July7th Trip to Dothan

William and I snuck up to Dothan for a quick overnight trip to spend time with my family before Daddy had to leave for his summer camp. We just packed our stuff, jumped in the car and headed on up early that Tuesday. William was my super travel partner again! He's really good at traveling with Mommy! It's usually pretty calm in the car together. I got there a little before lunch which was great b/c Hunter and Whitney were there on their lunch breaks. Maggie had to get all her hugs in from William first though :) Whitney and Hunter basically spent all their lunch break down on the floor playing with William. It was so sweet watching them play around with him while I relaxed on the couch. Holden was actually the first to greet us in the driveway that day. He loves to run out and help get William out of his carseat.

After lunch and a short nap from William, Maggie and I loaded William and Holden in the car to take Holden "shopping" for new school uniform clothes up at Whitney's work. William loved this!! There was no one in the store and he could run run run!! He loved the large mirror on the back wall! He kept going over to it and talking to himself. Holden tried on several different styles of the shorts and polo shirts, but decided to wait on Daddy. Whitney did a great job getting everything for Holden. She also entertained William too! I got some cute pictures of Maggie and William playing by the big mirror.

Our next stop was going to see Hunter in his new office! I still find it hard to believe that my little brother has his own office!! He's doing a great job with his position and learning a lot from this job. The BEST thing was as we walked in the door, William begin calling out "HUNNER" "HUNNER" as loud, but as sweet as he could! The business is a small business, so there weren't a lot of folks in there. Hunter came out to greet us just beaming! I was just tickled!! William saw him and took off running!! He loves Uncle Hunter~ We checked out Hunter's office and got some cute pictures. William especially liked the magnets on the side of the desk :) I'm so proud of Hunter! Let's pray he stays focused and continues to do well with this job!

Holden wanted to go play with a friend up the street, so we drove him back to his buddy's house before Maggie and I headed out to run some errands together. It really doesn't matter what we do, as long as I get to hang out with my mom, I'm happy!! We went to Walmart to get groceries for dinner that night and a few random what-nots. William of course loves any store! He has a great time just hanging out in the shopping cart and holding the list for me. We wrapped our shopping up and headed on back to the house to see my Daddy! He was home from work and working on packing his bags for summer camp. Moma kept William for me and I headed back out the door back to Walmart for last minute items. I love going to the store with Daddy. I usually push the cart while he checks his list. I guess I feel like a little girl again helping Daddy.

The worst part of our trip was the fact that Holden's bike was stolen out of the carport, hidden by the suburban within an hour of us all being in and out of the house. Truth be told, I truly believe Moma and I were in the back of the house when it was stolen. We called the police to file a case. It was so sad for Holden b/c he had just gotten it about a month ago for his 9th birthday! He was so upset and just pitiful!!

After all the chaos of the stolen bike, I cooked a taco and fajita dinner for everyone (Moma, Daddy, Hunter, Holden, Grannymart, Poppi, Whitney) It was great getting to visit with both Poppi and Grannymart and watch them just laugh and smile at William. I miss them a lot and love it when I get to just hang out with them while I'm home. I was able to use peppers from Daddy's garden and they were delicious!! It is always fun to go home and hang out and cook for everyone! After dinner my Daddy and Holden took William outside to play for a little while. They walked around the yard to "check things out" and played ball a bit. It was so sweet watching William get so excited about playing ball. He kept saying "hit, hit, hit" over and over and holding the bat. He had a great time!

I just ended up letting William sleep in my bed for the night so once I got him to sleep, I piled the pillows up around him and snuck out to watch a movie with my parents. We watched Taking Chance and it was awesome!! I had already watched it the night before with Philip and just insisted we all watch it together. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! It is amazingly incredible and so inspiring. It's based on a true story and something I feel every American should watch. Please, please take the time to watch this movie!

I sat up after the movie and just hung out with Moma for a while before I finally caved and had to crash in bed. I love sitting up late at night with her. To my treat...even though she had stayed up much later than me, she got up early with William and let me sleep in a while :) I think he knows when we are at Maggie's house and he likes to get up early to play with her!! Daddy had already left in the wee hours that morning, so he called from the road to say bye and that he would call when he could. He was head to summer camp for 2.5 weeks and would be out on the tank range at Eglin...therefore, little service :(

Our Dothan trip ended all to short this time, but we had a blast! And...to top it off, I brought Holden home with me for a few days so he could play with my friend Kerri's little boy (Will). She was coming to visit for a few days that very day! Much to do...lots of fun to be had! I'll tell those stories next...so stay tuned!