Flashback Friday - March 30

I was looking at the Kentucky pictures I scanned and am not quite sure the order I want to use them for "Flashback".  We were only there for 11 months - the resident program for Hubby's doctorate.  I call this my "year of jubilee".  I did not work (except for a brief stint selling coffee/hot drinks at a mall kiosk at Christmas), we had no ministry responsibilities, and we lived in a townhouse complex where all the other participants in Hubby's program lived.  We all shared a huge yard where all the kids played - there were 19 kids ranging in ages newborn - 14 years old.
It was a fabulous experience!  It was an experience for which I will forever be grateful.  From our townhouse complex we could walk "downtown" to the bank, store, Subway, pharmacy, Dr.'s office, hair salon, where Kindermusick met, Bible Study and the Bookmobile (when it was there).  Next door to the complex was the city park.  I know the boys won't remember much, but I absolutely loved living in a small town and it was perfect for us for ages 1-2 for L and ages 3-4 for M.  I can't say Hubby is a small town kind of guy though.  30,000 now is on the small side for him.

In the following picture the boys were wrestling with Hubby. (And yes, that actually is all my white laundry waiting to be folded). Lovely pink carpet, hu?  It's beautiful when that's what is provided for you.  Much of our inside playtime here was spent in the living room.  Although I was opposed to letting the boys walk on furniture, I gave up in the winter, moved the huge coffee table in front of the window and let them stand on it to watch nothing out the window.  (The couch and chair was still off limits for standing or walking.)

There were many items we didn't bring with us to KY - one was the car rug - so I drew one with Sharpie on the back of our front door rug (M does remember that!) That was at the height of "car"love for M. (You can see the Little People garage, one of our most used toys, in the background of the photo). One day a friend gave me several Hot Wheels of her son's that she had gone through. I went to a meeting that night and when I returned home, there was a bag hanging on the door with each car that "belonged to ________ ". M insisted we return them. Cars were serious business!

The unnamed friend mentioned deserves more info. here.  He was definitely M's first best friend.  They spent hours playing together - his house, our house, outside, playing: cars, trains, "people", digging, throwing, eating, watching videos and all the other things that boys do.  Oh, and dress up - sometimes in hilarious things and not necessarily in "dress-up clothes", just in whatever they happened to have in the drawer.  My most favorite memories are of them dressing up as cowboys.  My other favorite memory is:  One day when many of the kids and moms were outside, some girls were playing Barbie on one of the porches.  They were getting the dolls ready for a party, etc.  A while later, the girls had abandoned the Barbies and were off to something else.  I walked by and the boys were on the same porch playing some kind of cops and robbers game.  They had all the Barbies in jail!

Kentucky is where M. went mobile. My dad bought M. a small bike before we went there and he learned to maneuver it well around all the sidewalks on campus. Aunt brought him his first rollerblades for his fourth birthday.

The pharmacy in town had a soda fountain. How cool is that?

I'm not sure we ever actually had soda there - usually Dr. Pepper or a shake.  We had many, many fun times in KY - more memories to be shared later....