On Thursday night our weekend plans to go to Charlotte were canceled, and Matt said, "You know, Amy is going to be at my parent's tomorrow night, do you want to go to Oak Ridge?" Amy is Matt's cousin who we rarely see who happens to have a little girl, Annie, that is Kate's age and a little guy, Wade (who we had not met), who is Luke's age. With a free weekend suddenly ahead of us, we decided it would be time well spent to head over the mountains, and we were right.
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| Fast friends- Annie and Kate |
The girls did what cousins do, and immediately became best pals, chasing each other around the house and pretending to be monsters in a pillow fort they built together. Luke tried to keep up with them while Wade was more of a relaxed observer instead of joining in the chaos.
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| Four under the age of four |
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| Cute Wade - looks like he could be Luke's brother |
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| Wild Luke enjoying some time with his Grammie |
The Klinefelter clan hit the road before lunch and then after naps we went to Oak Ridge pool, which I'm putting in writing right here: will become a summer tradition. Kate called it a "monster pool" and she was right, it was the biggest pool I have ever seen. In fact, according to their website, it is one of the largest pools in the nation. It even has an island in the middle of it, which Kate loved swimming out to and jumping off of it into Matt's arms. Luke (and I) loved the zero entry which allowed for him to splash and walk and have a blast in only a few inches of water.
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| Trying to capture the massive size. Can you spot my family? Do you see the island way off in the middle? |
The shallow edge had fountains spraying water which the kids enjoyed stepping on and then watching them shoot back up when they moved their feet away. I thought it was great that our little man could roam freely and explore, he did go under a few times when he wandered too deep, but Grammie or Mommy was always close by and we discovered that Luke doesn't mind getting his face wet or going under at all.
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| Snack break on the lawn |
After wearing ourselves out in the pool we were all hungry and as is tradition in Oak Ridge, we went to our favorite local pizza joint, Big Ed's... or as Kate renamed it this trip, "Big Edward's." The last time Luke went to Big Ed's he was two months old and slept in his car seat carrier under the table, too little to enjoy the pizza. This time... he got his first bite, and then he destroyed his piece of the Special, loaded with some of his favorites like black olives, ham, peppers, and tomatoes. We could not stop laughing at him enthusiastically cramming the pizza into his mouth.
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| This. is. delicious! |
Yesterday we headed back home, happy that we had the opportunity to squeeze in a quick family visit. I never enjoy the road trip part of our road trips, but I sure do love seeing people we love and making fun memories with the kids. We have already put 10,000 miles on the van since February and I can't wait to see where it will take us next!
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| Lunch on the road at a McDonald's with a play place is a dream come true for these kids |
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