Erin Akin Carroll

We’ve been having so much fun at KK and Poppie’s house.

Just a little background for those of you that don’t know… My family moved from Louisiana (where I’d lived my whole life) to Indiana when I was in the 8th grade. When I finished high school, I went back to college in Louisiana and then two years later, my parents moved from Indiana to South Carolina. So when I went “home” to visit my parents, I went to South Carolina. And then when I finished college, I moved to Columbia, South Carolina to attend grad school at USC. And then two years later I met Todd and the rest is history.

A year after I moved to South Carolina, my parents moved to Dallas, where they lived until last spring. Last April, they moved back to Indiana. So, now when I go “home,” I’m actually going back to where I finished high school.

Having said ALL of that, it’s such an odd feeling going back to the place where I spent my high school years after ten years of being away from there. But I love visiting here. We spend most of our time just hanging out because that’s just the kind of family we are. But I love that it’s quiet and relaxing.

On Saturday morning, we took the boys to the farmer’s market and then decided to go to the duck pond before it got to be too hot outside.

Right when we pulled up to the duck pond on the Ball State campus, the ducks started running up to us. Kind of funny… kind of scary.

 

Hudson was so excited to see the ducks (and geese), but then really didn’t want to get too close to them.

 

We didn’t want Hayes to get down and walk because there was duck poop everywhere and he had taken off his shoes in the car, but we wanted to see if he cared at all about the ducks. He was kind of excited and kind of oblivious.

After the duck pond adventure, we went on a grocery store adventure. Hudson really wanted Hayes to ride in the “truck” with him, and I think Hayes was happy to do it.

It’s very rare that Hudson wants to hug Hayes or sit with him for a picture. He’s really just not all that sweet to his brother very often. I think it’s because he doesn’t like all the attention he gets from us when he’s sweet to Hayes. But when they were riding in the buggy, he really wanted Hayes to smile for the camera with him. He kept putting his arm around Hayes. And I did give him a lot of attention and told him how sweet he was being to Hayes.

Last night, after Hayes was in bed, we put on The Music Man for Hudson to watch. I had a feeling he’d love some of the songs. The Music Man is one of my all time favorite movies. The music is so clever and so well-written. And I just knew Hudson would love the band. He absolutely loved the opening song “he’s a music man, he’s a what, he’s a what…”

This morning after church, we went to lunch with some friends and both boys came home and took great naps. Hayes has so much fun here because there are new toys to play with and lots of space to walk around. He was so happy when he woke up from his nap, but kept waiting for Hudson to get up.

After supper tonight, they went outside to play in the sprinkler. Hayes wasn’t a fan at all.

But Hudson was having the time of his life. He absolutely loved it!

Even though it’s really hot outside, we’ve been going on a pretty long walk every morning just to get everyone outside for a little bit and try to prevent summer cabin fever. I am such a hot-natured person, but I don’t mind when I’ve got this sweet baby keeping me company.

And this is what we have on tap for tomorrow. Pray for us! Potty training boot camp starts at 8:00 a.m.

 

*And I just had to share this picture! Our friends Lindsey and Joey came into town last week before I left for Indiana. All of our friends from our original newlyweds Sunday school class got together with all the babies for dinner. I was working an event at the church that night, so I didn’t have Hudson and Hayes with me. And my good friend Emily had already gone home by the time I got there, so everyone isn’t in this picture. But I do love this picture of all of the girls with their sweet babies. (Two other babies besides mine aren’t pictured.) So fun that all of the babies have been born in the last few years. I hope they all grow up to be great friends!

 

Caroline and Evelyn Claire, Jessica and Julia, Tina (baby Lilla stayed home), Allyson (Josh was sleeping), Lindsey and Campbell, and me