Events
Travel & Vacation: Isle of Palms Beach, South Carolina
On our recent trip to Charleston, South Carolina we had the opportunity to spend a long day at the Isle of Palms Beach. The beach was busier than Tybee Beach in Georgia but it was beautiful. It was a great day swimming and relaxing together.
Two chickies at the beach! Karlie and Brina ready to swim at Isle of Palms Beach near Charleston, SC.
Karlie and Daddy digging. Karlie and Daddy made a sand castle while Brina and Mommy picked up sea shells.
Brina's favorite sea shells, she said they look like colorful butterflies. We found a lot of these little clam shells on the beach. Even though they are fragile Brina still insisted on picking up as many as possible!
Brina found a shell! There were a lot of people on the beach that day but Brina still spotted a bunch of shells!
Daddy and the girls swimming....well really just everyone standing on Daddy. Brina thought it was hilarious that she could stand on Daddy’s knee and Karlie is trying to put her glasses back on, silly girls!
Here it comes! I think Daddy was the only one aware of the big wave about to get them!
Karlie and Mommy swimming Karlie wore her sunglasses the entire time we were in the ocean.
Pruned feet from swimming in the ocean too long! The girls thought it was hilarious seeing their hands and feet pruned after swimming in the ocean. We had been in for at least an hour maybe two so its going to happen eventually.
Cool shades Karlie cat. Karlie chilling for a few minutes after eating her snack.
Brina spent the entire time eating her snack watching the little puppy next to our tent. Entertained by the little dog next to us.
Brina catching seashells. Brina thought it was great sitting at the edge of the water waiting for wave and catching seashells.
Karlie on the run. Karlie had fun looking for treasures in the water, she is running to the shell bucket. The best find that day was 2 quarters.
After several hours in the sun at the beach we went back to the hotel and swam for another three hours. I am not sure how the girls did it but they slept well that night. It was a lot of fun to spend a day at the beach and pool with the family.
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Fun in Charleston
On our family road trip to Charleston we got to discover neat places. Thanks to a friend, who gave us some information in advance, we had a blast exploring new kid playgrounds during our time away. It was a fun filled inexpensive mini vacation together.
Karlie climbing. The girls and I spent one morning at the Mt. Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park. They loved it!
Brina on the tire swing. Brina loves spinning on this swing!
Karlie enjoying her time at the playground. It took a lot of work to climb up the jungle gym and go down this slide, Karlie is quite pleased with her accomplishment!
Brina loves this slide. Brina happy to finally go down the slide, several kids fell trying to get up the jungle gym to go down this slide.
Giggling as they look down on Mommy! Brina and Karlie loved being up high and thought it was hilarious how “tiny” Mommy was on the ground.
Brina determined to get find the diving stick. The girls swam for hours in the hotel pool. They had fun splashing, playing, relaxing and meeting new friends.
Karlie loved splashing around in the pool. We spent almost five hours in the pool that afternoon. The nice part about where the pool was located is that part of it was in the shade throughout the day so you didn’t have to be out in the intense heat all day swimming.
Daddy, Karlie and Brina ready for dinner at Red's We ate at a local seafood restaurant one night. The girls favorite part was that the kids meals were served on a frisbee so they were able to take it home with them, they thought it was so funny.
Crossing the Arthur Ravenel Bridge just after sun down to go into downtown Charleston. We gave the girls the option after dinner to go back to the hotel and swim or go to downtown Charleston and drive around. Much to our surprise they wanted to go explore downtown Charleston. They always enjoyed going over this bridge!
The girls wanted to know all the history behind the cannons. Daddy patiently answered many questions on the history behind Charleston and the surrounding area during our walk through the park and downtown.
The most bizarre thing we saw in Charleston. As we were walking through the part we saw a visible path of white feathers about 3 to 5 feet across from one tree to the next tree (about 30 to 40 feet away). The feathers had obviously been placed there for a reason, we believe there is some historical resemblance but not sure. Can anyone who has more knowledge on the history of Charleston give us an explanation? It was odd seeing a path of feathers between two huge trees and several cars as they were driving by honked as they passed that part of the park.
See the white line between the two trees? It is a wide path of white feathers. I am still a little perplexed by this one…..
Our family thoroughly enjoy Charleston the food, adventures, and time together was refreshing. I am thrilled the girls had fun exploring the town. I have a little bit more about our Charleston adventures coming up soon so stay tuned!
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Travel & Vacation: Road Trip to Charleston
We recently went on a road family road trip to Charleston, it technically was a work and family fun trip combined. I am thankful for a wonderful time together exploring Charleston. A lot of great memories were made that week!
Brina and Karlie in Charleston! This is the pier near the Waterfront Park, you can get a good view of the Arthur Ravenel Bridge from the pier.
Brina enjoying the slide! The girls loved the Waterfront Park, thanks Janet for telling us about this great park! The park is directly under the large Arthur Ravenel Bridge. It is great having the park under the bridge because the majority of it is shaded even during the hottest parts of the day.
Karlie fun at the Waterfront Park. Karlie climbing on the jungle gym at Waterfront Park. If you look above her head you can see the cement from the bridge above us. You can hear all the traffic going along the bridge as you are playing on the playground. It’s a great park and if you go they charge $0.50 per hour to park (they take cash, coins, credit / debit). I was never able to get the credit / debit to work so I would suggest making sure you have cash or coins prior to going to the park.
Brina spinning at the park. The girls do better at spinning then I do. They thought this was so much fun standing and twisting around!
Karlie doing her workbook at the hotel. Karlie and Brina thought it was great doing a few pages of their workbooks in the hotel. They did really well! Karlie made her own desk out of an end table and used the cooler for her chair, she was so proud of her “creative” desk.
Brina on the Waterfront slide. Back at Waterfront park for more fun. The girls loved the park so much they wanted to show Daddy so we got pizza, ate a picnic at the park and let the girls play so more.
Karlie on the slide. Karlie having a blast on the slide at the park.
Brina spinning. The girls thought these were awesome. No matter how you sat in these stools you would spin. I was surprised at how long they could spin, Mommy didn’t last nearly as long!
Karlie still dazed from a big spin. These seats were hilarious. Karlie lost a shoe on this spin!
Daddy and Brina on the double swing. They had double swings under awnings along the pier. It was beautiful and cool sitting together enjoying a swing!
Mommy and Karlie swinging on the other side! We had a blast in Charleston. The first day we spent exploring a little bit and enjoying some time playing at their beautiful park. Thankful for a great time with the family creating memories!
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Teaching Our Children: Encouraging the Kids to Read During Summer Vacation
Our reading tree! I was trying to come up with a visual prompt in our home that encourages our children to read this summer. The girls LOVE it when they are read to and could do it for hours but since they are starting to read on their own I wanted to find something that would help motivate them to read a little more. I came up with the idea “Spring into Reading” since we technically started it in the Spring and I wanted to boost the girls reading skills.
My Mom graciously made the tree for me and my Sister in Law Becky helped cut out a bunch of the leaves. The purpose of the tree is simple find a visual way for the girls to see their reading progress. Each member of our family gets a different color of leaf. When that member reads a book to the girls or they read a book on their own they get to put up their leaf.
We have started to fill out our tree with leaves and hope to get an after summer break picture up for you to see what we accomplished. If all goes well I hope to see more and more of the girls leaves going up throughout the summer as their reading skills increase.
Spending Time with Grandma!
We were so thankful that my Mom was able to come visit us for several days. She went with us to Savannah for my cousins graduation and time at the beach. The girls love spending time with Grandma and were thrilled to hang out together.
Grandma Penny helping the girls do their workbooks! I think Grandma Penny was much more patient then Mommy doing the workbooks!
Grandma Penny reading books to the girls! The girls love it when Grandma reads them books. Today they relaxed for a few minutes on the front porch with a stack of books to read together. Thank you Mom for reading to our girls, they LOVE their time with you! I am thankful for a Mom who takes the time to be with our family. The girls have many wonderful family memories because of moments like these!
Family Celebrations: Happy 4th of July!!!!
Wishing everyone a very Happy July 4th!!!
Hope you have an amazing day celebrating with family and friends!
What a great day to make some new memories and enjoy time with those around you!
Photo by bayasaa
Vacation & Travel: Family Time at Tybee Island, Georgia
We had an amazing trip to Savannah, Georgia this year. We were able to explore Savannah, celebrate a cousins graduation from SCAD, and go to the beach on Tybee. Here are some more fun pictures from our trip to Tybee Island:
Checking out Savannah's Wildlife! The girls were thrilled to find this “pretty green frog” at Grandma Penny’s hotel! As we were leaving one time we were greeted by this little guy! It is amazing how fascinating a frog can be for the kids!
It was fun to spend time with my sweet Mom in Savannah! We were so happy that Grandma Penny was able to go with us on the road trip to Savannah! The girls loved hanging out with Grandma Penny!
Karlie watching Daddy out the Grandma Penny's hotel window! Karlie wanted to make sure Daddy wasn’t going to leave us.
Brina's ready for the beach, she's swinging her arms to dry off the sunblock! We found that putting sunblock on at the hotel, letting it dry, then heading to the beach was the key to stay unburnt and sand free!
The girls know we are getting close to the beach on Tybee once they see the giant shark! They think the shark is hilarious. The first time we went to Tybee we stopped by because they wanted a closer look. Now when they see it they just giggle!
Aunt Mary Ann and the girls were the first to get their feet wet! The girls love testing the water for a few minutes before going right into the ocean.
Karlie loves Tybee Beach! Karlie running up the beach to take off her glasses so she can go swimming in the ocean!
Everyone starting to enjoy the beach! It was great having an opportunity to go to the beach with extended family. Tybee was beautiful and really only a few people were out on the beach with us.
Come on in Grandma Penny, the water's great! The girls had a blast swimming with Grandma Penny, Aunt Renelle, Uncle Eric and everyone else. The beach adventure was a lot of fun for the girls.
Mom and Renelle enjoying their time at Tybee Beach! Everyone enjoyed a relaxing swim at Tybee. We even saw some DOLPHINS! I didn’t have my camera handy when they came but thrilled they came to visit us during our swim!
Karlie "helping" Uncle Eric dig a giant hole in the sand! Every time we go swimming on Tybee Beach we see several of these cargo ships going by. It is amazing the amount of cargo they carry on these ships as they go in and out of Savannah’s harbor.
Brina having fun riding on Daddy's shoulders! The girls love the water! I am thrilled that they are becoming more confident with their life jackets but still (for the most part) stay near us!
Aunt Mary Ann enjoying the shade while talking with Jake! It was a beautiful day at the beach! We are so thankful to be able to share it with so many family members!
Brina swimming with Daddy and Karlie swimming with Grandma Penny! The girls thought it was awesome being able to swim with a lot of different people, they usually have a choice between Mommy or Daddy. Thankful that they love the ocean and had fun with family!
Brina and Karlie "helping" Daddy dig a hole for a sand castle! Thanks Laurel for the awesome sand toys! The girls had a blast making a sand castle at Tybee!
Brina and Karlie taking a lunch break in the beach tent! The tent was a nice place out of the sun for the kiddos to take a break and eat lunch. Thanks babe for taking care of us so we didn’t get crispy in the sun!
The sand may be messy but it sure is fun playing in it with Daddy! One of their favorite activities to do at the beach, dig in the sand!
Lunch time at the beach! We were thrilled Mom could join us in the adventure! My Mom was able to fly up to Greenville and come with us on this road trip. That weekend was packed full of fun with the graduation celebration, beach adventures, the road trip and many more exciting activities!
Checking out the lobsters at Red Lobster! We didn’t have a chance to stop at a seafood restaurant in Georgia so on the road trip back home we ate at Red Lobster. The girls were fascinated with their lobster tank!
“A Vacation To Remember” series is a reflection on our recent trip and ways we relaxed. Life is short and we were thrilled to have the opportunity to build memories with family and explore of of the most amazing places during our time away. Go with a good attitude and looking for fun and it will be an awesome trip jammed packed with positive memories. It is refreshing having some time away from the regular routine. Make it a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet new people and learn. You just might see or try something new that takes your breath away!
Family Celebrations: Graduation in Savannah, Georgia
In a previous post I mentioned that our family was able to take a road trip to Savannah to celebrate my cousin Laurel’s graduation from college, SCAD. Here are a few more pictures of our trip.
2011 SCAD Graduation - Way to GO Laurel! We were able to see Laurel Graduate. It was a fun trip of celebrating and catching up with family while enjoying Savannah!
Uncle Rick, Laurel, and Aunt Mary Ann! Proud parents of the graduating college student!
Three Graduates - Karlie and Brina from Kindergarten and Laurel from College! The girls thought Laurel was so cool because she graduated the same year they did. Although they thought her classes might have been harder and definitely bigger! We were thrilled to have a graduation to attend on the East coast. Thankful for the opportunity to celebrate with Laurel.
Vacation & Travel: Family Time in Historic Savannah, Georgia
We recently went to Savannah, Georgia to celebrate my cousins graduation from SCAD (Savannah College of Arts and Design). It was great having a reason to travel to Savannah again. Our family enjoys all the history in the area and loves an opportunity to go to the beach. We arrived on Friday nights just in time to see Savannah’s first Friday Firework display downtown on River Street. Saturday was graduation day so we had a mix of sightseeing, graduation ceremony and celebrating with Laurel. The girls thought Laurel had a lot more in her class then they did in their kindergarten graduation earlier that week. My Mom was able to fly out from Kansas and spend a couple days with us and drive with us to Savannah. It was great spending some extra time with her and the girls loved having Grandma around.
Hilarious....Karlie fast asleep with her treat still in her mouth! The girls picked out a snack to munch on during the ride to Savannah. Karlie picked out a special treat, fruit by the foot. Obviously she was too tired to finish eating it because when I looked back this is what I saw…..her fast asleep with the last six inches of the fruit by the foot hanging out her mouth. All of us got a good laugh at this one such a classic road trip picture!
Brina opening her goodie bag from Aunt Mary Ann and Aunt Laurel! Aunt Mary Ann and Aunt Laurel put together a sweet goodie bag for each of the girls. They had a lot of fun playing with the toys, drinking through the silly straws and writing in their new notebooks.
Friday Night Fireworks on River Street in Savannah, GA The first Friday evening of every month (at least during the summer months) Savannah has fireworks. They start after sundown about 9 PM at night. The fireworks are set off over the river and are beautiful.
Brina, Daddy and Karlie exploring Savannah! Saturday morning we decided to explore Savannah on foot while it was still early and cool. The girls had a fun time walking and asking questions about the town. Love this picture of Jake walking hand in hand with the girls, if only you could hear the conversation going on…..so many questions and Daddy patiently answering each one. Such a great Daddy, love these three very much!
Brina showing off her new purple seashell necklace and watching the horse carriages driving by at the same time! 
Karlie showing off her new seashell necklace! When we were looking through the shops and picking out postcards we found two purple seashell necklaces on clearance for $0.99 so the girls got their first seashell necklaces to remember Savannah.
Relaxing before graduation! Karlie and Brina kept Laurel entertained as lunch was being made. The bed in Uncle Rick and Aunt Mary Ann’s room was a make shift couch throughout the weekend. Karlie and Brina had fun talking with Laurel. It was pretty funny listening to some of their “stories”!
The ladies in our group that went on the Trolley Tour - Renelle, Bridgette, Randy and Penny! Jake and I had been on the trolley tour before but wanted to go again. It was amazing the amount of different information we learned this time around. Every tour guide has a unique way of presenting the information. Renelle, Randy, and Mom had never been on the tour and enjoyed it as well. Even though it was pretty hot outside with the open trolley and breeze it was comfortable. Thanks babe for running to grab waters for everyone while we took this picture.
Beautiful Church in Savannah, GA Savannah has a lot of amazing history. This is one of several beautiful churches in the downtown area of Savannah.
Savannah has a lot of great squares with Monuments and historical information in each one. There are a lot of shaded squares in Savannah that you can walk through and read a bunch of history. Each square has some type of monument to view and benches for those wanted to rest or have a picnic. If you are wanting to get an overview of Savannah I recommend taking one of the trolley tours first then you can come back later and learn more about the sights that interest you. We chose the Oglethrope Trolley Tour because it was the best price and we didn’t have to pay for parking. Finding parking in downtown Savannah can be difficult and expensive. Plus the trolley would pick us up and drop us off at a number of locations throughout Savannah all day. You could explore a historical sight or go shopping and when you were done or wanted transportation to the next area of interest you would wait a few minutes or call them and they would come pick you up.
More Savannah Trip Pictures Coming soon!
Family Celebrations: Graduating Kindergarten
We were excited to celebrate our girls kindergarten graduation. It is crazy just thinking that they are finished with kindergarten and will be starting first grade in just a couple months. All our friends said time will go by quickly, I didn’t realize how fast! Here are a few pictures from their fun celebration:
Brina and Karlie ready for their Kindergarten Program! 
Karlie getting her diploma from Mrs. Boyles (AKA Principal or "Boss Lady") 
Brina getting her Kindergarten Diploma from Mrs. Boyles 
Brina and Karlie happy to get their diploma with all their friends! 
In celebration of the girls graduating Kindergarten we went to the Greenville Drive Game that Night! 
Let's PLAY BALL! We ran into a lot of friends at the game. The tickets were purchased through the Playcation Package we bought.
