On Friday, November 11, 2011, I helped Mom get ready for my party however did enjoy getting away and going to the Frost playground in the morning. I love climbing up the larger equipment and going down the big kids slides. My favorite are the really twisty slides and I giggle the entire way down. I even tried out all the teeter-totters with Mom, yes, every single one, and loved going up & down and being up high. Of course we did my favorite, the merry-go-round, and the swings too but mostly enjoyed another day outside without snow! Dad says we're on borrowed time. Here I am working my way to the slides:
Here I am on the teeter-totter; I picked out my hat - do you like it? Dad does say I am a jester or at the very least a comedian so he thinks it fits me nicely.
On Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011, we hung out at home in the morning and I took an awesome 3.5 hour nap! With my cold my sleeping has been off so I was a little tired out. In the afternoon I got an early birthday treat from Grandpa Allen and got to ride in a John Deere 9330 with him all by myself! I told him a tractor ride was all I really wanted for my birthday. I got my very own buddy seat and we had a good discussion on what equipment we're going to trade for and/or get for next year. He needed my expertise of course. Here's me and Grandpa Allen getting ready to go for a ride; I was checking out the other equipment in the yard too:
Here we are just getting back and getting ready to park. Once we got back to the yard Uncle Kyle, Aunt Jenni & Cousin Hannah had just arrived so they & Grandma Judy came down to the shop to meet us for a visit. It was awesome getting to see them and spend some extra time with them before my party. I love playing with my Cousin Hannah!
Soon after we headed to Mankato for haircuts (*for Dad & I and even Kato came for a grooming visit), we ran some errands and picked up my birthday cake too. While we were at the mall Dad and Mom took me on the Carousel which I loved and was very excited for. Here's Dad and I right before we started:
So I got a ride in a tractor, on the Carousel and at Hy-Vee when picking up the cake rode in the hot rod car shopping cart which was way fun to have Dad push me around. We had a great time driving around the store. I wish our Juba's in Blue Earth had car carts; I love getting to steer my own car!
On Sunday, November 13, 2011, I woke up to celebrate my 2nd birthday! We had a fun morning of playing, getting ready and then having a birthday breakfast. Grandma Anne & Grandpa Scott came a bit early to assist with the party & to play with me. The party, with just our immediate family, started about 11 a.m. and we had a full house! Grandma & Grandpa Sergeant, Prestegard & Vogel all came along with Uncle Kyle, Aunt Jenni, Cousin Hannah and my Uncle Keith. Mom & Dad were there too of course. With my fun time with Thomas we of course had to have a Thomas the Tank Engine theme. Here is the VIP invite:
I helped pick out the cake which had a Thomas with coal cart I could keep & play with on it!
We also got a huge, over 2 feet, Thomas balloon and some Thomas decorations. Here are a couple of the tables we had set-up for our guests with Thomas decor.
To thank our guests for coming we made Take 5 candy bars with special thank you Thomas wrappers along with our napkin rings were Thomas bracelets you could keep that said, "Full Steam Ahead!" I liked them because they had a little picture of a train on them too which each time I saw one I'd say, "Choo Choo!"
I was extra spoiled with a lot of presents and loved that a lot of the wrapping had my favorite things like Cars, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and of course Thomas. I can't thank everyone enough for everything!
After an excellent lunch of my favorites - hotdogs, brats, hamburgers, 5 bean casserole, cheesy potatoes, fruit, veggies and pickles, chips & dip, and much more we got to open presents! Here I am tearing into one with Mom & Dad. I was a little timid at first but caught on really quickly!
I got a couple of cards that sang to me including the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse "Hotdog" song from Dad & Mom and the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Theme Song from Grandma & Grandpa Vogel. I was a little surprised opening the first singing card where you can see below but then LOVED it! Now I'm working on wearing them out by opening them over and over again.
Dad & Mom got me my very on suitcase to take the grandparent's houses along with helping me get ready for when they are at the hospital with the baby. I love using the handle and pushing it around.
I got a lot of my favorite things - tractors & trucks! Here I am opening a John Deere carrier that turns into a mat & tractor set. I love the CAT front loader Uncle Kyle, Aunt Jenni & Cousin Hannah got me and my 9670 STS Combine Uncle Byron got me. I even showed off, which of course impressed all the men of the crowd, how I took the auger from the combine moved it to one of my trucks and made a sound to show I was emptying the combine. That's right I already understand how all that works. I'm not sure why they were so surprised I had been watching and participating all fall!
Great Grandpa Richard Vogel made me my very own semi-truck with trailer as you can see below. It is over 2 feet long and at first I thought it was for me to ride on but soon learned it was for me to play with. Here you can see me loading some of my new equipment for transport. Dad's favorite part of Grandpa Richard's truck is on the side of the cab it says "PF Transport", like our business, and then underneath says, "Hayden - the boss". Dad thought that was pretty funny and clever of Grandpa.
Here I am showing Dad all the buttons on my CAT Loader as it goes forward, backwards, lifts, etc.
After presents we played pin the number 1 on Thomas which everyone else had to be blindfolded but me, the birthday boy! Mom held me up to reach but I did an excellent job putting my sticker on all by myself.
Cousin Hannah and Grandma Anne got the closest but I wasn't too far behind! Here's how everyone did.
We then had cake, white with chocolate marble, and I got to blow out my candles. I was a little more interested in touching the fire than blowing it out and of course I wanted to take Thomas off the cake but I got it soon enough!
Here I am enjoying my cake, as close to one forkful as you can get! We also had vanilla ice cream which I ate right up. Everything was delicious! I even got to play with Thomas & feed him cake too.
What you think I was a bit messy?
After cake we played a bit more, I had an excellent time playing with my Cousin Hannah, and soon everyone started to depart for their journeys home. By the time everyone was leaving I was ready for a big nap. Dad took me to my room and I crawled right up to bed, grabbed my own blanket and was out cold within 2 minutes! I had an excellent birthday and as Dad said this will be the only birthday where I double my age so make the most of it! I think we did and it’s because of everyone making it so special. I want to thank everyone and I feel so blessed to be so loved and have such wonderful family & friends surround my life. Thank you everyone for everything! Happy 2nd birthday to me!
