More Charleston

Last night we hit the ballpark for the Charleston Riverdogs baseball game.  I joked on facebook that I could not get away from baseball even on vacation!  It was fun!  The Riverdogs are an minor league affiliate of the Yankees so being Red Sox fans we rooted for the Augusta Greenjackets. 

Look at Hope our little ball player!! Ha! 

Hope and David loved the music, the games, and the fun!  We hit it on kids night so the kids got free hot dogs, chips and drinks to eat while they watched the game.  Here is Hope waving her arms like a mad woman for a free tshirt. I did not have the heart to tell her that we were way too far away to get a shirt, but she was cute trying!

In the ninth inning the game was tied. Kyle made Mike put on his rally cap to cheer for Augusta.  They are affiliated with the Giants.  In the tenth inning the Riverdogs broke the tie with a homerun which made for a fun game. 

 Another cute picture of our ball player!

 

Yesterday morning we went to Battery Park right on the river.  It is beautiful!!!

I love this picture of my boys!  Dave is sitting on a branch from a live oak tree in the park. 

My hearts. 

Hope and Kyle walking towards the river.  Vacation time is simply the best.  

This might be my favorite picture of our trip!  In the July edition of Southern Living this restaurant was featured as a must eat in Charleston. Sunday afternoon we happened to drive right by which jogged my memory from the article in Southern Living.  Our kids have never had soul food and it was heavenly.  This is Martha Lou who at 86 years old has been serving delicious chicken and sides for thirty years from this same place.  I loved talking to her while my food was cooking and she is such a celebrity now due to her good food and recognition in Southern Living that I had to get a picture of her and Kyle. 

 

 This little lady loved the city market and purchased herself two new hairbows.  She has waited patiently to get back to the market to add to her hairbow collection. 

This picture is truly unbelievable.  This is David with Jack Grider.  His parents Andy and Deanna were friends of ours way back when we were dating and newlyweds.  We spent many evenings grilling, talking shop (they too are educators) and enjoying some laughs.  When I talked about our upcoming vacation to Charleston on facebook she messaged me that they too would be here!  I have been texting with her trying to meet up and amazingly we ran into them this morning in the market!! The last time we were all together we had no children and now between us we have five!  Time certainly flies!  

 

After our spontaneous chat session with the Grider family we went into a local candy shop.  Do you see the joy in Kyle's face??  No, we did not let them buy these enormous boxes of candy but we all let with a little sweet something:)

 

After our  morning we hit the beach this afternoon.  We stopped at the store and bought some sand toys on our way to the beach.  Mike and David had fun playing paddle ball. 

Happy Beach girl!  She got very brave today and really went out far with me. 

We are so thankful for this family time together.  On a beautiful afternoon on the beach it is hard to believe that this time last year we were preparing for David's last chemo treatment.  While watching my kids play and swim today I was really overcome with thanksgiving to God for this precious time together. 

More Vacation Fun!

Despite some sprinkles and rain we are loving Charleston.  Yesterday afternoon the sun came out and we hit Isle of Palms beach. 

These three loved the ocean and beach! 

Fearless little surfer girl!! She loved the ocean except for the taste of it!!

David was scary because he was fearless and the surf was rough because a storm was blowing in.  He loved it so much.  Holding his hand and watching him enjoy every wave brought me to tears.  He was so happy!!

This little fish of course swam and swam for hours. 

Mike took the little ones on a shell hunt.  They collected quite an assortment shells:)

Pure joy on their sweet little faces:) 

 

We have also enjoyed the SC Aquarium here in Charleston.  It is such an awesome place and it was a perfect destination on a rainy morning. 

 

This beautiful little owl greeted us as we walked in. 

In the Madagascar exhibit David loved the jeep! 

All three of our "eagles" in the eagle nest. 

One of our favorite exhibits was the otter exhibit.  We could have stayed there for hours watching the otters dip and swim right before us.  They were really putting on a show!

The aquarium is so great about walking around with different animals for you to see up close.  Kyle finally got brave enough to touch a baby alligator.  Look at that face!!

Hope in front of some snakes.  She said "take my picture mom-these look like the one we saw at our house?!

Mike ever the educator who wants to challenge our kids, gave Kyle a high five for finding something on the globe. 

Hope loved the big tank with the sharks, dolphins, and our favorite.....

Corinna the Sea Turtle!  She was so beautiful and magnificent.  She was my favorite:)

Here are Kyle and Mike holding a sea urchin in the touch tank.  You could feel it move in your hand-yuck but very cool!

There was a boat very similar to the one in one of David's favorite TV shows, Deadliest Catch and he pretended to be Captain Phil from the show. 

My boys with Alabaster the Albino alligator! 

After the aquarium, we hopped on the boat to take us to Ft. Sumter.  Here are the kids and Mike in front of the fort.  I am not the history buff in the family but Mike and Kyle enjoyed it.  I texted with a friend during our hour on the fort:)

Our handsome Kyle on the boat coming back from Ft. Sumter:)

 

More vacation fun awaits-there is so much to see and do here.  We love Charleston!!!

Sweet Charleston

We have arrived in Charleston and we definiely are loving it!!!  Wow it is so beautiful here even if all the blasted rain from Virginia followed us here:( 

After checking into our hotel (wow we love how funky and modern it is) we headed to the historic district in downtown Charleston.  We hit one of our favorite restaurants-Wild Wings Cafe and here are my boys showing some vacation love!

Hope was enthralled with all the carriage tours through downtown. 

The beauty and the history of this place is amazing.  We are in love!!!

Here is Hope looking out over the river in Battery Park.  She is also sporting her new hairbow she had just bought in the city market.  The market was closing up when we got there so we will have to hit that another time during business hours. 

Cuties on the river.  Tomorrow (weather permitting) we are going to do the boat tour of Fort Sumter.  Kyle and Mike are super excited about that!

This evening we hit the beach at Isle of Palms and it was beautiful!!  Wow-how laid back and gorgeous it is.  We will have more beach time, but tonight the kids wanted to walk on the beach before it rained. 

Kyle on the beach!

A beautiful beach sunset as we were leaving Isle of Palms tonight.  We are so excited to explore all that Charleston/Isle of Palms has to offer.  Happy Vacation!!