The Hughes Zoo: Growing up on Caney Creek...

When I took a look at my work schedule and realized I had 5 days off in a row, I just knew I wanted to pack up the kids for a short trip down to Caney Creek to see T & Poopaw. What even turned out to be a greater blessing was that Sissy called Mom wanting to come down to the Creek, and she was able to come this weekend (which would be her first trip to Caney since Lefty’s passing). Dad picked up Granny, and so she would be joining us too.

Marc met me in the parking lot at work after my shift ended at 7pm on Wednesday. He had packed up the kids and all their stuff, and they were ready to G-O! I was so excited to leave, that I started to pull out of the parking lot and Celia's minivan door was still open! Marc couldn't believe his eyes. I'm sure he would have preferred me to get some sleep and take off in the morning after that shenanigan. I decided to go the “back way” through West Columbia. I hadn’t even gotten to the Grand Parkway off of I-10 yet, and Annalee asked me “Mommy, we here?” Poor thing, we had another hour and a half to go! Thank goodness for DVDs :) About that time, Celia kept telling me “T my friend. Poopaw my friend too.”

We spent the next 3 days at Caney with T, Sissy & Granny… we had some special visitors - Jane, Teddy & Shawna, but all in all it was a very laid back weekend on the creek! During the day the kids enjoyed a new pool that Mom got that has a little built in slide on it, played with our fishing poles, ate almost every single meal outside (on the pier and at our picnic table). We picked Poopaw’s cherry tomatoes, played with the bunnies, played with a new water shooter toy T got us, threw the cast net and fed “Honky” (T's pet bird) with our catch, sang a LOT of songs (learned “You Are My Sunshine”), went potty, and had an old-fashioned good time!

Marc took this opportunity to knock out a bunch of work around the house that is nearly impossible to accomplish with three 2 year olds underfoot… We sure did miss him though!

Some funny things they are doing now:

Celia started saying “my tummy is beeping!” which translates into her tummy is growling and she is hungry!

Celia can do a “tummy trick” by making her tummy go in really far and then puff out really far. She is very proud of it.

Wyatt got pretty sick Friday morning, vomiting. I learned that he is VERY resilient, and after a slow morning with monitored intake, he was ready to party by late afternoon!

Annalee is 100% tomboy. She was the only one to get all dirty picking up the fish that T caught in the cast net, and she would throw them into the creek and call “Seeeee-gullls, come eeeeaaaat!” Celia would squeal when the fish would “pop” (flip around) in her hands!

Wyatt is a flirt. While the girls were playing with the fish, he had Granny & Sissy wrapped around his finger. Sissy was feeding him apple juice, while Granny was spoon feeding him his cereal. He later told me that Sissy & Granny were his girlfriends (along with T and myself, of course!)

All three know that they must have their life jacket on at all times if they are on the pier. They know where their life jacket is, can put it on by themselves, and have NEVER complained about having to wear one – yay!

What wonderful memories we made at the creek this past week! Reminds me so much of my childhood, and for that, I am so thankful :)