Life before 2008 12 Aug 2005 04:57 am
happy children
What a good day yesterday!! It really was the kind of day that David and I sank our heads on our pillows and smiled. We were tired and feeling extremely blessed.
It started in the usual way: coffee, breakfast (oatmeal with pecans), a bit of school, watching the baby’s newest trick, seeing Dad off…
Mid-morning we set off for Knoxville. Until yesterday I’d done most of my exploring around Maryville, which I much prefer to Knoxville. But our church and most of the members live in the city and it’s time to venture in broader directions. Our plans were to meet the Waldrep family at a park for a picnic and mom chit-chat and I allowed enough extra time to get a little lost and look around.
The park is down Northshore Dr. which is the same road our church is on but in the other direction. So pretty!! Full of parks and most of them on fingers and lakes from the Tennessee River, Northshore twists and turns past farms, farmland now being built up with brick “Monopoly Hotel” houses, and a few small businesses. It’s right on the edge of the newer and very pristine “Farragut” area.
The Cove was a gorgeous small park. It has a kind of penisula with a bike/walking path, canoe and kayak rental, playground, pavillion, ducks and geese, and roped off swim area in the lake. I can only imagine how beautiful it’s going to be a couple of months when the color strikes! There was even a porch swing for sitting and watching sunsets on the lake.
The kids played with the Waldrep children; rowdy, “boybarian” kind of play on rollerblades, feet, tree climbing, and involving plenty of sweat! There’s a girl in that group as well so Celia and Hannah do what girls do: sequestered themselves under the playground platform and set up “house”.
It was absolutely joyful to sit and talk with a kindred-sprit Mom (Kathy) and see my kids having so much fun. Just another occassion to say, “I love this place!”
From there the plan was to go home for a couple of hours and get in naps. But I took a different way, hoping to find a short cut to the church where the kids are going to play soccer. Not such a hot idea. We ended up SO LOST. Not the “fun, lets explore” kind of lost, but the “CARP! I’m wasting a half tank of gas” kind of lost.
An hour and a half and almost to Pigeon Forge later we figured out how to get back into Maryville and headed to the Richardson’s.
There the kids had a play date. I made my brownies for the evening’s Scouting Family Picnic and chatted with Adele. Our roly-poly babies, Rowan and her Amelia, were all over each other and the floor. They are both in that fun, “hey ….there’s another little person!” discovery stage. The boys built a lego world complete with plot and structure of discovery, adventure, and weapons while the girls got dressed to the nines and performed “Cindrella” for Adele and I in the parlor/living room. Adele lives in a large, historic house, which is just perfect for her because her passion is vintage things. The girls were *hilarious*!
I followed her to Pearson’s park for our Scout picnic. Low key and casual, it was just for the families to get to know each other before a year of activities. It was HOT with humidity to rival Florida’s but it cooled down nicely as the sun went down. This park is right on the Greenbelt. AFter too many hot dogs and red food coloring (punch) the boys played Extreme Frisby with the dads and the mom’s chatted about uniforms.
This is probably all terribly mundane and boring to read! But life is the simple stuff and it takes my breath away to see our dreams coming true. Our kids were unbelievably happy! Each one playing with a crowd of kids, sweaty, hot , exhausted, making plans to see each other again. People skated by, ran by, walked thier dogs…moms offered to help each other or invited kids to thiers for swim parties.
This town has a well-trodden welcome mat and they just keep it out. When we got home after sun-down, I had good, exciting, and secret news in my inbox. The kids got showered and David and I read and planned our next day. It’s a good feeling to sink onto your pillow knowing “day is done” and that it was so satisfying.
No bed time battles last night; they went down with the same full love-tanks and goofy grins.