well hello Dolly we are back..

After loads of self dumped guilt and a little hint and pull here and there from others I've finally decided to climb back on the horse. The reason for the absence of posts has nothing to do with a lack of Ada stories, in fact, if anything there have been way to many to accurately capture. So rather than try to go back and tell you how awesome Ada has been since I last posted.. I'm just going to jump back in with both feet. Pretend that little gap never happened...

We recently took a trip to Seattle for Thanksgiving. This was the first trip for our family in a few months (school tends to have that effect) and Ada was VERY excited to ride on the plane (or sleep on the plane) and excited to see Auntie Katie, Thea Dog, Tia Jackie, and Special Friend Tony. She knows they live in Seattle and tells us that often. What she didn't know is that 'big Grandma' (my Grandma) also lives near Seattle and we were going to get to see her as well.

I could go on and on about the trip and how fabulous it was, but I'm going to narrow it down to my top 8 moments from the trip.

**I was going to keep this to 5 items but as I started writing I kept thinking of other totally awesome things that happened**

(in no particular order)

1. Tony letting Ada take over his remote control Bart Simpson toy on Thanksgiving Day. This in itself was a grand gesture, but add the fact that Tony is a little protective of his new floors and freshly painted walls and Ada is a kamikaze remote control driver and this became a true expression of love. Or an unabashed attempt at sucking up. Either way it makes the top 5.

2. Ada finally getting over her shyness at my Grandma's house while she was in the midst of giving out kisses and hugs to everyone. Up to this point she has stolen a few glances of Grandma but wouldn't get close to her. However, during an impromptu round of hugs and kisses (directly planted on the lips), Ada (with a little suggestion from Elliot) headed over and bestowed hugs and kisses on Grandma. My heart melted a little bit at that point.

3. Ada walking down the sidewalk outside of Auntie Katie's apartment building with her fancy pink coat on, her new (hand knit) purple scarf wrapped around her neck, her pink Hello Kitty rain boots on, and pulling her Hello Kitty overnight bag as she made her way to Tony's car. Ada has been moving into fully Kid mode for awhile now but that night she looked so sophisticated and fancy. And she knew it.

4. Playing with Grandma. After breaking through her shyness layer Ada fully took over Grandma's house. She built a house (NOT a fort) with couch pillows and an afghan. She made Grandma play dolls with her - trading her ballerina barbie and Homer Simpson toys back and forth. Ada showed no hesitation in her ability to boss Grandma around. A true sign that Grandma was finally in Ada's inner circle. And the best part - Grandma played right along like she was a fellow 3 year old diva.

5. Ada's morning conversations with Auntie Katie. We woke up every morning to hear a little bit of Ada informing Katie about what was going to happen that day, or what she had dreamed, or what Thea Dog was doing RIGHT THEN. Ada loves conversation and story telling and these early morning bits were wonderful little nuggets.

6. Ada visiting Santa at Nordstroms. This was a spontaneous visit that took over 2 hours in line and lasted maybe 3 minutes. Ada was great. She sat on Santa's lap, gave him a cookie (her doing), and even talked to the big guy. We are officially in full Christmas mode in our house.

7. Ada (and Spiderman) leading Auntie Katie on a nice 1 mile sprint down to the marathon expo (and of course the 1 mile up hill sprint on the way back). Ada enhanced this experience by shouting 'AHHHHHH' at the top of her lungs THE WHOLE WAY - about 10 city blocks through downtown Seattle.

8. Arriving at Tony's house after Ada's overnight and seeing that Ada felt as comfortable there as she does at our house. She had a blast playing with her new toys and with Tia Jackie and SPF Tony, but she also moved about the house with an ease that showed she had experienced nothing but love and attention while she was away from Mommy and Daddy. Truly the greatest gift an auntie or SPF can grant to a parent.

Thanks to everyone who made our little adventure up North absolutely amazing.