Gumpa & Ga Ga

As close as we could get to a family photo!

The whipped cream bandit strikes again!

Kate added two new favorite words to her vocabulary while we've been away--Gumpa (Grandpa) and Ga Ga (Grandma). We got home this afternoon and Kate spent the next few hours wandering the house, saying "Gumpa?" "Ga Ga?" I'm pretty sure she misses them. It was a whirlwind Christmas trip, but we had a great time with Ga Ga, two Gumpas, Aunt Courtney, Uncle John and Amanda. We stopped at Gumpa Mac's house first, where Kate got her first fabulous (if noisy!) Christmas present: a keyboard! She definitely likes banging away on it, especially since it has extra buttons to add in more rhythms and sounds. Her dancing is progressing along with her piano playing! In addition to playing the piano and keyboard, we visited OMSI (AMAZING place!!) where Kate especially enjoyed dismantling lego sculptures as fast as Gumpa could make them. We also went to McMenamin's where we discovered that Kate REALLY likes french fries and REI where she showed us that her obsession with "bik-as" (bikes) is still going strong. The bikes were in the same department as the strollers and I'm seriously considering calling up BOB to see if they give commissions because I sold one while we were there! Even the REI salesperson thanked me, although he may have thought I was half crazy the way I was enthusing about a stroller. But, I digress.....from Portland, we went to Bend and, since it was very crowded at my mom and Bill's house, we stayed in Sisters at our very generous friend Nancie's beautiful home. What a fantastic woman to trust a couple with a toddler to take over her house while she's away!! As far as we know, it was still standing when we left. Since we were in Sisters and Ga Ga was nice enough to stay with us some nights, Ryan and I went out one night to the Sisters brewery. I mention this because it was one of the single most momentous nights of Ryan's life. We sat next to his childhood idol, Dan Fouts, who was the quarterback for the San Diego Chargers when Ryan was younger. Lest you think this is not such a big deal, let me just say that Ryan did have a Chargers helmet, Fouts jersey and a subscription to Charger Football Weekly. I'm pretty sure that our wedding day and Kate's birth are now distant seconds on Ryan's list of most amazing days! :) I digress again....aside from the Fouts sighting, we did have a great time on Christmas. Although she repeated "Santa" over and over again all week, Kate had no idea what was going on. The first thing she pulled out of her stocking was Hello Kitty band-aids, so she proceeded to spend the rest of the morning playing with those and drawing on post-its with a pencil. Ah, the simple pleasures. She did get some wonderful presents from Santa, though. Now that we're home she's really taking to them, especially a truck which you hit with a hammer. Why am I not surprised that my delicate little flower likes a toy she can beat and crash into things?? Ga Ga had so many fun things for Kate to play with that she was never lacking for things to do, but somehow her favorite was to open the refrigerator and "help" Ga Ga cook. Just this evening we opened a present from Ga Ga Starla and Gumpa Bob and it was an instant hit: a Radio Flyer scoot bike!! Kate knew what it was immediately and couldn't wait for Ryan to put it together. She took a screwdriver and helped him, too. She figured out how to ride it right away, but she seemed to like fixing it as well. She kept putting her screwdriver in it, saying "fix bika, fix bika." Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you're looking for the humor angle), "fix" comes out like another choice "F" word. Ryan said she showing great mechanical signs already, swearing with a tool in her hand! Yes, it was definitely a Merry Christmas!!