Happy Holidays!

As we gear up for Holiday Travel, we just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays. Safe travels and enjoy your time with family. We will be heading to Colorado this year. John and Cole head out on Tuesday and Mary will join us on Wednesday after one last quick trip to Chicago. Then some down time before the craziness starts again next year.

Warmest Wishes,

Mary, John and Cole

Mom and Dad's Vacation

Mom and Dad were able to get away for a few days for John's best friend Phil's wedding in Mexico. We had a fantastic trip and really enjoyed spending time with friends while relaxing.

Grammie's Visit

Grammie came to town to spoil Cole. While he did miss his parents a little, he had a blast with Grammie.

One of the activities they enjoyed was a visit to see snow and Santa at a local park. Snow was trucked in for the kids to enjoy. While there, Cole ran into one of his friends Sofia. As you can see they were smitten with each other.

The look of pure joy is great. Hopefully he will enjoy the snow in Colorado a little more this year. Last year he wasn't quite sure what to think of the white stuff.

I think he is up to something.

This little girl fell and he was helping her back up. He did not push her down. (At least that is what Grammie is telling us.)

This is mid throw of a snowball.

Grammie also took Cole to school for their Hanukkah party. They had a little activity where they made a picture frame. As you can see Cole is taking this very seriously and even felt he needed a "hammer" to help. He was able to find one from a puzzle.

New Mickey Mouse PJ's from Grammie.

Sporting his new hat from mom and dad while wearing his favorite shoes...dad's.

Halloween Photos

A couple of photos with Cole's Halloween outfit.  We had them professionally done and he had a blast.  You can tell he really likes the outfit.  

Now we didn't realize how dirty George was until we saw this.  Poor George is so filthy.  

Trick or Treating 2010

Our Big Boy!

Cole has now moved into his transition bed! We debated on when we should make the switch because he really loved his crib, but he was starting to try to climb out. Also, we hope this makes traveling easier. He was very excited about being able to get in and out of his bed. Often times he wants to hang out in his room and in his bed now. The first nap was probably the worst as we could here him getting in and out. He ever went to the door and would play with the handle only opening the door twice. He was shocked when we would come in to put him back in the bed, wondering how we knew he was out. After the initial excitement he had done a great job staying and sleeping in his big boy bed.

Mickey and Minnie!

We have been planning a trip to Disney for some time and finally our schedule allowed. We are able to get season passes at a discounted rate by being Southern California residents. (Yeah, we pay for it in many other ways.) But we decided Cole was old enough to appreciate Disney, so we bought the passes again this year. He had a blast. He was so excited to look at everything. Right now the park is decorated for Halloween. We weren't sure if he would be scared of the characters or if he would want to get close to them and to our surprise he was excited to see them. We were able to meet Pluto, Goofy, Minnie and Mickey this trip. It was really fun for us to watch Cole take everything in. He went on a number of rides as well. The nice thing about the passes is that we can get there when the park opens and then leave by 11:30 or so before the park gets so busy.

Grandma and Aunt Heather's Visit

Grandma Hobson made the trip out in early October to stay with Cole while mom and dad went to a wedding in Northern California. It was a wonderful get away for mom and dad and we think Grandma had a pretty good time as well. Aunt Heather was able to join for the weekend. Cole had a fantastic time and was asking where Grandma and Aunt Heather were for days afterwards.

Cole's "Crazy for Dirt" t-shirt. Very appropriate lately.

Cole has discovered the climbing wall at the playground. Notice dad's hand at the ready. This is the same playground where he fell and broke his leg. No fear.

Rare chance to snuggle and swing.

He hasn't quite figured out how to climb on this.

Cole's fashion sense. He loves to wear the hat and glasses. Usually he says he is going to work when he puts them on. Often times he also puts on bright green, frog rain boots to complete his ensemble.

Cole pretending to be an elephant

Cole is at that really cute stage where he likes to pretend. One of his favorite activities is being animals and the elephant is always a favorite. He is becoming pretty creative.

Getting ready for Halloween

Just a sneak peak of Cole's costume for Halloween! He really likes his outfit. Many, many thanks to Grandma Hobson for helping pull everything together and coming up with some creative solutions! He saw Curious George dress like the Man With The Yellow Hat in one of his books and thought he should be that for Halloween.

Starting Pre-School

This picture is from Cole's first day at pre-school. He recently started attending transitional pre-school classes at the JCC. Cole and dad attend twice a week for roughly two hours each class. The goal is to start the transition to full time pre-school and being away from the parents. Cole has really been enjoying his classes and is doing well in the transition away from mom and dad. They start by playing outside and doing some art projects. Then the kids move inside for some stories, snack and music time. In January we plan to move Cole to twice a week, but for a longer period of time.

Iowa Apple Orchard and Cool Tractor

We have made it home safely and are settling back in to the house.  Cole loves all of his toys.  It is like they are brand new!  Unfortunately it is extremely hot so we are trying to find things to do that keep us cool.  

Below are some photos from the apple orchard we visited with Grandma and Grandpa in Iowa.  Cole had a blast looking at all of the animals and playing with the little houses.  They had different little scenes from children's books set up.  His favorite were the houses from the three little pigs.  

You will also see him "swimming" in a corn pool.  Basically it is like a large ball pit, but they fill a large area with corn.  Cole wasn't quite sure at first, but once he got going it was hard to pull him out.  One of the side effects is the amazing amount of dust that you get covered with from playing in the pool.  Oh well, he had lots of fun.  

This was one of the few days without rain, so we took advantage of it while we could.  

Cole also had a lot of fun checking out Grandpa's lawn tractor.  He got out of the car and stopped dead in his tracks and just stared for a bit.  Then he said "Cool tractor".   He loved playing on it and pretending to drive.  If he could have figure out how to start the tractor I am sure he would have taken off.  Nice to know he is on track to follow in his fathers footsteps of driving by the age of 4!   He did go for a ride with Grandpa and loved every minute.