As I mentioned a couple of days ago, the four of us spent Thanksgiving weekend in Searcy with the boys' Nanna and Papa (my parents). The boys had so much fun! My parents still live in the same house I grew up in, and I realized on this trip that it was actually a great little neighborhood to grow up in. Their house is one block from an elementary school with a big playground. Just behind the school is the junior high's track and stadium, along with several huge parking lots. My brother and I spent a lot of time on our bikes doing bike tricks in the parking lots, playing around on the football field and in the bleachers, and of course at the elementary school park. One afternoon this weekend when Marcus, Ethan, Nanna and Papa were all taking their afternoon naps, I took Caleb out on a 1.5 hour bike ride. (He has amazing stamina for a 3-year-old, both for biking and hiking.) He was on his 14-inch bike (with training wheels), and I was walking. We went through several of my old neighborhood routes, and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing my old haunts through my son's eyes.
Another afternoon, my dad, Marcus, the kids and I spent a couple of hours walking around Harding. It was good for Marcus and I to stroll around our alma mater together and reminisce about the years we spent there. It was good to be with my dad, to hear him talk about his love for that school. (He still works in Harding's Advancement Department.) It was good to talk about people I haven't thought about for years...people who played both big and small roles in helping me become the person I am today.
On a different day, Marcus and I took the boys to the playground at Harding Academy and ran into a family reunion of four sisters who I grew up with. They all have four kids each now, and it was very surreal seeing them all with their husbands and their little ones running around. It's an odd aspect of human nature that we unconsciously expect people to remain the way they were when we exited their lives. We of course go through all kinds of changes, but we can't help but be surprised that everyone else does the same.
We ended our time in Searcy by watching the Florida/FSU game on Saturday afternoon. Well, Marcus watched the game while Dad and I took the kids out for one last walk to the park. I had one of the top 10 scares of my life at the elementary school by my house when a car pulled into the paved part of the playground between me and where Ethan was playing. My heart froze for two horrible seconds until the driver spotted him and stopped. It could have been so much worse, but as it was I couldn't stop shaking for several minutes. Anyway, we back to the house and I fed the boys dinner while Marcus and my parents finished watching the game. We had to stay to the very end to watch Tim Tebow make his final lap around The Swamp, so we didn't leave town until after 6:00 pm. Regardless, Marcus made great time and we were at our front door in 5 1/2 hours (a big improvement on our 7-hour trek there). We were also blessed with very tired kids who slept the final four hours, allowing Marcus and I to have the longest uninterrupted conversation we've had in a long time!
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