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".