father/son roadtrip
April 8, 2008 by bobw
we didnt plan on having just me and Caleb go to NC, but Alice got sick at the last minute, so mama had to stay home with her. we were all a little sad being apart, but it was nice to have some extra time with the boy.
we enjoyed our time at grandma and pop-pop’s house, catching up with family and friends and celebrating baby Hannah’s arrival. Caleb was especially chipper all weekend, which was nice since he’s had a rough time lately since he was recently sick. but he really loved playing with the lincoln logs and “big boy legos” that grandma had for him, and after his usual warm up time was happily getting along with all our old friends in town for the shower.
the baby shower was very nice, and Michelle’s quilt was of course a hit. she made a nice bunny quilt for baby Hannah, which I’m sure she’ll post about soon. I also sang a song for her that Michelle and I wrote, and I’ll post that somewhere soon too. Caleb especially enjoyed the cake, and the stuffed animals that grandma let him take home.
we were planning on staying longer but since we were all apart we left Sunday after lunch. we like taking the mountain route home, which follows the Nantahala and Ocoee river valleys. I was trying to point out to Caleb how nice the river looked, but he was too busy watching the ever-present videos. so I found a nice place to pull over, and we had a blast throwing rocks into the river together. it really was one of the best times we’ve had. I didnt want to get home too late so we werent able to enjoy it for as long as either of us would have liked, but it was a good time. meanwhile, Mama and Alice were back home doing girly stuff like painting nails and enjoying the spring weather together, and that was apparently a blast for them.
one more notable event for the weekend: Caleb learned how to pee while standing up! he followed me into the bathroom at church and saw me use the stand-up potty, and right then decided he needed to try that. so he did it, and from then on insisted on standing up for the rest of the weekend. he’s pretty proud of himself, and I tried to instill in him that its one of the privileges of being a guy.
we missed Mama and Alice, but it was nice to have a special time together too. we’re going to try to figure out a way to do such things on a semi-regular basis.
I always look for time, short trips, errands to spend with just one of the kids. I find in those moments you get to learn more about one another than in weeks of the general chaos of a normal week.
Glad for both of you that you had this time together.
Cool. I think I caught a trout over Caleb’s right shoulder.
Bobby,
Great to hear from you and be able to check out what your family is up to. I don’t have too much time to do this blogging thing. In fact, I should be out riding my bike today, but Jimmy is sleeping and I can’t afford a nanny=) We’ll be praying for your new career direction.
Simple things like throwing rocks and taking the time to have a moment like that together or so special. Those are the memories that stand out from my childhood - not the ones where there was a lot of hooplah and entertainment.
I agree with stelmodad - you can so often learn things that don’t come out in the day to day weekly routine. When I was a nanny and the little boy I watched was going through difficult things I would take him hiking. I didn’t even have to ask him about things he would just start opening up as we walked or played in the waterfall.
I love the Nantahala! My Mom used to take us camping right around there and we’d always be camping around the guys who would be training and kayaking there. We would go and sit on the rocks and watch them. Good camping memories. I also signed up to be a driver for adventure sports some of the years I was a counselor for a camp in NC. I loved the drive to the Nantahala and then I would either go down the river with the kids and other counselors or sit in a coffee shop along the river. I look forward to going there with my boys:)