Trip to Tennessee

In early June, Bill and Barbara had the girls visit them in Tennessee for a week. I felt so torn about it, not for COVID concerns but because Barbara had spent so much time this year helping us with childcare already, and I didn't want the girls and their exuberance to overstay their grandparent welcome, literally or figuratively. I know it might not seem like a possibility...but it is.

They insisted, so off they all went to Tennessee. And, just as Bill and Barbara had hoped and predicted, Brad and I were able to get so much done at home, namely Brad's completion of his dissertation.

Yes. He finished that behemoth.

(I got 12 weeks of lesson plans done, but that's not nearly as massive or impressive.)

The girls had an absolute blast. Even if there weren't super fun things to do (like go down to the garden, play with the dogs, play with toys they only see at Gran and Grandpa's), the fact that they were able to stay somewhere different than our house and have much more room to run and roam was enormous excitement. I was thrilled that they had that opportunity after months of physical restrictions and limitations.

Bill and Barbara planned so much fun for them, and the girls fully gave themselves to the fun. Which definitely meant that when we would try to talk to them in the evenings, they often had very little time for us. (which is, of course, how it should be when visiting grandparents. There's just so much magic in spending a week at one's grandparents'.) They made s'mores, camped in the backyard, looked through photo albums, watched movies, ran around in the wide open spaces, planted sunflowers, and just had a blast. Thank you, Bill and Barbara! It was a really great gift to all of us.

The side-eye Brynn is giving Addie in this pictures is my FAVORITE.