Kaya turned two yesterday!  She is still not quite sure what that means I think, but did understand that it was a special day.  Her friends at school all made her a super cute card and she celebrated with chocolate ice cream and a big hug from mommy.  She’ll have a more formal candle-blowing out ceremony on Saturday.

Kaya and I took a swing by my old rock this weekend. Tommy painted it for me when he was an undergrad at Duke – I think circa 2002.  It’s a bit run down now, but still fun to play on!

Kaya’s great-aunt and -uncle got her a pair of tasseled moccasin boots that have suddenly become the fashion rage at her school. Everyone has to have a pair!

Today Laura took Kaya and I to the Museum of Life and Science to see the release of the Blue Morpho Butterflies.  It was pretty cool, although they had advertised “a thousand new butterflies” which silly me thought would all be released at once.  Instead we saw them release 20 or so, but it was still pretty cool.

We also saw the farm animals, rode the choo choo train, and played drums. Laura and Kaya played peekaboo in the fake farm animal stall too!

My birthday was today, and got progressively better as the day went on. It started out with 4 hours of lectures on the responsible conduct of research. Then I had a nice lunch with my cofellows. Hematology conference followed, where a NEW first year presented instead of someone from my class (I presented last time, but we have now officially transferred over the baton). Then I left work early, picked up Kaya and had ice cream on the rocking chairs at Maple View Farms. Then, Tommy, Laura, and two of Tommy’s work friends met us in Chapel Hill for Fridays on the Front Porch for live music and drinks. And now it is time for bed!

This week the Rose family got to welcome Aunt Laura to town, who just got a job at the Nicholas School at Duke. She moved just in time for the real North Carolina heat to kick in. This weekend we’ve gone to the farmer’s market, Waffle House (Kaya’s request), an outdoor jazz concert at Duke Park, and to Goodberry’s for frozen custard. Kaya is pretty excited to have her Aunt Laura (or, Yoya, as she says) around!

After a very nice July 4th and memorial service for Tommy’s grandpa, we are headed home. Amazingly, Kaya is still smiling despite 18 hours of driving in the last 4 days.

Barely.

An afternoon nap is a necessity today for me as well as Kaya after a long night and then long day of driving. But we made it to Sparta in time for the parade.

We are well on our way to a Madden brood – another girl is on the way!

Just a little early morning yard work