Memory Lane...

After the big birthday celebration, we hopped into the car with our bellies full and headed to Waco for Father's Day weekend. The kids LOVE going to visit GiGi and Pops and Ryan and I wanted to give THEM the gift of not driving one more time to CS. 

This year marks the year that I will have lived in CS as long as I lived in Robinson, but 254 will always be home to me, just like Baton Rouge is home to my parents. You can't erase that feeling or those memories or the familiarity of youth. And I am thankful for that. That Saturday felt like 100 Saturdays I had growing up... we played all afternoon, changed our clothes and headed to 5:15 mass. The church I grew up in hasn't changed a bit, other than a little more gray hair on some of the parishioners and the "kids" that are my age now serving as ushers and eucharistic ministers. 

As we were heading home, I decided we should do something fun, so we grabbed a quick bite to eat at the kids' favorite place - Panda Express - (they seriously can't get enough of the lo mein and orange chicken) and then we headed to a classic Waco institution... KIDDIELAND, an outdoor putt-putt, mini-amusement park that is sponsored by our local Lions Club. It's where I rode my first "roller coaster", took swim lessons, had first dates, and took ride after ride down the now-closed Super Slide. 

So, I was pretty pumped to let them discover it, too.

And like most small-town things... it has remained the same, except for a few new coats of paint. I find such joy in these moments... sharing my sweet memories with Ryan and the kids as they make their own. 

Watching them do the same things that I remember being "soooo big" and being able to witness what my parents must have seen all those years ago. Discovering their unique personalities in something as small as a golf game... Emmy didn't care, Landry played her own game, and Radley was out to get a perfect score on every hole.

And every single one of them hung on every word from Pops.

Made me think of my PaPaw and how B I G he was to me. How everything he said was the truth. How he always knew the answer. How I never wanted to disappoint him. How his size and stature was only matched by his gentle heart and loving soul.

I am thankful for how much my kids adore and are adored by these two and as much as we wish they were 90 seconds instead of 90 miles away...

I am grateful that I still have home to run to.

After our masters' worthy game of putt-putt, we ended our stroll down memory lane with a ride on the Kiddieland train.

We looked like that crazy family that you can't decide you want to run from or run to (although I know what my choice would be).

A few silly faces...

and a couple of waves to strangers, and our evening was coming to an end.

And as much as I want right now to last forever, I can't help but wonder what places our kids will want to visit as adults. What memories are they creating that will last forever? What do our days hold that for them are forever special? And something tells me that the answer, just like mine, is every thing.