Sally and Evelyn: Welcome Back to Moore County

The highlight of last Thursday was a visit from Sally Taylor Radney and her wonderful daughter Evelyn.  Our Jennifer and Amanda had arranged for the visit/playdate to be at our house along with their kids Claire, Evan, Brianna, and Hunter.  We were thrilled to be able to host the affair.

The Grand Arrival!

Sally and Amanda were inseparable friends

 from the age of 3 or younger.

And now they have cars, so distance is

only an inconvenience, not a problem.

Parts of all five children are somewhere

in this picture.  Or is it six?

We started the visit inside,

unveiling a whole room full of toys

for Evelyn.She was duly impressed.

I think Sal was a little flabbergasted, too.

Inside play gravitated toward the porch.

As Claire and Evelyn warmed up to each other

toys made good conversation pieces.

Sometimes there were awkward lulls

in the conversation, but the adults were

filling those in with ease.

The day was so picture perfect, the outdoors

soon beckoned again, and out we headed.

"C'mon everybody," urged Bri. 

"I'll hold the gate open for ya."

Evelyn is making a subtle effort to be

included in this little confab of old friends.

The girls moved freely from one play piece to

another, still checking each other out.

Evelyn must have taken it seriously when

someone said they'd all have to earn their snack.

It had been a balanced five adults versus

five kiddies.When Nana (Sally's grandma)

arrived, the balance ofpower shifted briefly. 

Not that you'd have noticed.

A riddle:  How can three girls be in the house

 but NOT in the house;

indoors and outdoors at the same time?

One of the best FREE playgrounds

in the western world.

Evelyn leads the way in concocting some

brand new recipes.  How much can you make

out of sands and pebbles?

(Note: the twin dollies are around 60 years old,

made by a great-aunt for my brother and me.)

Now it's Brianna and Hunter's turn to try to

wangle their way into the adult conversation--

which was probably about them, anyway.

(And how do you like our washing machine box?)

Bri, like her Mommy, is always on the

lookoutfor a new recipe.  Earlier, those

would have been strawberries in her hands

(and all over her face), but not they stacks

of red plastic checkers she plays with.

These girls chattered comfortably once they

were better acquainted, and they were drawn

together like magnets-- or a moth to a flame.

Whatever.

"Wow, Evelyn, that really looks yummy,"

says Claire.  "YOU try it first."

You may have noticed the boys have

not been in many pictures on this blog, but

that's intentional.  They played happily on some

large quilts I had laid out and were

 delighted to be surrounded by attentive

big people.  My next blog will feature

 more of just grandchildren, minus our guests.

But this was a red letter day thanks to

Sally and Evelyn.  Our home is open to you

AND your sisters and THEIR children--

just like it's always been!