Festival of Lights!

Michael and I got to spent the weekend with Jennifer down in Charleston last weekend! 

We had so much fun, except for Michael getting an ear infection while we were there. He was so pitiful. 

Friday night, we headed over to James Island Festival of Lights! The weather was beautiful, and we were able to get out of the car and walk around. 

 Michael was really excited that he got to ride up front with us, to look at the lights!

When we got out to walk around, they had this carousel for the kids to ride. He was pretty excited! 

 Jennifer rode too!

 It's hard to see, but Michael is standing in front of that tree. 

 Some of the beautiful lights!

 Ravenel Bridge in lights

 And then the old Cooper River Bridge!

The rest of the weekend was spent in our jammies laying around. It was so relaxing, and great, to just hang out and catch up with Jennifer. She's moving up here soon, so that may be the last time we get to go down there!

Sky Top, NC

On Friday, Michael and I met Julie, Coleman and Finley up at Sky top for a day of fall fun!

 None of us had ever been there, so we weren't sure what to expect.

 I had heard tons of great stuff, so I was looking forward to it. Well, it was CROWDED!! I never imagined on a Friday morning there would be so many people there!

We played on the playground for a while and then decided to take the hay ride.

While I went and bought the tickets, Julie took the boys to play. 

It was a quick little hayride around the property.

 It gave us a chance to see what all there was to do. We saw the animal area, the bamboo forest, the duck pond, and lots and lots of apple trees. 

After the hay ride we decided to go down to the animal area and check out the sheep and goats. Michael and Coleman loved feeding the sheep! 

After the animals, we explored the bamboo forest. It was so cool! And the boys loved it too! 

Then it was time to eat our picnic lunch. 

After lunch we went back to the playground to play. Jessica and her family were also there on Friday with some other friends, and she called to say they were headed to the playground too. It was fun to have all the kiddos together! 

They had fun sliding and swinging together. 

I tried to get a picture of all fie of them together, but a few kids didn't want to cooperate! 

But through the magic of digital editing, I'm going to be able to put them all together!

Then it was time to say goodbye. Before we left, I got in the LONG line for some hot apple cider doughnuts! 

And they were definitely worth waiting for! 

It was such a fun day in the mountains with wonderful friends! 

My Little Spider Man

Friday Morning, Michael and I met Julie, Coleman and Finley at the Tyger river Park. They had a blast playing in the sandbox, on the swings, the playground, the giant musical pipes 

and the giant Spider Web. 

Michael especially liked the spider web!

With the weather becoming cooler, this might have to become a regular play date! 

Life's a Beach!

Last week, Julie and I drove down to spend a few nights with Jennifer for a little Girls trip. Jessica couldn't make it, but we were still trying to get her to go with us up to the last minute.

We left Wednesday night, after Andrew got home from work and arrived at Jennifer's around 9:30. She had some snacks and drinks ready for us and it was such a nice welcome. We talked and laughed, and stayed up way too late. We talked about what we wanted to do while we were there and made plans for the rest of the week. Thursday morning Julie pops her head in my room just after 9:00 am and tells me that she is leaving. Her MIL was watching her kids and she got sick. So Julie had to go pick up the kids and drive them home (a 3 hour drive). Her plan was to drive back to Jennifer's (another 3 hour drive) either that night, or the next morning. Well, by that afternoon, Julie had a fever and was feeling awful. So, she decided not to come back at all. And it's a good thing to, because she ended up having strep throat!

So it was just me and Jennifer. It was 1:30 before we pulled our butts off the couch and decided to head to the beach. 

We stayed till around 6, and it was wonderful! 

Thursday night, we stayed home and snacked and sat around. So relaxing! 

Friday we headed back to the beach. 

To just lay at the beach, read a good book and have great conversation with your best friend, is the best way to spend a day. 

Friday night jennifer and I went out for pizza. Then back to the house to lay around some more. 

Saturday morning we went to the farmer's market in downtown Charleston.  We got a giant fresh lemonade and some kettle corn. Jennifer also picked up some fresh veggies and some fresh ravioli. 

We brought our beach stuff with us, in case we decided to go back to the beach. Well, we did and it was so crowded. But still very relaxing, once we got parked and found a nice spot on the beach. 

We were at the beach for most of the day and decided to leave once a very dark cloud showed up. I guess everyone else decided to leave also, and it took us forever to actually get off the Isle of Palms. But as we were leaving, we saw the most beautiful rainbow. 

You can faintly see a double rainbow. 

I put together two pictures, so you could see the whole thing. It was incredible! 

Saturday night was a lot more laying around. 

Sunday we got up and headed over to the outlets. It was tax free weekend and Jennifer wanted to look for some clothes. After a quick lunch at Panera, it was time to drive to Columbia. Andrew and Michael were meeting us there, since my ride left me stranded. (Just kidding Julie) 

We had a great time, and it was so relaxing. It reminded us a lot of our trip to the Bahamas last year. We really wish Julie could have stayed and that Jessica could have come. We missed those girls so much. Hopefully we will be able to plan another girls trip, and more than just me and Jennifer will be able to be there! 

Thanks for a great trip Jennifer! I had such a fun relaxing time! 

4th of July in Charleston

Jessica, all the kids, and I drove down on Wednesday, July third, to spend some time with Jennifer. It just worked out that we would be there for the forth.

We arrived around lunch time on Wednesday and just hung around Jennifer's house that day. We made a trip to the grocery store with all of the kids in tow, to buy what we would need for the next 3 days. We decided to eat all of our meals at home. Trying to take three kids out, wouldn't be fun for anyone. 

Thursday, the forth, we packed up the van, and headed to Isle of palms for the day. 

We brought a picnic lunch, and were prepared to stay for several hours. We even brought a baby pool for the Abby. It was a bit of a hassle, but ended up being a great idea. 

The kids did great at the beach, and had so much fun running in the waves and we got to sit in the ocean supervising. It was actually pretty relaxing. As relaxing as a trip to the beach with a three, two, and one year old. 

We didn't do anything exciting for the forth. It actually started raining in the afternoon, and rained most of the night. We grilled out hot dogs and hamburgers and had a lovely night in.

We put the kids to bed and we played Mexican train! We actually played every night after the kids went to bed and it got very competitive! 

Friday, it looked like it would rain, but we decided to go to the pool anyway.  The kids had so much fun at the pool, even when it started pouring! 

Saturday morning, we went to the pool again and then came home, ate lunch, packed the van and headed home. We wanted the kids to sleep most of the way home, and that is exactly what happened. 

We had so much fun with Jennifer and hopefully we can do it again next year. 

A Day at the Zoo

Michael and I met Jessica, Lydia, and Abby at the zoo yesterday, and had a great time. The weather was absolutely perfect. We both got zoo passes for Christmas, and are taking advantage of using them before summer gets here and it is too hot to enjoy.

Checking out the Elephants 

Telling me that a lion says ROOAARRR!!

We couldn't believe he came right up to the window!
He just sat there looking at them for the longest time!

Lydia and Michael on the bear

Mommy and Michael on the Bear

What a difference!

Our Weekend in Charleston

This past weekend, I got to go back to Charleston to visit Jennifer and Julie. Andrew was teaching a class on Saturday, so I decided to go down with him to see my friends.

We had so much fun, and had beautiful weather all weekend. We thought it would be fun to take Michael and Coleman to the beach to let them play in the sand. Well, just because it was 75 degrees in Goose Creek, does not mean its going to be that warm on Isle of Palms. It was freezing! The wind was so cold. We only ended up staying for 30 minutes. But we did stay long enough to take some pictures.

See, don't we look freezing?

(I really wish these pictures weren't so dark)

We decided to go find a playground for the boys to play on. Jennifer has a great one in her neighborhood and the boys loved it.

Then we went back to Jennifer's house and the boys got to play outside some more. Around 5:00 Michael asked if he could go take a nap, he was wore out! So he took a nap, and Jennifer and I got to hang out and talk.

Sunday we went downtown for lunch at a Tai restaurant. It was really yummy. Then walked around for a bit and then it was time to go home.

Weekends always seem to go by so quickly and I wish we had been able to stay longer.