2008 Olympics

This is a tray of Chinese candy given to us by some friends of ours. I'm hoping my friends that have been immersed in Chinese culture can give me a heads up as to what any of this is. We may or may not eat it in honor of the Olympics being held in China. I, Maria, am a huge Olympics fan. Jeff, not so much, but he humors me. I know, it may be lame to admit this obsession with the Olympics, but at least it gives us something to watch as we drag through the NFL preseason and wait and wait and wait for college football to finally start. I think both my parents helped to instill this interest in the games as we watched them together as a family when I was a child. Of course, always cheering against the Russians and any other communist bloc country that we were competing against-Cold War anyone? Anyway, my Dad's love of sports combined with my Mom's fierce loyalty and love for this country made the two weeks of Olympic competition very important in our home. I'm hoping to pass that love of sport and love of country on to Kate. So, yes, Jeff will be forced to watch the opening ceremonies with me tonight and probably even some of the gymnastics competition later on, but we'll be doing it as a family. Hopefully it will become a sweet memory for Kate (and Jeff) as it has been for me.

Happy Half Birthday Kate!

Kate turned a year and a half yesterday-18 months. I can't believe what a little girl she has become, no more baby here. Her language skills are amazing and she imitates EVERYTHING that I do. It can be a little embarrassing-it makes me reexamine myself everyday. We went to the doctor today for a check up. She was such a brave girl, very little crying. She is, as I write this, asleep on the floor of our bonus room-that one vaccination the doctor gave her has really knocked her out. The nurse started a sentence with, "at her 2 year appointment", and I thought-she's going to be 2! That made me really sad.

For those of you keeping up:

Kate weighs 21 lbs, 6 oz and is 31 inches long
10th percentile for weight, 25th for length, and 50th for head circumference
In other words, a petite girl with a big head!

Lobster Feast

While Aunt Gina was here, Kate had her first encounter with a live lobster. To commemorate Momma Costa closing on her new house-Hooray!-Gina ordered live lobsters from Maine for a celebratory dinner. This was the second time we had lobster that week, the first being Jeff's birthday. Jeff was one happy man. Anyway, back to Kate and lobsters-she really wasn't sure what to think. At least we didn't put them on the ground and let them walk around. Oh well, maybe next time!

PS-Pictures of Nana's new house coming soon!

Champions

So again I've let almost another month pass by without an update, so now you will be flooded with a huge update all at once. We returned safely from California where we went to cheer Uncle David's team in the US Soccer Developmental Academy U-16 National Championships. There were eight teams in the final round and as my mother-in-law said, and I quote, "at times like these there are winners and there are losers and we are not the losers." In other words, Uncle David's team from Indiana won! We had a fun time and we are so proud. Here are some pictures taken after the game, which, by the way, was shown live on ESPNU with lots of interviews of David and a few shots of his family cheering him on.

Bananagrams

While in California David's girlfriend, Meghan, introduced a new game to us called Bananagrams and we were immediately addicted. If you've never played, its fun and you can come over to our house to play a round anytime. (Heather and Tripp-this is your warning-if you come over next week!) Even Kate liked to watch and steal a letter or two.


Our view from the condo was awesome and we were able to visit with Jeff's cousin Christopher who lives in Hollywood.

Long Beach Baby-okay, maybe not!

We went to the aquarium in Long Beach. Kate really wasn't that impressed with the sharks or tropical fish or the over-sized otter as you can see in the picture below. She did however enjoy the birds, except when they jumped onto Mommy's arm. We had a great time.

Daddy and Kate are trying to touch a shark!

Kate's not so sure about that bird!

Happy Birthday Daddy and Aunt Gina!

This past week we celebrated Daddy's birthday and Aunt Gina's birthday. Gina, or Gigi as Kate calls her, was here visiting all week and we had a great time. I think I gained 10 pounds from all the celebrating we did.


On Jeff's birthday, Kate, Jeff, and I had a birthday picnic lunch at a lake with some overly aggressive ducks, but Kate obviously liked them.


We also introduced Gina to banagrams and she's hooked too. Kate's expression seems to convey that she thinks we're crazy, but she'll soon learn of the Costa competitiveness.


We had a great time with you Gigi!