Fun with wheelchairs

As I posted previously, we have had my Grandma Bucky (81 yrs), Great-Aunt Hobbie (86 yrs), and their younger friend Jo (71 yrs) visiting this past week. I can tell you that they definitely don't act their ages! Yesterday we went to the Norwegian Folk Museum and Jo reserved a wheelchair for Hobbie. Hobbie doesn't actually NEED a wheelchair, its just that we thought it would be more comfortable for her and more fun for everyone if we had one. We were right about the more fun part...
Whenever there was a bit of an uphill section, Hobbie had to get off the chair and walk up the hill. So we went looking for the Stave Church (of course, an uphill walk) and when we were about halfway there, a lady walked past us and said that the Church was closed but would reopen in 30 minutes. She advised us to go back the way we came and look at the Exhibit Hall. Hobbie got back in the wheelchair and had an exciting ride down the hill while Jo tried her best to not let Hobbie go flying - a close call! There was a lot of giggling while they sped downhill through the gravel.

The wheelchair fun didn't stop there. A flight of stairs led up to the Exhibit Hall, but fortunately we found an open-air elevator to lift Hobbie, Jo and the wheelchair up to the entrance. Somehow the big red button got pushed about a foot from the top and the elevator stopped moving. The doors wouldn't open and none of the buttons worked, so Hobbie, Jo and the wheelchair were effectively stuck. We flagged down several people who tried to help, and eventually a Maintenence Man was called. There was a LOT of giggling at this scene!
Here is the view from the top of the stairs, with the doors that wouldn't open and the troublesome duo trapped behind them.
Finally the Maintenence Man appeared and worked his magic so that the ladies would be free. After this episode, I rode the elevators first just to make sure they worked okay.
This morning we said goodbye to Jo, Hobbie and Bucky. Rhiannon really took to all 3 of them and I know she is really going to miss them.
When I have been putting Rhiannon to bed, I name all of the people that love her. "Mama loves you, and Daddy loves you" etc etc... I go through pretty much everyone she knows. Last night though, she interrupted me by asking "Bucky?" "Yes, Bucky loves you", I said. "Hobbie?" "Yes, Hobbie loves you", I said. "Jo?" "Yes, Jo loves you". She was quiet after that and went straight to sleep.

37 weeks

Actually I was 36 weeks when the left (current) picture was taken last week and I was 37 weeks when the right (last time) picture was taken. Either way, its getting closer! And bigger!

Special visitors

We have had some special visitors this week - my Grandma Bucky (Rhiannon's great-Grandma), my Great-Aunt Hobbie (Bucky's sister) and their lifelong friend Jo -- pictured below from left to right. They arrived on Wed afternoon (Sept 12) and are staying with us for a whole week. Its been so great having them here, especially since my last day at work was Friday. Now I am officially on Maternity Leave - woo hoo!Rhiannon loves her frog umbrella and was thrilled to be able to use it this morning when we went for brunch at a nearby hotel. We have had such gorgeous autumn weather lately but this morning we woke up to drizzly rain.Great-Grandma Bucky brought Rhiannon this horse purse all the way from Cascade Corrals in Stehekin, Washington. Rhiannon was SO excited about it that she had to take it with her for a ride on the JCB tractor.
Yesterday we went up to the Holmenkollen ski jump and enjoyed the crystal clear view over Oslo and the Oslofjord.
Grandma Bucky spotted this bougainvillea plant here at the Holmenkollen Restaurant and it does look rather out of place in this non-tropical locale!

Dream Kitchen

We got Rhiannon a play kitchen for her new bedroom (which is still just a playroom for her).

We haven't installed the batteries for the "Dream Kitchen" to make kitchen-y noises yet...we are saving those for a rainy day! From the minute Rhiannon is awake now until we have to drag her to the bathtub before going to bed, all she wants to do is play "kooka". The whole DK experience got off to a shaky start though because Rhiannon saw me putting it together with a hammer and power drill, so of course she thought that hitting it and trying out all of Daddy's tools was how she was supposed to play!

Now she very busily rolls up her sleeves, pretends to cut up fruit, put pizza in the microwave and of course dump everything onto the floor. She seems to prefer to sit on the medicine ball while she is cooking though.

Change in the air

We have had really wonderful weather lately -- right around 65 deg F during the day with a lovely breeze. Our plum tree is full of sweet juicy plums (finally) which we have been enjoying. But the leaves are starting to turn on some of the trees...change is definitely in the air! Lately the Minx has been really keen to wear the supersoft Bunny Poncho that Aunt Heidi gave her nearly a year ago -- tears are usually shed when its time for the Bunny Poncho to go back on the coathook.Aside from the normal work / barnehage routine, we have been busy converting the 'gym' into Rhiannon's new bedroom so that the new baby can use the Nursery room. We bought Rhiannon a 'big girl bed' which is basically a top bunk of short bunkbed (with rails on the side) but with cupboards and shelves underneath. It will probably be at least a few months before she is ready to sleep in here, but we want to get her primed for her supercool 'big girl bed'. The first thing she did when she saw it today was climb into the cupboard while carrying her baby doll with her.

Baby doll goes for a ride...

...on Rhiannon's new JCB tractor! Isn't riding in the front end loader bucket way more fun than being pushed around in a stroller? Baby doll doesn't really have a say in the matter, but its a step up from being stomped on.

We decided that Rhiannon needed a really cool toy and Rhodri couldn't resist after seeing it in the toy shop last weekend. It has a backhoe too, but I think we will wait awhile before installing that part. We figure we can maybe get Rhiannon to plow the snow for us this winter!

Kooka, horses and more

This morning Rhodri got to sleep in, so Rhiannon and I cooked some zucchini bread. Rhiannon was more excited about wearing the salmon-styled oven mitt and playing with the egg-beater than stirring and pouring, but that was a cleaner way of "Rhiannon kooka" anyway (that's what she was saying all morning). Here she is in her new apron after having abandoned the salmon oven mitt.This afternoon we went to a farm for a company-sponsored picnic and horse-riding for the kids. We missed the horse riding part, but we got to go pet some of them and watch them roll in the dirt, chase and buck and make horsie noises. Verrrry exciting for the Minx.
By the time we got home, it was after 5pm so we just laid on the floor and played with Bentley. Actually, I didn't lay on the floor. I took this photo. But Rhodri, Rhiannon and Bentley spent awhile on the floor together.

Back at it

Well, we have settled back into life here after our wonderful vacation. The air has definitely turned in this part of the world and it is clearly not summer anymore. Temps have been in the low 60's during the day and mid-40's at night, but we have had plenty of sunshine ever since we got back. I haven't taken any photos this week though, so here is one my favorite photos from the archives...she is 5 months old here and on her way to the bath.
I think Rhiannon is excited to be back at barnehage. She had been calling for her new teacher Mona (pronounced "Moona") over the vacation, so Rhiannon was happy to see her again. The first few days I took her in the morning she cried for a few minutes, but on Tuesday we didn't even make it all the way inside before Rhiannon had climbed onto the back of another kid's tricycle and was off! And now that the new school year has started, Rhiannon is no longer the smallest or youngest so I think she likes that.

She continues to speak a mix of Norwegian, Welsh and English. I hope that she will soon start to realize that Norwegian is for speaking at barnehage, Welsh is for Daddy and English is for Mama but at the moment its a mix of everything (at least at home). She is pretty effective at communicating though, even if she doesn't know the word for what she wants.

Not a promising start

Today we bought Rhiannon a doll. We have started telling her about the "new baby in Mama's tummy". Apparently at barnehage (nursery school) she loves carrying a doll around and pushing it in a stroller. We thought we should promote the whole 'being gentle and loving with new baby' idea. Well, her first afternoon with this doll didn't go so well. After this video clip was filmed, Dolly got thrown into the wading pool by a certain little Minx and is presently getting dried out...


Rhiannon first says "Bike! Bike!" and points to the sky because she thinks she is hearing a motorcycle. Then when she grabs the doll, she says "Na-non", which is her way of saying "Rhiannon".

Old and new friends in Goleta

On the last day that we were back in Goleta, my two good friends Amy and Diane from grade school times came by to visit. Diane lives on the east coast, but she happened to be in town with her nearly 1-year-old daughter Kate while we were there. Here we are with Amy (middle) and Diane holding Kate.
Kate was quick to increase her crawling speed when Rhiannon came crawling after her!

Post-wedding Burrito Breakfast

On the Sunday morning after the wedding, Eric and Kristin had arranged for a catered Burrito Breakfast back at the Gans house. It was such a nice way to end the event and say goodbye to people. Four generations of girls...me, Rhiannon, Grandma Debi and Great-Grandma Linda
Rhiannon loved rubbing noses with her Great Uncle JoeGiving Great-Aunt Libby a big high-five
Trying on Cousin Keltie's sunglasses
Helping Kristin and Eric pack for their honeymoon Dragging Uncle Eric around for one last chase down the hallway
Happy with all the attention she is receiving

Recipe for travel success

We actually had a pretty good trip back to Norway! We were braced for the absolute worst because we had quite a few things going against us: we were NOT in business class this time, we had 3 large heavy suitcases, a bike and a Burley bike trailer that we were attempting to check in all the way to Oslo. Throw in the pregnant lady, the toddler with stroller and the gimp husband with his arm in a sling and that was us! We must have really looked a pathetic sight and I reckon that was the recipe for our successful trip. Thanks to Great-Aunt Libby for providing the disguise below which provided a few minutes of entertainment!

Here is what we did: drove to LAX from Santa Barbara in a Ford Expedition SUV (our stuff wouldn't fit into our original rental car, so we had to trade it for this) and arrived 4 hours before our flight. I dropped Rhodri off at the curbside of our terminal with all of the stuff while I returned the rental car, and Rhodri found a baggage guy with a big cart who he paid $20 to help him get to the counter. That $20 turned out to be the best move, because the guy took Rhodri and the cart-o-stuff right to the front of the line and told the check-in desk lady that all the weights were fine (we had weighed them before leaving and we knew that they were overweight!). Then the check-in lady was able to move our seats to be in a better location and gave Rhodri boarding passes for all 3 of us even though Rhiannon and I were not there yet! We knew that we were over the baggage allowance limit and so we had planned on coughing up the excess baggage fees for the bike and trailer, but somehow we didn't have to. I was really surprised when Rhiannon and I got to the terminal and found Rhodri with all the boarding passes and the luggage checked in. That was the first sign of good luck on this journey. At several points in our journey, airport employees saw us coming and ushered us a separate (shorter, faster) way or helped us without needing to be asked to help. At security checks in LAX and also at London-Heathrow, we were sent to the Fast Track line and not given any hassle. Then in Oslo when we were trying to get us plus all our stuff onto the train, the train lady helped carry the bags on and found a place for us to all sit together.
Here is the Minx before the juice kicked in...
On the plane from LAX to London, Rhiannon slept for 6 hours thanks to the knock-out juice we gave her. I had mixed feelings about giving her "the juice" originally, but I think it was the right thing to do. When she gets good sleep and wakes up smiling, life is so much easier! She was really good the whole trip and didn't cry or scream like other toddlers on the planes. Fortunately I had brought a bunch of toys, stickers and snacks to keep her going when she started to fade towards the end.

The one sad thing is that one of our suitcases got lost, but it could have been a lot worse. Once we got to Oslo, we were sure that the 2 large boxes for the bike and trailer would draw the attention of the Customs officials but they didn't! The hardest part was when we finally arrived by train into Asker and we couldn't find a taxi that had a car seat for Rhiannon plus enough space for our luggage. But as luck would have it, our great friend Emily arrived into the Asker train station just as we were struggling with taxi drivers so she was able to walk home and get her car to shuttle us back to our house. Phew!

So we made it home around 6:45pm yesterday, exactly 24 hours after we left Santa Barbara. We had a bit of dinner and then all went to sleep and woke up at 9:45am this morning. Now Bentley is back with us and we are gearing up for work and barnehage tomorrow.

An epic wedding

We have a new Mrs. Gans in the family! My little brother Eric Gans married the lovely Kristin Chadez yesterday in a wonderful wedding -- perfect weather, great people, excellent food -- one really could not have wished for a better wedding day. Here is Grandma Debi with the Minx before the ceremony outside the church. The Minx has been really into eating apples lately. She eats the entire thing except for the stem (even the seeds!).
No photos of the ceremony itself, but here are 4 of the 5 groomsmen with Rhiannon after the ceremony...Rhodri, Scott (Kristin's brother), Brandon, and brother Will. Rhiannon seems to LOVE males. Notice how flirtatiously she is looking at Scott!
The whole Gans family: my brother Will, Grandma Bucky, Dad Carl, sister Heidi, Bride Kristin, Groom Eric, Mom Debi, me, Rhiannon and Rhodri.
The wedding was in Montecito, but the reception was at our family home in Goleta. Here we are all revved up outside the marquee tent. Rhiannon did a lot of running and dragging people to "come" with her to play in the dirt. The Minx got to sit between Grandma Debi and Grandpa Carl, and although she was really good for the whole reception dinner, she wasn't exactly cooperating in this photo!
There were many moments that did not (thankfully) get documented by photo.... aside from the great food, music, and dancing late into the night, there were a few casualties of excess alcohol slumped in spots around the garden and there was one saucy dancer who gave everyone something to talk about! It was the way a wedding event should be, I think. Rhiannon went to bed at 8pm, slept through all of the activity and woke up at 8:15am Sunday morning. Woo hoo!

Days before the Big Day

Things have been busy at the Gans family house! With the big marquee tent set up in the backyard and lots of people coming and going, there is no shortage of attention for the little Minx. There have been BBQ's and brunches and general hanging out at the family home, and it has been wonderful. Here is the Minx with Grandma Debi.On the way to the wedding rehearsal at the church yesterday, getting a fast ride from Uncle Will, who she calls "Woo"
Up the back steps to the church, being carried by Grandpa and Uncle Will. Rhodri in the backgroundShe took an afternoon nap during the 5pm rehearsal so that she would be revved up for the Rehearsal Dinner at 7pm. Here she just woke up and was being cuddly with Grandma Debi and Aunt Heidi.
Great-Grandma Linda gave Rhiannon a very soft cuddly dog and once we got home after the Dinner, she didn't want to get off the stairs where she was cuddling.
The Rehearsal Dinner was a success, and boy was Rhiannon revved up! She has been shouting her words lately, and last night was definitely a shouting night. Anytime someone got up from the dinner table, she would shout "Back! Back! Back!" -- as in, "come back!". And whenever she sees someone with a mobile phone, she shouts "Halllooo! Hallloooo!". So she is very excited about all of her new words. She is also really good at pronouncing people's names, or at least trying to. She is best at saying "Bucky" (as in, "Great-Grandma Bucky") and "Becca" (as in Rebecca, Uncle Will's girlfriend).

Goleta the Good Land

Now we are back on home turf, staying at the family home in Goleta "the Good Land" California (Santa Barbara area). Various family members are trickling in the past few days before my brother Eric's wedding on Saturday. Rhiannon instantly took to her Uncle Eric "Eh-tid" and her Uncle Will "Woo", as well as to their better halves Kristin and Rebecca. The Minx loves getting so much attention from everybody! So life is pretty great here at the moment.
Below, Rhiannon enjoys some melon and lounging time with her friend Liam (19 months)Each day starts with an early morning visit upstairs to "Ga-ka" and "Ga-pa" so that Rhodri and I can sleep in a little bit more. Yay!! Then there is the mandatory visit to feed the kitty cats outside before having breakfast and waiting for Rhodri and I to wake up.
Grandma "Ga-ka" Debi bought this little froggy pool and so Rhiannon has spent hours transferring water from the pool to the cat food dish and back, taking sips for herself every now and then.The cat food dish getting water dumped out, with Grandpa "Ga-pa" Carl helping

Dancing queen

Oh wait, I guess that is another song...this is Abba's "Take a chance on me" being danced to by Rhiannon, Jayden and Hannah while we were in Reno last week

Goodbye San Diego

We left San Diego sooner than originally planned. Poor Rhodri with his gimp shoulder had booked an appointment with a specialist in Santa Barbara for Monday, and so we left San Diego Sunday afternoon. There were so many people that we didn't get to see! Apologies to those who didn't hear from us at all -- it just was too short of a visit.
Once we hit the road Sunday afternoon, we got stuck in traffic for a ridiculous amount of time. Eventually we made it to San Clemente and called in with Mike and Deanna Pearce and their 2 boys Aidan (4) and Tyler (17 months). We had a nourishing dinner with them and then put all the kids in the bath. Here is Aiden, Rhiannon and Tyler playing nicely with the bath toys.
All sweet and clean, ready for bed -- or at least ready to fall asleep on the 3 hour drive up to Santa Barbara!

Sunday Brunch with the Vivas

I was looking forward to this Sunday morning for a long time because I had planned to meet up with all of my Mama friends and our babies who are all about the same age. Most of us became friends while we were pregnant and then we went on to enjoy regular playdates with our young ones and we even formed a little club called "Viva Las Mamas" ("Vivas" for short, with the motto, 'what happens in Las Mamas stays in Las Mamas').
Here are (clockwise from back left): Ruby w/ Cade, Lisa w/ Isabella, Nicole w/ Sofia, Rosie w/ Toby (asleep somewhere), Heidi w/ Elke and us.Elke, Isabella, Cade, Rhiannon and Sofia really wanted to get into the duck pond at our brunching location (94th Aero Squadron).Cade and Rhiannon loved playing in the fake barbed wire.Toby, Ben, Rosie, Brett, me, Elke, Heidi, Rhiannon, Rhodri, Cade, Ruby, Lisa, Isabella and Espi in front of 94th Aero Squadron Restaurant. Nicole, Miguel and Sofia had already left unfortunately :-(