Bike Riding in Venice

It was a beautiful, post-Christmas Saturday, sunny and cool. The perfect day for bike riding on the beach, undoubtedly one of the great perks of living in L.A. The last time I'd done this was with the Long Island Ladies (Lisa, Andrea, Ilene, Risa) the year before our wedding. Kate had only ridden a bicycle briefly a couple of times, so she was very excited to give it a real try. In the summertime, this path is usually a traffic jam of bikers, joggers, and rollerbladers, but not today. All the Angelenos were on vacation. And I think we were the only non-Europeans there. Chris said, "Kate, give me your best biker face." Kate liked the line her sock made on her leg. "Let's go to the beach!"

Kate watching Appa fetch some water.

Kate and I collected shells to decorate our towers with.

"Come on, Mom, let's run!" It's not a day at the beach without Kate running to and from the waves.

While Appa got us lunch, Kate browsed the elegant fashions on display. She was particularly fascinated by all the tushies. I caught her going down the line, tapping each one and laughing.

"Hmm. Which one would look best on me?"

We had a lovely picnic lunch of pizza and apple fries with cinnamon.

The seagulls started closing in on us, so Kate tossed them pieces of her left-over crust.

The gulls were pros.

We ended the day at the playground next to Muscle Beach. Kate got another workout running back and forth on the bridge.

As soon as we got home, all of us crashed and took a nice, long nap.

Merry Christmas!

Kate woke up on Christmas morning and for the first time, rushed downstairs to see if Santa had come. "Look! He ate the cookies! And he left a bell! But why didn't he drink all the milk??" Don't let the dispassionate face fool you -- Kate was very excited. Until Mom made her pose with the bell three times. First up was a gift for Nana's dog, Metta -- a Xmas wreath squeaky toy that Kate picked out herself. "So Metta can hang a wreath in her house, too!" Pop-Pop and Grammy Marianne sent Kate a cash register with play money inside. Kate and Nana played with it for the next three hours. Nana continued to be a loyal customer even though all the merchandise in Kate's store was both used and highly overpriced. "That box is fifty dollars, Nana." Among the gifts we gave Nana was a basket carved out of wood, which she loved. She said we "really knew her," and got all verklempt, making Chris and I very happy, and Kate a little confused. "Why is Nana crying?" Next it was time to open Nana's gift to Kate. What could this giant, gold-wrapped thing be? A wooden princess castle! The perfect domicile for Kate's Cinderella action figures. Chris was more than a little embarrassed by how excited I was to play with it. "Look, Kate! A drawbridge!" Uncle Glenn, Aunt Jen, and Cousin Kes sent a bunch of presents to us, some of which were handmade (a wind chime and a tote bag with Kes' beautiful drawing). We also got a "sun catcher" for the window, and a shawl and hair clip for Mom.

Kate loved the toy horse and doll and especially the small music book that plays "The Farmer in the Dell."

She's kept it at her bedside since opening it on Xmas Eve. "So I can look at it when I sleep." Thank you, Funk-n-Weyants!

Kate models the pink hair clip Soo-eemo bought for her. Soo's gifts had a "pink" theme -- the book "Pinkalicious," a pink hair clip, and a pink knapsack! Lucy got Kate a chef's outfit knowing that Kate is very fond of cooking things at her play stove. Kate used the pot holder right away. "The pot is very hot!" The time had come to see what Santa left. Kate tore a piece of the wrapping paper and knew immediately... A pink polka-dot telephone! The one she's been wanting for months! Kate even told Santa at A Child's Garden that she wanted "two candy canes, and a pink polka-dot phone." She was ecstatic. "The elves know how to make a phone, wow!" Here is a video of Kate with her new phone: Emil Samcheon, Lisa Sook-mo, and Emma sent Kate a Hello Kitty CD player and a Disney Princess CD (along with a contribution to her 529 college fund), in honor of their special time at Disneyland together. Thank you, Chapel Hill Kangs! Kate loved the CD. It had all her favorite songs, like "Part of Your World": This was the first year Kate could appreciate Christmas and all its mysterious and materialistic glory. She had several logical questions: "How is Santa going to come inside? We don't have a chimney." (we told her he'd come through the garage...or the window). "If Santa comes on his sleigh, how do the elves get here?" (this was asked after Chris said the elves would come to help Santa deliver gifts. I told her they take the train, round-trip). "Does Santa know how to sew?" (Kate asked this after she eyed a Cinderella dress in a store and wanted it for Xmas). Finally, a little hope for Appa, and all of us, as we head into the New Year. Nana had to go to the airport soon afterwards, and Kate was sad to see her go, but she was able to call Nana the following morning on her new, pink polka-dot telephone! It was truly a holly, jolly, fun Christmas.

Roast Beast at Lucy's

Lucy's Moms, Amy D. and Hilary invited us over for Xmas Eve dinner. As always, Kate was excited to see Lucy. Lucy is always game for a photo. As is Kate, who's voguing in the background. Kate brought along her new Cinderella "action" figures.

Hilary's birthday was a couple of weeks earlier, so we also brought her gifts -- two books and a head-bobbing, hip-wiggling, solar-powered monkey from Japan. Chris knew she'd love it, and he was right.

Hilary read aloud, "Library Lion," a book Nana gave to Lucy for Christmas.

Mom and jolly Kate.

Kate and Lucy are both in a "lipstick" phase, and had fun sniffing each other's scented lip balm. Kate's was blueberry-grape, Lucy's was vanilla.

They played the game "sleep-over" and "camping out" in between bouts of sniffing, singing, and jumping.

Matching green blankets were necessary for this game.

The girls liked changing the locale of their sleep-overs.

The pretty Christmas Eve dinner table. The china was Amy's parents' wedding china. Roast beef, mashed yams with ginger, Yorkshire Pudding (see photo below), and string beans with shallots, mushrooms, and tomatoes (this dish courtesy of the Kang-Weyants)! Everything was incredible. Kate loved the roast beef so much, she ate enough for three ("More gogi!").

The beautiful Yorkshire pudding. It was my first time having it. Un-anglo as I am, I thought it was going to be pudding like rice pudding. After the pumpkin pie dessert, Hilary and Amy brought out "Christmas crackers." Which I thought were crackers that you ate...for Christmas. Inside the cardboard tubes that we "cracked" open were paper crowns, silly riddles (at which Kate laugh heartily, even the ones she didn't get), and toys. It was wonderful. We were all as excited as Kate and Lucy to discover what was inside. And I thought paper crowns were only found in movies like "About A Boy" or at Burger King. I've clearly lived a ghettoized life. Merry Xmas Eve! Thank you, Chef Amy D! Time for a post-prandial dance! Chris decided to shake up all the food inside Kate and Lucy's bellies by flipping them upside-down.

Thankfully, nobody vomited.

Lucy and Kate then flipped their skirts over their heads for fun. Kate said, "I'm Mary, and I have a baby in my belly," and sang "Mary had a baby, yes Lord..."

We headed to The Grove to see the "snow" magically fall at exactly 8 o'clock from the movie theater roof.

Kate was thrilled.

"Fake snow! Fake snow, hooray!" My throat started to close and I developed a hacking cough. Probably not a good sign.

Chris took this shot of the girls gazing at Santa plugged into his Xmas iPhone.

Kate and Lucy checked Santa's mailbox to see if there were letters inside.

We all went home sated and happy. It was a lovely Xmas Eve.