A Belated Indiana Christmas

We traveled to Indiana on December 27th. After last year's fiasco I was NOT traveling during the actual Christmas holiday. Everything went very smoothly this time. Aiden wasn't too happy about sitting still but that was manageable. We booked all our flights during his normal awake hours in hopes of avoiding meltdowns and we were successful. We let him run around during layovers to waste energy and he slept for 1 of the 2 flights each way.

Right before we left with his extra time off work, Andrew took Aiden to see Santa. 

He didn't hate it, he didn't love it.

At the Hampton's, Aiden would run off and we'd find him playing in the dog kennel. 

  

We began our trip at the Hampton after arriving in Indy at 10pm. Aiden was ready to party so we let him stay up while he was happy to play and wind down. He ended going to bed at 1am! We visited with Andrew's cousins and their kiddos the next day and Papo and Karen drove up to see us. 

The kids were so patient every time Aiden would destroy their block creations. I think they are used to having siblings around. Aiden loved running around with other kids and he even had a playmate his own age.

After a day with the Hampton's we went north to my parents new house. Aiden and I had seen it while it was still a model home back in February and this was Andrew's first time there. My friend Lauren came over to visit with us for a while. We went to a holiday party at Aynie and Jammie's house with my family. Aiden and Pearl ran around together, although she preferred he not play with the toys in her room. Pearl always referred to him as "baby" and not his name, "baby fell down" and "sorry baby"... so cute. She would take his hand and lead him around the house.

Andrew AND Aiden both pet a chicken for the first time! They already had a few chickens but Pearl got these fluffy Silkie's for Christmas. They were so soft and adorable.

My parents took Aiden to the Indianapolis Children's Museum for the first time. He couldn't get enough! I think we were tired before he was.

Our first stop was Playscape.

Andrew, Aiden and DziaDzia went down the slide from the 2nd floor to the 1st floor.

Then we visited the dinosaurs!

Snacks with DziaDzia.

Opening doors, oh my! He figured this out at my parents house. 

I'm so glad be have door knobs and not levers.

After a few days with my parents we headed back down to the Hampton's. Kellye, Aaron, Trash and Jason came down for New Year's Eve so we got to spend a little time catching up and playing Cards Against Humanity.

Cooking breakfast with Pa.... mmmm, bacon!

Awesome Aunties! (that is a super mischievous face on the right)

Aiden got very comfortable with the dogs and we even convinced him that they were in fact dogs and not large kitties. So he quit calling them kitty (ky) and said dog (da).

He is very good at pretending to share, but then quickly pulling it away.

We got to see Papo and Karen again one evening.

He enjoyed looking through his new books all on his own.