Letting our children go...

Annaliese and Caspian make our hearts swell every day.  

Letting them go visit their a.Eliza and Nonni was not an easy decision.  But our two precious miracles also whine and fight and say, "I'm bored" enough to counter all those internal struggles of ours.

On the joy-of-our-lives side of the ledger, this newfound ability to execute a chore list.  I handed them each a packing list, and this is what I found when I came to inspect.

We hit the road headed to a half-way meet-up with Eliza and Nonni in Knoxville.  A little main street with a diner caught our attention in Alabama for breakfast.

A roadside fruit and veg stand caught Alexe's eye.  

And other than a 2 hour delay for traffic in Chattanooga, we made it to Knoxville in time for dinner, which we enjoyed in the busy walking downtown area.  Quite the gathering of folks, complete with a religious sect that told Nonni she was going to hell for wearing pants.

A little after dinner stroll.

Molested the local monuments and grounds...

Retired to the hotel for a late night swim...

Went out early for another swim, and then we kissed our babies and sent them East to Virginia, while Alexe and I headed West for a child-free time together like we haven;t had in 8+ years.

We stopped in Nashville, and went to Provence, a favor spot of ours from the days when Alexe was at Vanderbilt and I was flying in from DC as often as I could afford.  

Our time home alone is a blur.  We puttered around the place, caught up on things, found we still like each other, not unlike how we spend life with the kids.

Flower planters, aka livestock water troughs, were filled with mulch and brought to the elementary school.

Alexe didn't wear the right shoes and had a run in with fire ants.  This happens every time Alexe gardens.

The menagerie.

Another project Alexe has taken on is a garden at the elementary school, where she will be teaching a gardening class to groups of students on Thursday mornings.

All in all not much has changed.  We're only about 4.5 hours away from Nashville, Alexe is still making gardens wherever we go, and I'm still following her around and offering assistance with varying levels of enthusiasm.