I'm SO excited to be back.  I sure missed you.  I heard you've been a good boy all year.  I'm excited to see you and report back to Santa how good you are. 

Love - Dale  XO

P.S. Do you like my new boots & scarf?

And yes, Cale did notice the new boots & scarf right away.  He also said, "my favorite part is the heart and XO...Dale knew I'd like that".

Enjoying a movie about Peng's with 2 Peng's (and a Puppy)

What's Cale thankful for??

Happy Halloween!

We had a fun Halloween...everything from pumpkin carving, building a haunted house in the spare-bedroom, a costume party at the Y, a nature hike at Hartman Reserve, another party at pre-school and trick-or-treating.

Happy Birthday Uncle Ryan!

Thanks for being the best uncle EVER!  I have a lot of fun playing with you...especially in the basement and outside.  I'm glad you always like the "singing and dancing" cards I pick out for you...I know they are your favorite too.  Love you lots!  XO - Cale

Cale's Art Work

Photo Booth -- Round 2

KC

We spent the last week of September in Kansas City.  We did some shopping in Des Moines on the way down, we went to the art show and shopping in downtown KC, ate BBQ, ate home-made ice-cream (twice!), visited Lego Land, celebrated my birthday, went swimming, did some more shopping and played UNO and Old Maid (a lot). 

Of course Cale had some funny quotes...

While we were driving (in no-where Missouri):
Cale: "Mommy, I need to go #2!!"
Me: "Ok, Buddy, can you hold it until I can find a place to stop?"
Cale: "Oh, never-mind..........................I just farted."

My mom took Cale to McDonalds for lunch and then he played in the play-area.  To be in there, kids have to wear socks.  My mom told Cale she forgot socks....Cale's response: "Gramma, are you kidding me?!?".  And I guess he gave her "the look".  She was lucky...she did have socks in her purse.

Birthday Party!

We celebrated my birthday again this year in KC...I'm SO thankful that I was able to celebrate with Cale.  He and my mom spent hours decorating the room.  I guess Cale took his time making sure everything was just right.  He was so excited to show me my "ba-brise" - AKA surprise.

Lego Land

While we were in KC, we checked out Lego Land....Cale is almost 110 Legos tall.  It was awesome and Cale already wants to go back.  It was nice because we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Cale enjoyed all of the interactive displays, rides, 4-D shows and several play areas.  His favorites were the KC Nascar car track (we got to races some little Lego cars) and the Wizard of Oz display (when the tornado hit the house and when the witch had water thrown on her).

Go Panthers!

On a hot Saturday we did some tailgating and went to the Dome to watch the UNI Panthers beat Drake...Cale really got into it. 

His favorite parts were tailgating, watching TC, cheering with his pom-pom and cleaning off the bleachers and steps.  I swear, every place this kid goes, he leaves quite the impression.  While he was cleaning the steps and lady asked him if he would clean her house, he said, "I guess" and then ran over to tell me about it. 

Funny Cale Quotes

Cale: "Mommy are you speeding?"
Me: "No, I'm just going faster than everybody else."
Cale: "If you're speeding the cops will come."
Me: "You're right buddy...the cop will pull us over and give us a ticket."
Cale, "NOT ME! I wasn't driving."
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Me: "Cale, why are you changing your undies in the middle of the day?"
Cale: "Because they stink."
Me: "What do you mean they stink?"
Cale: "They smell like chicken nuggets."
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Me: "Cale do you have to touch wienee all the time??"
Cale: "Yes. Weinee is my best friend."
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I was telling Cale all about the pet crow I had when I was a kid.  I explained how my dad found him after a storm, that his leg and wing were hurt, that my dad named him Chester (after a guy on the TV show Gun Smoke that had a limp), how I nursed him back to health and fed him bread and milk everyday, how Chester would fly around the farm and pick up the kittens by their tail, that he would attack people that he didn't know and that I could call him and he's come sit on my arm.  This story went on for at least 10 minutes.  At the end Cale says, "Mommy, I have a story...when I was little, I ate something really hot."  That was his entire story.
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House on the Rock

A few weeks ago we went to the House on the Rock.  My dad took my brother and I when I was 7 or 8 years old...it's nothing like I remember it.  Cale had fun going through the actual house part because there were a lot of passage ways and cool things to look at. 

I believe Alex Jordan began building the house and attractions 60 years ago.  It's build on a 60-foot chimney rock.  There are so many things to see...a bell gallery, waterfalls, enormous music machines, massive fireplaces and walls of rock. There is an Infinity Room which looks like a needle that projects 218-feet from the house and 156-feet from the ground. There are 3,264 windows and it also has the world's largest carousel.

We also spent some time swimming...and don't worry, puppy, peng and baby peng made the trip. :-)

 

 

 

 

Pre-School

Cale stated pre-school on August 12th.  He was so excited for his 1st day!  Thankfully he didn't cry or I would have cried and taken him home. 

Cale & Mel

Cale was 8 weeks old when he started going to day-care at Mel's house....he was with Mel for just over 4 years.  She treated Cale like one of her own kids and Cale loved her.  It was a tough day the last time I dropped him off.  He's already asked about Mel so I'm sure we'll be going over there sometime soon to see her and her kids. 

 

Afternoon in the park

Night at the races

Cale and I met some friends from high school in Independence a few weeks ago for a night at the races.  He really liked playing in the bleachers and watching the "loud cars" go around and around the track.  Of course he also liked eating the french fries, nachos and other junk food.

Cooking class

We went to a "cooking for kids" class a couple weeks ago.  Cale got to help make the smoothies and then decorated cupcakes and fruit pizza cookies.  He did quite a bit of sampling!

Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium

After our tour of the cave we headed to the Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium.  I was surprised by how many things there were to do and see at both the museum and aquarium.  We also watched 2 short 3D/4D films.  Cale's favorite parts of the day were putting a log on the fire to keep the boat going and checking out all of the river animals and fish.