Thus concludes my week in Vail at cancer camp. This is a picture of my small group protocol development section – a group of very inspirational and brilliant people. Headed home in the morning!

Kaya is celebrating her birthday today with Grandma Baba. She woke up to new pajamas and has an action-packed day planned. I’m sad I can’t be there to celebrate with her, but someone has to cure cancer and hey, I was there for her most important birthday 3 years ago. I can’t believe it’s already been 3 years! Happy birthday my dear Kaya!

(Picture compliments of Grandma Baba):

I’m in Vail, Colorado for the week for a clinical trials workshop. Laney is with Daddy and Kaya is spending the week with Grandma Baba. So far I’ve been too exhausted to actually spend any time enjoying the beauty of Vail, except for the view from my balcony. But it’s quite a view.

I’m pretty sure the $4.99 I spent on this toy is the best $4.99 I ever spent. Both girls have loved it – and it has been the center of their walking and standing ambitions. Spotting definitely still necessary.

We took in the Durham Bulls game on Sunday night and Laney made it through almost 9 innings before passing out on Dylan. And Kaya got to run the bases after the game (no picture available because she didn’t want to run by herself, so I ran with her and couldn’t take a picture).

When Laney was born, Aunt Kris gave Kaya a “busy bag” filled with lots of wrapped up presents. So, when I was busy with the new baby, Kaya could get a new toy out of her busy bag to play with. It worked beautifully, although we quickly learned to restrict the toy allocation to one per day. Kaya had mixed feelings about opening the last toy the other day (yes, the bag lasted 8 months!): a glow in the dark necklace. Her busy bag is now no more (although I’m tempted to hoard any birthday gifts she gets and put them in a bag for the same purpose). Thanks Kris!

The summer pattern of thunderstorms every night means that some mornings, our bed looks like this. (This was Sunday morning, in case you locals argue we didn’t have a storm last night). They really look like sisters in this picture.

It’s a good thing we don’t live in Boston anymore. Because Kaya thinks that 75 degrees is bitterly cold. Luckily she knows where to find her winter goods.

The benefits of having a big sister is that sometimes she gives you crackers. And then she distracts mommy for so long that you get to each a whole cracker before mommy even notices. Laney seemed pretty proud of herself post-cracker.