On the way to the car

Fourth of July celebration

We hung out at Uncle Jason's before we went to the BBQ at Uncle Jeff's.




Auntie Amy and Uncle Sean (on the couch) informed us of the little one that will be joining their family! Many congratulations!!





Cups and Auntie Rebecca were on a Yahtzee team.



An hour after we left Uncle Jason sent this picture of the Molly Moon ice cream truck coming through the neighborhood. Mama would have died to have been able to get ice cream from the Molly Moon truck — a new service.

Fourth of July Kids' parade

Where are we going? It was pretty cool, so we dressed warm.



Mama likes this parade vehicle a lot.



These kids did a good job dressing up.



This was the crowd that arrived before us. Daddy was going to go with us, but he wasn't ready when it came time. Mama wasn't sure that we were going to go. Daddy helped Mama get Cups ready, and we showered and got out of the door in 10 minutes.



Cups waiting to start. . .



Still waiting. . .



We patiently waited for about half an hour — so much for getting there on time.





The crowd that arrived after us. . .



Cups was off.



We'll dress up Cups' vehicle a little next year.



We bumped into Adam. As much as Cups tells Mama that she tickles and plays with Adam all the time, she was silent when they were side by side. Adam talked to Cups and told her that he was going on the ferry. Cups repeated the rest of the day.



This was our destination. Mama had a "good" time pushing Cups up the hill home. Mama had to hurry even more when Cups felt the need to use the bathroom about three blocks from home. It was a good thing to have had cool weather after all.

Baby egg

Gae came over to take Cups to harvest this baby egg from the hens' nest.



It was mostly egg white with a small ribbon of yolk. Thank you, Gae and Don!

Cups would eat anything with her "orange sauce" — Heinz Cocktail Sauce from the Netherlands. Thank you very much, Uncle Mike and Auntie Cecilia!!!

Don & Gae's chickens

We bring veggie and fruit scraps for the chickens. Mama's coworkers send food home with Mama for them, too!

Jessica, the photographer

Cups' 22-year-old teacher, Jessica, has been practicing taking pictures around the school yard. As a results the parents benefit. In addition to getting a peek at how they play, we also get pictures! After receiving some good and fun pictures of Cups around school like this one, we asked Jessica to take some of Cups.



Jessica came by the Saturday before daycare was closed for a week.











Cups' favorite swing at the park. . .



Let's go home for some family photos. We'll be sure to post some of Jessica's pictures once we get them.

Lesson on string instruments

Jay takes apart the bow from time to time to review the parts. Cups remembered the screw, stick and hair but forgot about the frog. This is definitely learning from exposure and repetition.



Cups played a cello with a chopstick. Jay said it was most important that it worked.



Xavier playing the dragon. . .





A string instrument that Jay made. . .