The Last Tennessee Visit

 My dad is very ill.  He went into the hospital on January 1 and has declined in health ever since.  He and my mom sold their house of 32 years this week and are living in Utah at my sister's house.

We drove down at the beginning of April to help pack and prepare for the move (and to escape the intolerable Canadian spring).  

Dad was able to come upstairs for Easter dinner, but mostly it was too difficult for him to come up and eat with us.  Charlotte remains the child least afraid of him.  When he came up and wanted to sit in his armchair, Charlotte was already sitting there.  "Why don't you let me sit there?" he said, to which she replied, "Then where will I sit?!"  She also made him some 'unicorn tea' out of colorful ribbon.

Hunting for Easter eggs in the backyard.

Dying Easter eggs

Having a parking lot lunch before going into Dollywood.  The kids loved Dollywood.  The two oldest are the perfect age for an amusement park.  They rode rides until the park closed; guzzled about 82 gallons of soda from their refillable drinks; and enjoyed cinnamon bread.  Then we all got a violent stomach bug for 24 hours, but it was a great trip all the same.

Charly had a great time except on the Raging River.  When she got off, she declared that she would never go to Dollywood again.  Then she went and road the little cars three times in a row and decided that she liked 'Dry Dollywood' and only disliked 'Wet Dollywood.'

The kids discovered Uncle James' Star Wars figures.