These kids came back to the lower 48 today! We had a short and sweet meeting at the airport. They were dressed in fleece jackets and had to quickly adjust for the heat! Bye bye cold rainy Alaska— hello heat wave!

After spending a week with Lady Kitty glued to him, Michael said, “now I know what it’s like to be you, Tolle!” As far as appendages go, she’s a really lovely one.

Then he continued, “I’ve had plenty of time to observe her this week I’ve concluded… she’s a lot like you, Tolle.”

“Oh?” Of course I want to hear more. To me she’s confident, funny, strong, grounded, keenly observant, and pragmatic.

“She likes to hold hands.”

Yes she does! And with that quick turnaround the kids are off to The Lake with NanaBabaa!

A perfect moment, I’m glad I spent it with you!

Lake and Lady Kitty are with Michael in Alaska while I hold down the home-front. Specifically they’re in Ketchikan visiting Michael’s sister Kendra, her husband Simon, (who’s from Liverpool), and their two boys who are a bit older than Lake. They’re a lovely family, funny and relaxed and there are toys everywhere. Lake has been looking forward to this cousin time for weeks. (And Michael his sister time). It’s a wonderful scene.

Lady Kitty reports on air travel. Plane. Uh. Up. Down. Up. Down. Uh. (They encountered turbulence.) As they deplane immediately Michael senses there is less going on in the air. Notes of ocean and trees on the breeze are noticeable.

Michael needs earplugs so a trip to the store is in order. Lady Kitty beelines to the shoe aisle. She starts trying on shoes.

Uh. Too big. Uh. She opens boxes, evaluates and tries different pairs on.

She takes the pink sparkly boots she walked in wearing and lines them up on the shelf. She’s found the perfect new pair instead. She’s ready to go. The whole takes 15 minutes.

“We bought her the shoes. We had to.”

This weekend Lady Kitty astounded us with the sweetest proclamation.

“I wuv you, Mama,” she said, quite out of the blue.

Lady Kitty had clearly been working up to this, and she looked absolutely chuffed with her success.

“I wuv you, Mama,” she said again. Then stood back to bask in the glory of what she knew would be a well received statement. She was not wrong. I was ecstatic. Soooo in love. Not even having the Duchess of Cambridge wear my navy Alessandra Rich polka dot dress to Wimbledon on Sunday felt better (and that was pretty exciting). Not even in the same league.

The love did not stop there.

“I wuv you, Bro Bro.”

“ I wuv you, Dada.”

“I wuv you, Mama,” she said it again and again. We were all over the moon! And she was too! She delighted in delighting us. Love is not a sum zero game, she knew.

We love you too, Lady Kitty! We do! We do! A most perfect day, I’m glad I spent it with you!