road trip: the boys

So right after arriving in Franklin on Monday, we headed to a nearby playground so the boys could, well, play, and we could all stretch our legs after such a long time in the car.  Franklin seems to be made up of these little intentional communities...playground, pool, cute homes, etc.  It was just a quick little walk and we were there.

The boys traveled in style! (That's the same wagon Kyalo has up in Essex.)

Kyalo liked the slide

walking in puddles is more fun than riding*

I was pretty excited for Kyalo and Bo to have time together again after so much time (about a year) and for Kyalo to have a boy to play with.  I had visions of them playing happily together outside while Erica and I sipped coffee and chatted.  I should really stop having visions because they never come to pass!  There were a few tussles over toys, but I think over all the boys played really well together, especially by the end when they'd warmed up to each other.

action shots!  who knows what's going on here?

Erica bought them superhero t-shirts.

even super heroes need to eat

And since it was cold, and we were heading to the zoo after breakfast, Matt leant Kyalo his University of Kentucky Wildcats hat.

 is he a bat or a cat?

who can say?

but perhaps he's the newest fan!*

After the zoo (more on that later) we went out to dinner.  I really wanted to get some good BBQ and also fried chicken.  That's not too excessive, is it? There wasn't time for the fried chicken (next time!) but we did go out to eat.   Here's Matt and Erica:

Matt with a whole mess o' ribs (don't ask how much) and Erica with the largest potato I've ever seen.

Those are happy faces, though.

The pics of my food didn't come out, sadly, but I did get my shredded pork, cole slaw, and corn-on-the cob (I can never resist!).  Kyalo ate a bit of what we had, but seriously, seemed to be on a hiatus from food for most of the trip!  It was a tad frustrating/worrying. 

On Wed, Matt & Erica took the boys to a park to give us a little break (the driving was starting to tire Dexter out, so he was glad for a little down time).  

 cute little family! *

Bo's doing all the heavy lifting*

And then after the walk and some dinner, it was bath time:

 Kyalo tends to stand in the tub, which makes it hard to get a G-rated photo. *

helping out*

Then it was time to say good night...

hugs*

fathers and sons*

We crammed a lot into just a few days!  It was such a sweet time.  Dexter really enjoyed all the dental talk he got to have with Matt (puts me right to sleep), and talking with Matt who has already survived dental school was encouraging for Dexter.  We're almost done!

There's more to share here, but we're off to Massachusetts for the Easter weekend, so I better wrap this up and load up the car.

all photos with a * courtesy Erica and her iPhone :)