Matching Tracksuits

fun in fours

parks

Saturday

K spoils us -- she really does. We all get up to freshly made racuchy topped with homemade blueberry preserves. Why? Because we asked for it? No -- because K just wanted to do something nice for us.

In return, L trimmed some of the hedges at the side of the house. To be honest, it wasn't really in return: K asked her, and L obliged. I'm not even sure she had any of the racuchy because got up late and ended up going out for lunch with her friend.

"But I'll gobble them up later," she assured me.

They're still in the fridge.

Still, the Girl did the trimming, and even put aside her teenager I-know-everything-why-in-the-world-are-you-explaining-this-ness and let K walk her through what she wanted.

In the afteroon, Ciocia M came for a visit (her girls -- L's and E's cousins for all intents and purposes -- are still in Polska) and we went for a walk in our favorite park.

A lovely day, in other words.

In the evening, we watch some replays of Olympic events -- beach volleyball, swimming, gymnastics, the individual time trial, and some tennis.

Conestee Evening

Conestee Sunday Afternoon

Looking for a date for the birthday party

Sunday After

Conestee Sunday

"Let's go for a walk at Conestee this afternoon," K suggested after lunch. She and the Boy had gone to church while I stayed home and did school work and the Girl headed off to work, so we hadn't spent any time together as a family. Yet as is often the case these days, "time with the family" really only means K and I with the Boy.

The Girl, almost 17 now, has her own life: she hangs out with friends, meets them at football games, goes to dances with them, drives them here and there. She has volleyball and work along with her heavy load of AP classes (all four classes she's taking this semester), which means when she's home, she's usually doing homework. Or sleeping.

Caesars Head

On the way to look at lots Sunday, we stopped briefly at Caesars Head. I didn't get a decent shot of it because of the haze, but I tried cleaning it up with Lightroom...

Conestee Evening

Sunday at Conestee

A Walk Downtown

Saturday Evening Downtown

We spent the evening downtown, the five of us -- the two kids and the dog. It's so rare that everyone's schedules work out to let us do something like this. We'll take every opportunity we have.

Our stroll eventually led us down to the river and the new Grand Bohemian hotel which is the latest highlight of the ever-developing downtown Greenville.

Eventually we made it down the the rocky area of the river just at the edge of the main downtown park, the place both of our kids loved to run about on the rocks as little kids.

"Those days are long gone" K and I constantly remind ourselves. And yet, every now and then, the stars align,

the kids are both fascinated with the same thing, and for a brief moment, we pop back a few years in the past.