We had a very busy and enjoyable holiday this year. I don't keep track of details very well but as I recall, we spent 4-5 days in Birmingham with Rachel and her family and then after we got back to Searcy, Michael and his family came and stayed with us for 4-5 days.
Christmas Part 1
We arrived in Birmingham on Thursday afternoon and checked into our hotel right away. Dan had mentioned earlier in the month that the hotel would be great outlet for the kids to be able to go swimming often and he turned out to be exactly right. Marcus and Rachel brought the boys to swim in our hotel pool every day (or nearly). Like I said, I'm not good with those kinds of details.
Impressions are my forte and I can say that these two boys swim like fish!! They often spent several hours in the pool and never seemed to tire of it. Caleb swims from the end to end of the pool and all around the middle. Ethan wears a type of float device that goes around his middle and still requires that he move his arms and legs to keep afloat. He's got it down to a science - he's figured out how to hold his arms still and parallel to his body while staying afloat by kicking his legs furiously. I loved watching them both swim.
Ethan derived immense pleasure from aiming his water shooter at Papa! If you look closely, you can see the water stream land right between Papa's eyes. Good aim for a two-year old! Papa joined in the fun by splashing back almost simultaneously. As always, I love being with the boys and have many fond memories.
Christmas Part 2
Michael and Jennifer arrived at our house on Tuesday afternoon. It was quite a thrill to see Jasper walking! He's been walking for a while, but this was the first time for us to see it. Jasper usually has a big smile on his face! We were plagued with rain every single day that they were here which it made hard on the kids (and the parents) We all went to Harding to allow the boys a larger space to run around.
I loved watching Bennett really get into the spirit of handing out the presents for all of us to open. He seemed as eager to hand Jasper a gift as he was to open one for himself. We had a great visit! I enjoyed being with the boys and look forward to our next visit.
