Where in the States are the Amors?Tennessee (part 1)

We get a week in Knoxville. We can actually unpack the whole car and settle in for more than a few days! This is our longest stop so far. It is good to be here at my dad’s house. They have lots of space for us to spread out and toys for the kids. It is also really good to get time with my dad and step-mom who we haven’t seen in a year.

It is hot here! Our now-German adapted bodies are in shock with all this sun and heat and humidity. It really is the humidity that pushes it over the top and just zaps any energy that I muster to leave the air-conditioning. The temperature is in the nineties and even hitting 102 this week. Unfortunately, the heat has kept us mostly indoors. I was hoping to get the kids out to some of these great Knoxville playgrounds, but we have only managed to hit the play area in the mall. That was fun, though. We followed it up with a stroll through the mall and Alethia got to browse the Disney store…a treat we don’t get in Germany.

Dad and Vicky have a little pool in their housing community. We managed to get the kids to the pool twice this week. Alethia loves the pool. Actually, she loves playing with/in water whether it is the pool, the bathtub, the kitchen sink, or a cup of water at the dinner table. As she would put it, “It’s my favorite!” Masami, on the other hand, could take or leave waterplay. He does his fair share of finding the only puddle in a parking lot to splash in, but really he finds limited pleasure at the pool and 9 times out of 10 cries his way through bathtime. Despite this, we all found relief from the heat by playing in the pool this week.

We also cooled off at a local “water pad.” It is like a water playground. There is water raining down, shooting up, and launching from every direction. Alethia made friends with a little girl who was willing to share her Tinkerbell bucket. Meanwhile, Masami chased down every ball he could find. We all had a great time for the very low price of FREE.

My dad and Masami wearing the hats I brought back for them from Thailand