Yay for 90 year olds!

A couple weeks ago, before Hayden started at Daybridge and I started "working", Hayden and I made a trip down to North Carolina in honor of my Granma Jane's 90th birthday. Jason didn't come with us because he needed some time to get work done without any distractions. Why he thinks Hayden and I are distractions, I don't know! I don't find giggles, cuddling and singing silly songs to be all that distracting... hmmm, then again, maybe he's on to something. Maybe that's why it took me so long to finish my dissertation!

The plane ride down was blissfully uneventful. We even had an extra seat next to us on both legs! Hayden really enjoyed wandering around the Philadelphia airport. Climbing on the seats, looking out the window and watching the going-ons, signing airplane ALL THE TIME. Great fun.
After arriving on Thursday, we headed down to Southern Pines for the big event on Saturday. Hayden was all dressed up in her birthday party outfit - her pretty pink dress complete with an birthday cake embroideredon the front! Such a cutie!Granma Jane was quite tickled with her great-granddaughter and tried to give her the house tour. But a one year old has her own ideas about a tour and proceeded to give a self-guided tour of all the "no touch" objects in the house. Nothing was broken, but there was definitely a lot of rearranging as keepsakes got moved to higher vantage points.
After catching up, we all headed over to the dining hall for some grub and for the birthday girl to show off her visitors. Hayden did a great job sitting in the ancient high chair and being showered with attention - smiling and saying "hi" to most people who came over to visit. She especially loved turning around in the chair (there were no working straps) and pointing out the ducks in the print pattern.

And then we got to tour around the community areas while GJ and GR picked up their mail. Hayden loved the opportunity to wander and everybody there LOVED seeing Hayden walking around. Here Grandma provided the security finger for exploring.
During the exploration, Hayden found the Great Pumpkin. Supposedly it came from the chef's garden - it probably weighed more than she did! Maybe we should plan another trip so we can eat pumpkin pie!
All that walking can make a girl tired. And when a little girl is tired, she needs her thumb and her belly. When that little tired girl is wearing a dress, rubbing her belly makes for a very unladylike pose! Good thing she's so cute!

Finally we headed back in the direction of the Sanford villa. Now it's Poppop's turn to stretch his arm with Hayden.

On the way back, Hayden learned a little bit about the vegetation in Southern Pines. That's right, we introduced her to a PINE TREE! She thought it was pretty cool and was excited to learn that pine trees produce LOTS of needles and that you can use their bark like chalk to draw on the sidewalk.
Just before we headed out, we got in a quick four generation photo. Yay Sanford lineage!
Since we were down in Southern Pines, we bopped on over to Whispering Pines to show Hayden the lake where I spent much of my childhood. Hayden was a little more enthusiastic this time than when we dipped her toes in a year ago.
I think she would have gone swimming if I'd let her! You may not be able to tell (check out the ripple patterns) but she's splashing her hands in the water...
We also managed to visit Hayden's OTHER ninety-year old grandmother. (Does Hayden have good genes or what?!) We had a great lunch in their cafe - Hayden loved the fruit that was available but passed on the hamburger we ordered special for her.
Back in Durham, Hayden had a great time exploring her grandparents house. They have so much fun stuff to play with! Like an old school basset hound pull toy, a carpenter's bench, stairs, and a rocking chair.

Hayden did figure out to pull the dog behind her, but she kept turning around to check on him.
Who needs to pull the leash when you can just pick up the silly pooch?!!! Taking a dog for a walk can make you dog-tired! Time for a nap next her new friend.

Stairs, stairs and more stairs. If you turned your back for a minute, there was a good chance that Hayden had headed to the stairs to start to climb.

The child sized rocking chair was another good find at Grandma and Poppop's house. Hayden would go to it and say Raaahhhh to indicate that she wanted to rock!

Target may be selling new "classic" Fisher Price toys but Grandma and Poppop have the REAL thing! Hayden didn't do much hammering or screwing. She mainly liked to carry the tools around. Or she moved the whole bench from the fireplace, to the table, to a chair and back again.
One of the funniest things of the trip was Hayden's obssession with the David Hasseloff magnet on the fridge. She would point to it and say "daddy", over and over and over!
Look ma, no hands! Hayden shows off her fancy drinking technique to the grandparents.


We had a great time on our trip and got to see so many friends and family. Thanks to everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules to hang out with us! You are welcome in State College anytime!