Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Tennessee Part 3

We left our friends in Columbia and drove 3 more hours east to Knoxville, TN to visit my dear friend Allison and her family. What I like about Allison is that she has known me since I was 14, yet doesn't hold it against me. And boy, she could if she wanted to.

Allison also has the distinction of being my only friend that has quadruplets. Her children are only 6 months older than Lucas, so he jumped right in and made it quintuplets for the duration of our visit. Ava and Nate, on the other hand, were slightly slower to warm up to the idea. They can barely stand having one toddler around sometimes, so when they realized there were going to be five they looked at me like Mom, what did you get us into?

We took all the kids to the park one morning. The weather was nice, and they had fun playing together.
Our crew took up every swing, and still one kid had to wait...so the other park guests were probably glad when we left. However, then they lost their entertainment of watching me and Allison running up and down the row of children to keep everyone going.
Allison and her husband Jim also have a neat 12 foot pool in their yard. Since the moment Ava discovered this she wanted to do nothing but swim. We finally tried it one afternoon, though it was a bit too cool for swimming.

Ali's backyard is so nice. The quads spend a lot of time playing on their fabulous play structure, jumping in their bounce house, riding on tricycles, just running around, or climbing on their dad. Lucas was missing climbing on his own dad, so he borrowed Jim.

When Ali and I were in college our Freshman year, we had a photo taken of us on a campus swing. I wish I could scan it in and post it next to our recreation below. Then everyone could see how we have not aged one single day. It would probably be impossible to tell which was taken 15 years earlier. Too bad I don't have a scanner. You'll just have to take my word on it.
Here's one last shot of our lovely children.
Allison's house ran like a well-oiled machine. I was so proud of her and Jim and the way they care for four 3 year olds. But no matter how well the days had gone, I think we all breathed a sigh of relief once all 7 children had gone to bed for the night. Then, we got to have some fabulous gourmet meals cooked by Jim. (Salmon and steak!) And Allison and I got to look through scrapbooks and old yearbooks while giggling hysterically. Well, at least until I saw some of the ugliest pictures of me in existence and then I cried.

After two nights, it was time yet again to pack up the bags and the kids and head to our next destination.

More to follow....

1 comment:

Quad Squad! said...

SOMEDAY when I finally blog about your visit, I will scan the harding swing picture and post it. It was such a great pic, all the world should see it!

Thanks again for coming! It was so wonderful to see you again and get to know your kids! Come back anytime!