TRAVEL-GIRL

Nannerkins has been on the road. Oh yes: she's been on a plane and everything! Here's a week's worth of pics.

This was Van demonstrating the creeping and gnawing she's learned from Milo, back before her world cracked wide open with grand vistas beyond the living room. We packed up and her life hasn't been the same since.

Our drive to San Francisco was great. Our flight to Portland was great. Nessa behaved like she was born to travel - no crying! Of course it was a 1.5 hour flight, carefully timed between a snack and a nap, but she did very well and even drew some comments to that effect from nearby passengers.

We met up with our Seattle Urban Family at a big beach house on the Oregon Coast. This included 3 three-year-olds. Nessers was definitely not the center of attention - she was the audience. She learned many new things.

Technically she was the oldest... but only if you are counting age from conception.

Our Urban Family saw us through many dark and uncertain times, when our parents and siblings were far away. All those ups and downs in the road led to Vanessa. This trip was the first time she met most everyone - "Auntie" Michelle, "Uncle" Petey, "Auntie" Maribeth, Uncle" Allan, "Auntie" Dianne, "Uncle" Brad, "Auntie" Katji, "Uncle" Todd, and she had already met "Auntie" Sarah and "Auntie" Sandi (and "Uncle" Wendell).

See the nice, nice 40-ish daddys who have known each other for years? See the pride of parenthood glowing off their every edge? That's because each of these children is a miracle with a story.

Duncan called Vanessa "Baby Nessa!" and took great delight in peering into her face, hugging her, and he even kissed her (with Daddio's permission). One day Duncan looked at me and said, "You are Baby Nessa's Mom!" and I felt warm and misty. He's the first person to say that to me.

Nessers has graced us with two new vocabulary words. One is Da-Da-Da which is replacing the ever popular monkey screech. Roughly translated, Da-Da-Da means, "Wow! Great! I love it/you! Oh, how interesting!" It is typically accompanied by the ankle twirl and monkey-toe flap, neither easy to do. Of course it's no surprise Nessers says "Da-Da-Da" around her dad who is her very best guy and also happens to be her personal Adventure Machine.

Vocabulary word number 2 is Nay-Nay-Nay and sounds a tad like a whine or a plea. Roughly translated, Nay-Nay-Nay means mother. Nay-Nay-Nay sometimes sounds like Gnay-Gnay-Gnay which resembles gnaw, gnaw, gnaw. At night it sounds like Nen-Nay-Oh which is Japanese for beddie-bye. I've come to believe my role in Nessa's life is that of a dock, as in a telephone needs to placed on its dock at regular intervals to rest and refuel. I am Vanny's dock. Maybe Nay-Nay-Nay really means dock.

Daddio (Da-Da-Da) wore VH1 on his chest a great deal of the time in Oregon. (Nay-Nay-Nay appreciated that!) Daddio and VanNesserkins visited the ocean, the shops in Manzanita, the wooded trails, the tide pools at Canon Beach, and windy beaches. "Adventure machine."

It was hard to part ways after only a long weekend, but we did so with the hopes of getting together again soon.

We did get to stay one night in Portland with "Auntie" Katji and "Uncle" Todd before heading back to California. "Auntie" Katji was really fun, and, well, Nessers had a bad crush on "Uncle" Todd.

The fun doesn't stop here. Our goddaughter DeLancey is visiting with her parents Derek and Jo today. Then tonight Grandma Patty arrives with Auntie Cyndi and wild monkey cousins Daniel and Matthew in tow from Connecticut. Just think of the new tricks she'll learn! Keep checking and I'll get the pics up for y'all.