Kaya found the tiara from my wedding outfit – she instantly identified it as worthy of a true polite request and asked, “Mommy, could you please put your tiara on me please? So I can be like you at your wedding.” Who can say no to that? And in the process, she gave away that she IS in fact capable of being polite. Good to know.

Lookout Laney!

Kaya and Laney’s dog uncle Marty is staying with us for a while so he doesn’t pee all over Grandma Baba’s new carpet. He’s adjusting just fine to the Rose family, although he and Kaya are battling for third position on the totem pole. At night when Kaya is tired, she lets her guard down. This is a picture of him stealing her pillow and poor Kaya curled up in the middle of her bed pillowless. King Marty wins again.

Kaya and her school friend Charlie take swim lessons together on Saturday mornings, which means Laney and her friend Molly (aka Charlie’s little sister) get to play as well. Many times Laney and Molly pretend they don’t know each other when they are poolside, but the post-lesson antics in the locker room tell the real tale. I managed to catch their locker climbing in action.

Just two little girls drinking some milk together.

Such a great weekend at home – after traveling for 4 straight weekends, and then moving for 2 weekends before that, I am very happy to have spent a weekend in town.

We did lots of swimming thanks to the North Carolina heat – including in the Eno River on Saturday. The adults, babies, and dogs all had a blast. Even our long-term guest Marty! He’s never had so much fun before!

Just catching up on a bit of email before bedtime.

We have a no screen time in the house policy (only in the car). But lately we have been a bit glad for the existence of Disney movies. Kaya, Laney, and Tommy watched the entirety of Aladdin the other day. And it was awesome (I believe I used this time to do laundry and unpack the kitchen). A whole new world.

We spent the weekend at the first (?annual) Lipps family reunion in West Virginia. It was held at my dad’s childhood home/farm. There were nearly 50 people in attendance, include all of my dad’s siblings and many of their cousins. It was lovely to be back on the farm and the girls had a great time meeting their extended family. Here’s a shot of our immediate family on the top of the mountain on the back side of the house. I anticipate getting emailed a group picture of the whole Lipps clan and will post when it happens.