After three weeks, we have returned to Hutto. On July 19th I loaded up Berkley and the kids and headed north to Gilmer. We didn't do too many amazing and exciting things, but it was nice to get away. We had been showing the house a lot and it was hard keeping it clean with Berk and the kids (go figure). Ben also had a few things to do over the next few Saturdays, so we figured we'd head out to Grandma and Grandpa's.
Caleb and I did go see Wall-E one day. It was the first time I'd seen a movie in the theater from the comfort of the floor. When I opened the door to the movie, Caleb immediately freaked out from the Earth-Shattering volume. He refused to go in, despite the coaxing from me and the Methodist Church Daycare ladies from Gilmer. During the short, I stood inside the door and watched, peeking my head out every few seconds to try and convince him inside. After a few minutes of the bunny torturing the magician, Caleb was laughing enough to forget his fear. He'd venture inside to grab a handful of popcorn and immediately retreat once the noise level rose. The movie began and we worked out way further and further in, until we finally were able to close the door. We ended up sitting on the floor at the top of the entryway walkway. Caleb did not want to go sit in a nice cushy chair since he had one of his own- my lap.
During our stay, we also went swimming a few times. Caleb was obviously some kind of aquatic animal in a previous life. He has always been a water lover and Connor followed obediently in his footsteps until this summer. He hadn't quite warmed up to the water until the last few times we went to Joe's. Suddenly, he decided that swimming was a breeze and even holding your breath for minutes at a time was a simple feat for a two year old. Heck, if holding your breath was so easy, who needed floaties? This was his thinking apparently. I humored him by removing the devices that kept him alive in the water. Nothing to it. He'd kick his feet and flail his arms and this was surely what everyone else was doing to swim. Not quite. But, it worked well enough for him. He'd stand on the steps and jump to me kicking and moving his arms. And he'd make it. He'd turn around and jump back. This continued for what seemed like hours. He
was actually swimming. Not to leave the older child out, Caleb went without floaties too. Though he could touch the bottom in the shallow end if needed. He swam well, too. I expected this from a four year old like Caleb who has always been so comfortable in the water. He'd jump into water that was too deep, and swim to the shallow end. I was so proud.
After two an half weeks of missing his lovely family, Ben decided to come to G-town too. He needed to get his truck looked at, and we decided to look at some houses to possibly buy when we move. The house hunting was fun, but nothing struck our fancy. We came back Sunday morning.
And now we're back to normal. Ben is at work and I get to take care of kids. Lovely. I have to admit, when we turned onto Hwy 79 in Palestine my heart fell a little. We were no longer on 155, which is the road that runs all the way to my house in Gilmer. No more tall pine trees. Back to Hutto. Don't get me wrong- Hutto is okay. And is Gilmer really that much better? Probably not. But, all of our family is there and that makes a difference. Sitting at Joe's Saturday night watching the Olympics with his family and John Melvin, made us really miss being around family. We had that in Utah with the 17 other Dodd boys and it was so fun. It's probably something you don't miss until it's gone. And we're at the stage now, where we want it back.
