Oregonian Doug Hayes is the coolest grandpa ever.
Not only does he give his grandchildren gifts, but they get a present every single week during advent. And he has 10 of them.
“Every year we make a big deal and every week coming into Christmas Advent, every week we give them a gift,” Hayes told KGW News.
Posted by Doug Hayes onSaturday, June 6, 2020
Yup, we want him as our granddad too.
As if that wasn’t enough, his grandkids also got another massive Christmas present this past Christmas on top of their Advent gifts.
He bought them a short yellow bus called “Grandpa Express.”
Posted by Doug Hayes onWednesday, August 14, 2019
“When they saw it, they were just ecstatic,” he told CNN.
He bought the bus so he could drive them to school every day.
Five of the grandkids go to a small private Christian school, Paideia Classical Christian School, that isn’t big enough to have a bus. The other five children aren’t school-aged yet, but two of them will be next year.
Parents of students at Paideia Classical Christian School have to drop their kids off at school every day since there’s no buses.
“The kids have always said, ‘Gee whiz, I like our school, but we would like to be able to have a school bus,'” Hayes said.
So, grandpa decided that he would make that happen.
Posted by Doug Hayes onSunday, April 12, 2020
His grandchildren all live within a 20-minute drive and their school is about two or three miles from his house.
He has no problems with including a school drop off to his morning routine.
“Then I can just drop my bus back here at the house and take my car to work,” he said.
Posted by Doug Hayes onSunday, April 12, 2020
Hayes said he came up with the idea after he and his wife, Amy, were discussing goals that he’d like to accomplish.
His goal came to him after a few weeks of pondering.
“It would be the most fulfilling thing to take the grandkids to school in the morning,” Hayes explained.
Posted by Doug Hayes onSaturday, June 6, 2020
Like a good partner, his wife wasn’t about to let him give up on his dreams.
So, she kept pushing him until they figured out how to make it happen and then started looking for a bus.
It took them a couple of months to find the right one. Hayes just had to outfit the bus with seatbelts and the Grandpa Express was all read to go.
Posted by Doug Hayes onSunday, April 12, 2020
“It’s primarily about getting to spend a few minutes with them every single morning,” Hayes said.
A family took a video of grandpa surprising the kids with their new bus.
Apparently, they were expecting something else for Christmas, which grandpa probably had something to do with.
Posted by Doug Hayes onFriday, December 20, 2019
“What? That’s not a hot air balloon?” said one of the children as grandpa drove the bus up.
But they weren’t disappointed in the least bit. They came running over to the bus when grandpa stopped.
“I thought there was some way I can give them a memory that would last them their life,” Hayes told WZDX.
Posted by Doug Hayes onWednesday, December 31, 2014
“There is a sense of pride and excitement like who does this? This is crazy. So we’re so excited about it and it’s something they’ll hopefully carry into their lives.”
And the children are equally excited to roll up to school and show off their new bus to fellow classmates.
Well, this happened this evening!We’ll get the full file tomorrow to post! 😁 #grandfatherexpress Amy Hayes
Posted by Doug Hayes onSunday, December 22, 2019
“I think they’re gonna say “Why you get to ride a bus no one else does?”
Because they have the coolest grandpa ever who loves them very very much, that’s why! Hear more about this happy Christmas present in the video below.
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