Charleston

It is difficult for me to think of a lovelier city than Charleston. Anyone who has visited before knows exactly what I mean, I'm sure. The city itself is a giant peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water. You get the breeze from the harbor, the gorgeous views and the beach is only 5 minutes away. And the city is known for its beautiful, historic southern homes, painted gorgeous colors. Then there are gardens, parks, palm trees, shopping and lots and lots of food. 

Its also a great walking city. I love walking in beautiful places like this. And we did a lot of walking the day we spent in Charleston while on our beach trip. It was our last day and it was raining all morning, so we decided to drive over the bridge and head into downtown historic Charleston. I was so happy we got to visit being that the beach house was only a short drive from the city.

We did A LOT of walking that day. The kids held up great (with some help :) 

We found these awesome swings overlooking the water. Lovely!!

The "big girls" were so cute, holding hands most of the day!

Joe enjoyed all the hot sauce stores at the Market.

After walking a good part of the city, splashing in some fountains,

 eating ice cream and visiting a candy shop, we headed home.

 It was hard to leave Charleston and the beach. It was a wonderful vacation!

Beach Trip pt. 2

One night we all headed to the beach for a little photo shoot.

It was fun for the ladies & torture for the guys, so we made it quick :)

The little girls enjoyed any excuse to be down at the beach

and being the little ladies they are, were quite adorable dancing on the beach that evening.

The kiddos: 6 girls and 1 boy :) 

What a lucky little man Daniel will be in a few years!

Swans, Seavers & Lechners

(every picture I look at I'm struck by how many girls there are in this bunch!)

Our little family

The newest family of four, our buddies & neighbors the Swans

More of the little ladies. They did everything together.

It was cute seeing Abi hanging with the "big girls"

Random picture, but it made me laugh. This is Alathea being a frog :)

Lots of coloring & book reading this weekend...more proof of the abundance of girls!

Me & my sweet girls on Mothers Day

Another kids shot. I just love these precious blessings! 

God has been so kind to us!

Isle of Palms... our beach trip!

We enjoyed four fabulous days on the Isle of Palms, a beach just outside Charleston. 

The beach is our very favorite place. All four of us LOVE it!

Our dear friends, the Seaver's, invited our family and the Swans. 

We love beach vacations with friends. The extra people make it even more fun.

Alathea LOVED having so many Buddie's at the beach, 

but I loved the special moments with her little sis the best :)

"The Boys" going fishing at night.

The big girls (they told me they were mermaids).

All the kids loved the ocean. It was remarkably calm and warm...

perfect for a bunch of little kids. 

That was until a shark was spotted in waste deep water (for real). 

Fortunately it was the last day :)

I just love watching Alathea laugh hysterically. 

There is nothing like watching a little kid just enjoy life.

Alathea especially like the ocean when Daddy went in with her.

But she was pretty brave herself too!

There were always lots of little girls playing together :)

My three favorite people.

It was a wonderful trip. It was just too short :)

The girls had so much fun with their buddies and the beach. 

Joe & I loved having such close friends to enjoy the weekend with.

One of my favorite things of all was running on the beach. It was so beautiful.

I took so many pictures...this is just my beach post (I think I'll do two more :)! 

Visit with Grandpa & Jane

Well, this post is LONG overdue, but it was one of those days I don't want to forget, so I'm posting it anyways:) While in MD last month, me and the girls spent a day with my very favorite Grandpa & Jane. They live right on an inlet to the Chesapeake Bay, and their neighborhood has a sweet little beach. Prefect size for two little girls. Even though the water was cold, Alathea and Abigail had a blast digging in the sand and splashing in the water. No surprise here, but Abi got so excited she started to run deeper into the water and fell completely in, getting completely drenched! She wasn't a happy camper. But once we took her clothes of, she was happy Abi once again (that explains the pics of her in just her jean jacket!). 

Grandpa and Jane are the most fabulous hosts. Jane is the best cook I know and made us another fabulous dinner. We ate on their deck looking at the water. The girls enjoyed playing with their dog, Bo, and cat, Cinco. Two of the sweetest pets I've ever met. Alathea & Abi were also quite smitten with Grandpa & Jane, enjoying all the sweet attention they got!

This was such a special day. I loved getting Grandpa & Jane all to myself (usually my family is there with me). Hopefully it won't be too long before we see them again soon!