Travel
Travel & Vacation: Fun Day at Isle of Palms Beach
Beach day with my three favorite people! I love my family and am thankful for the amazing opportunities we had the past few months. It was wonderful sharing so many great memories together at home, the beach and traveling! One of our favorite spots to visit was the beach at Isle of Palms near Charleston, South Carolina.
Crazy crew at the beach. The girls have such different personalities! Karlie has to wear her goggles in the ocean where Brina prefers not having anything on her face in the water.
Swimming in the ocean. It always amazes me how long the girls want to stay at the beach. Usually Jake and I end up decided to go because we are exhausted not because the girls are asking to go. It is not uncommon for us to stay for 6 to 8 hours swimming, building sand castles, collecting sea shells and eating our picnic lunch. Although, the girls typically crash on the way back to the hotel or home.
Karlie Kool Kat having a blast Enjoying her time swimming in the ocean. Thinking she is pretty cool swimming on her own (at least until the next big wave comes)!
Mommy and her girls Swimming together at Isle of Palms. Love spending extra time with the family at the beach.
Brina Bee swimming in the big ocean by herself. Brina all smiles swimming on her own in the big ocean.
Digging around in the sand Sometimes just digging around in the sand is the most entertaining. We typically do a sand castle and just let them play to their hearts content. One of those times playing in the mud is just plain fun!
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. 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. Explore with a good attitude, look 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: Places to Stay and Play in Charleston
Pizza picnic at the pool in Charleston! We got Domino’s (they had a buy 1 pizza get 1 free coupon) and brought it back to the hotel to eat. The girls wanted to check out the pool so we ate by the pool then went swimming. The first night we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Mt Pleasant, it was literally a block away from Waterfront Park. It was a busy weekend with a lot baseball tournaments, American Idol tryouts, and a couple other community activities. We still had a blast together and Jake was able to get his work done as well. The biggest down side to this hotel is their breakfast was pretty expensive for families but there are plenty of restaurant chains nearby you can get a breakfast for a great price.
Swimming with Daddy in the pool. The girls enjoyed having some time to swim in the pool after a very hot day at the parks around town. Thankful for an opportunity to spend some time relaxing together as a family.
Karlie relaxing and snacking in her makeshift bed. Baths were taken and pedicures were done so Karlie decided to take a few minutes to relax and snack in her bed before brushing her teeth and going to sleep. Glad the girls enjoy going on adventures and are flexible during the trips.
Karlie, Brina and Mommy's fancy hot pink and purple pedicures! On one of our trips this summer I surprised the girls with bringing finger nail polish. It soon became a tradition when we went on a trip for me to bring a couple “wild” colors and all the girls get their fingernails and toenails painted the first evening in the hotel. The girls loved spending the time together and getting beautiful in the process. Sometimes it is the little things you do together that make the most impact.
Karlie ready to try out a new pool. We stayed at the Rodeway Hotel the second night of our trip to Charleston, it was literally across the street from the Holiday Inn so we didn’t have to go too far! I was so thrilled to see the girls confidence in the water increase over the past few months. They loved their noodles but were okay not having on their life jackets in the pool. The hotel had a really great hot breakfast every morning, plus ice cold lemonade any time of the day which was a huge hit with the hot kiddos!
Brina talking and motioning with her noodle. The noodles were great in the water but I remember getting bopped with them several times outside of the pool. The girls were good about making sure to bring them to the pool but sometimes in the process of walking and talking the noodle was more like a weapon, ha!
Relaxing at the hotel before crashing. We introduced the girls to the show “America’s Funniest Home Videos” on this trip. They thought it was hilarious and as you can see from this picture they were completely captivated by the show. Their favorites were the silly animal clips!
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. 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. Explore with a good attitude, look 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: Enjoying Charleston’s Piers
Boats loading on the edge of the pier. The boats are getting loaded up at the end of the pier.
Little crabs at the waters edge They would run down the sand picking up pieces to eat and then would run back up the beach when the wave came in. It was neat to watch the wave of crabs running back and forth. We were standing on the edge of the pier these little crabs were scurrying back and forth with the tide coming in. The girls thought it was hilarious.
I was moving fast enough so Brina ran back to check on me. Love seeing the thoughtfulness and compassion in this sweet girl. She truly does care about others and wants everyone to have fun together.
Karlie on the run! Karlie noticed that Brina and I were still coming up the pier so she decided to check out what we were up to. When did my babies grown up? So excited yet sad to see how much they have changed even over the past year.
Standing at the edge of the pier looking at the bridge that leads to Daniel's Island. The girls thought it was a little scary at the end of the pier, but thought it was super cool looking at the bridge.
Karlie and Brina running down the pier The girls had a race down the pier. They were running and giggling the whole way. It’s amazing how educational and entertaining time at the pier can be for the kids!
The “Travel and Vacation” series is an insight into our trips together as a family and ways we relax. 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. Explore with a good attitude, look 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: Great Parks in the Charleston, SC Area
Cool moving bridge at Center Park We found a cute little park on Daniel’s Island, SC with a lot of shade and water fountains (thankfully since it was over 107 and humid that day) only a couple miles down the road from where Jake was working. This was the most entertaining part on the whole jungle gym! It was a moving bridge! You could get on it at one location of the jungle gym and either have someone push you across or you could stand at other side and spin a wheel that pulls you across to the other side of the jungle gym. The girls (and Mommy) where fascinated by this cool moving bridge and it provided quite a bit of entertainment for all of us!
Karlie sitting on the wall! Karlie thought this wall in the park was awesome! She would climb up, sit for a few minutes watching everyone and talk anyone nearby then get down. I think she liked being up higher and over looking the park!
Brina coming through the blue tunnel at Center Park. She thought it was hilarious going through the random tunnels and would giggle when she “caught” me watching at her! So sneaky!
Brina saying "hi" to her new friend These bubble blowers were such a HUGE hit! It was so cute seeing Brina just checking out it’s face, it really was a bug friend to her!
So....when I blew through here bubbles come out?! I tried to find these again this year but they must have sold out. When you blow through the tail of the dragon fly the silver wings spin and a lot of bubbles come out of the dragon fly’s mouth.
Mommy's about to get blasted with dragonfly bubbles This was shortly before a wave of bubbles came my way. Brina thought it was awesome blowing dragonfly bubbles my direction!
Karlie on the run at Waterfront Park under the Arthur Ravenel Bridge The Waterfront Park under the Arthur Ravenel Bridge is one of our favorite parks to hang out at in Charleston. It always has shade from the bridge and has very clean restrooms and a cold water fountain.
Brina playing at Waterfront Park in Mt Pleasant / Charleston, SC The Waterfront park is a great place to hang out before going into Downtown Charleston. You can play in the park, walk on the pier, enjoy ice cream from the snack shop or watch free movies in the evenings during the summer months.
Sitting on the slide at Waterfront Park Brina and Karlie taking a few minutes to cool down and talk while sitting on the slide. They thought it was such a cool place to sit!
Karlie relaxing on the boat's railing Karlie content to relax for a few moments against the boat’s railing. This little park is in front of the Information Center for Daniel’s Island right next to a pier. The girls really liked this park even though it did not have a lot of shade, a restroom or water fountain they still requested to go to this park to walk the pier and “pet” their turtle friends.
Karlie and Brina driving the little white boat The girls thought it was very cool having the boat in the park.
Hanging out with Daddy on the boat. Karlie is laughing at Daddy, while Brina and Daddy look at the camera. The girls thought this park was so much fun that they had to take Daddy by to check it out too!
Talking about the boat. An inside shot of the boat. The girls and Daddy were having a fun decision about boats by the time I got their. Jake had to be melting that day, it was well over 100 degrees and he was in pants and a long sleeved shirt. Thankfully he was okay going to the “turtle park” to have a picnic with his girls over lunch despite the heat.
- One of the turtles
They named each turtle and every time we go back they catch on their friends.
My two little monkeys on top of the jungle gym! Karlie and Brina on the top for the jungle gym at a park across from one of the Daniel Island schools. I was thankful for the higher railings at the top since they one was a good distance up. They thought it was so funny how little Mommy looked from WAY up high! It was over 108 degrees that day and no one else was brave enough to play on the jungle gym (or maybe they were smart enough to stay inside). This park had really nice restaurants but the water fountain was broken.
Brina bringing their flip-flops over This is the Mt. Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park. It has a wide area with the rubber padding. The girls loved playing at this park. You could also rent paddle boats, go to a Water Park or go on a hike.
Caught Karlie sneaking down the long slide. The girls loved being “big” enough to climb up to the top of the tallest jungle gym and go down the long slide. It took them several tries to work up enough courage to get up the climbing wall or pole but it was well worth it!
Spinning in the yellow tire swing. The girls liked spinning and spinning in the yellow tire swing. It made me sick just spinning and watching them after a few minutes. They thought it was hilarious to jump off and run across the playground after spinning for several minutes!
Karlie riding on another one of the spinning items at the park. She could spin herself but her preference was to have me stand beside her and spin until she said that was good.
They literally wore out their flip-flops on this Charleston trip. Since we were staying in a different location we were able to visit several parks and they girls played hard. We tried to meet Daddy over lunch most days to take him on a picnic to one of the cool parks the girls have discovered, if we didn’t get a chance to go with him over lunch they would insist he check out the parks after dinner in the evening. The girls were very good despite the heat during our visit to Charleston that week! Although they would crash by the time we got back to the hotel at night, they were ready to head back out at the break of dawn! What amazing memories we made during our park explorations in Charleston! We are already looking forward to our next trip together!
Vacation & Travel: Vermont Fun & Celebrations
Karlie, Daddy, and Brina putting together their lego creations! Thankful for a husband who invests time in the lives of the children. The girls adore their Daddy! I love all three of you so very much!
Writing and drawing on tree bark. It is amazing the cool stuff you find in Vermont. As Daddy and PopPop were splitting wood these pieces of paper fell off of the tree and the girls thought they were the neatest “craft” paper.
Daddy taking Brina for a short ride on the four wheeler. Brina all smiles after her ride on the four wheeler with Daddy. So much fun!
Karlie's turn on the 4-wheeler Karlie is pleased with herself for “helping” Daddy drive the four wheeler!
Karlie and Brina riding with PopPop on the tractor. The tractor was out so the girls enjoyed riding for a few minutes with PopPop!
Fun times in Vermont It’s the little stuff that make them smile. Thankful for opportunity to spend time with Nana and PopPop.
Celebrating Nana's Birthday! We were able to celebrate Nana’s birthday during our visit. The girls helped make and decorate the cake for the party.
Blowing out the candles! It was a blessing to share Nana’s birthday with her!
PopPop and the girls! Brina admiring the butterfly plates while PopPop and Karlie watch Nana cut the birthday cake.
Nana enjoying her birthday! Nana is a beautiful lady both inside and out. We love you Nana! Thanks for sharing your birthday with us.
PopPop getting into the festivities! Fun times with PopPop.
Karlie target practicing with Daddy. Karlie did pretty well hitting the target.
Brina had a blast practicing. Brina thought is was a lot of fun to sh0ot and find all the empty casings.
Boutique of fresh and wild flowers from Vermont! Brina and Karlie loved picking the beautiful flowers from PopPop’s garden and along the trails.
Enjoying some sparkler time! Standing on the rocks spelling out their names with sparklers!
Brina and Karlie saying goodbyes to PopPop and Nana. Time to head home. Saying goodbye and ready for the final leg of our long road trip! We are thankful for our time with PopPop and Nana in Vermont.
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. Explore with a good attitude, look 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: Skipper was Busy
Skipper Being Good We been traveling more this year especially over the summer while the girls were out of school. While we have been gone my brother has been watching the house and pets. Skipper has been pretty good at watching the house and yard while we are away, however, occasionally she gets bored or naughty. She has over 4 acres of yard to run around in as well as random paths throughout the property so she stays pretty active even when we are away for a couple of days. Most of the time when we come home everything is in order and all is well. The last couple of trips we came home and noticed that Skipper had been naughty.
Naughty Skipper We left for a trip with one hose and came home to many smaller hoses. Someone was busy while we were away. The amazing part is she didn’t touch the hose the entire two months before and during other trips, it must have been too tempting this time around. Or maybe she was getting back us for going on road trips without her. Who knows, silly dog. She can be a mess at times but we still love her!
Travel & Vacation: Welcome Home Mom & Dad
I love having some time with my handsome man but coming home is AWESOME too! Jake and I had the opportunity to get away for a few days several months ago. We took a cruise with extended family and the girls stayed with friends. Our plane came in the late to Atlanta and we arrived home in the middle of the night so we were not able to see the girls until the next morning. The girls came walking up the sidewalk carrying this HUGE “Welcome Home Mom & Dad” banner that they had made for us. We were thrilled to see them and loved the cute banner. They had a BLAST with our friends and made a lot of great memories. The girls told me I need to get all Aunt Ashley’s recipes because she made the best food while we were away.
Our friends (and the girls) brought us Dunkin Donuts for breakfast, so sweet! Jake and I were thankful for the chance to get away for a few days and we couldn’t have done it without the help of our friends. They took great care of the girls (actually I am not sure if they were ready to come home yet, ha). We are blessed to have amazing people in our lives. Thanks Mike and Ashley!!!
Our sweet Welcome Home banner the girls made for us! Life has been really busy. As I was going back over some of the pictures from earlier in the year I found ones that I wanted to share. The time away from home with your spouse is important, necessary and refreshing, however, coming home to two sweet girls is a huge blessing!
Vacation & Travel: Exploring History in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Part 2, Pictures)
One of the congress buildings in San Juan. During our tour of San Juan, Puerto Rico we stopped by this beautiful congress buildings.
Ceiling inside the political building, amazing art work. They had beautiful marble and artwork inside the senate building. It was really neat to see the art and read about the history of San Juan.
In their Senate building looking down into foyer at their Articles of Constitution The circular item in the middle of the foyer is San Juan’s “Articles of Constitution”. You can actually read the documents and sign the signatures.
Exploring Fort San Cristobal We had a blast exploring the Fort. The Fort had many amazing views of the city and a lot of neat history regarding the city of San Juan.
Following Dad through one for the long tunnels in the Fort. The fort had a maze of tunnels you could walk through. If you look to the right you can see a glow of a light. When the fort was built they used candles in those sections to help light the tunnels for the soldiers to see, (thankfully they use traditional lighting these days). I wouldn’t want to be in one of the tunnels when all the lights went out!
A large courtyard inside the fort. Inside the fort they had a couple large courtyard areas. You could stand in the middle of the courtyard and see people touring the fort in about every direction. I could only imagine what it looked like if the fort was buzzing with soldiers during it’s active days.
An upper section where they placed cannons to defend the fort. The fort was built approximately 150 feet up from sea level. On the upper sections of the fort the walls were huge! Most of the places we above your head but when you looked out where the cannons were located you could see a great distance and get more of perspective of how high you truly were.
Looking out of one of the cannon notches to the city of San Juan. It was amazing looking out the various cannon portals and seeing the city as well as ocean around the fort. In some ways it is hard to believe at one time that there were cannons sitting in these notches.
Gazing out at the beach and city around the fort. We are looking out of a “window” in the fort at the city and beach below. If you look in the upper left hand corner of the picture you will see a piece of the fort sticking up with two horizontal slits in it, that is similar to the “window” we are taking the picture through.
In the background of the picture you can see another piece of the fort. The fort is very long with houses and businesses along the outer walls of the fort. There is area between the larger pieces of the fort are longer and narrower which follow the coast line of San Juan.
As we were walking through the fort we found a friend on the grassy area. A large iguana (at least I think that is what it was) was stretched out on the grass right next to us.
We had a lot of fun in a few hours exploring San Juan, Puerto Rico. My personal favorite was touring the fort and learning snip-its of history about it. I am thankful for the opportunity to not only spend time exploring other parts of the world on our trip but also spending extra time with 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. Explore with a good attitude, look 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!
Vacation & Travel: Exploring History in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Picture taken from inside Fort San Cristobal A few months ago my husband and I along with several extended family members had the opportunity to take a vacation and we flew into San Juan, Puerto Rico. (I know, I am a few months behind and trying to catch up on all the fun activities, trips, and events that have been going on this year. Bare with me I hope to get there eventually). The day we flew into San Juan we weren’t able to explore but we were able to see the city on the way back threw. After several days of fun cruising on the Royal Caribbean’s, Serenade of the Seas we had the a few hours to explore San Juan, Puerto Rico.
We were able to see both the Old and New San Juan. During our time in San Juan we were able to see and explore several historic landmarks such as the San Jose Church, the Governor’s Mansion, the Cristo Chapel, El Convento Hotel, visit the Condado section of New San Juan and we took a quick tour of Fort San Cristobal.
Jake and I thoroughly enjoyed walking through Fort San Cristobal. It would have been awesome to take a guided tour through the fort to learn about all the history behind it but since time was limited we soaked in all the information we could as we toured the Fort with our group. Fort San Cristobal is a large fortress on the island of San Juan that was built by the Spanish starting in the mid 1600’s but not complete until late 1700’s. The purpose of the fort was to protect San Juan from attacks. Fort San Cristobal was approximately 27 acres and stretched along the edge of the city. This fort was one of the biggest built in America by the Spanish. The fort was built to not only protect the city from attack on sea but from attack by land as well. I was impressed with the number of tunnels within the fort. One of the oldest pieces of the fort is the “Garita del Diablo” (the Devil’s Sentry Box) because sentinels would disappear from this post over the sea. The first shots of the Spanish – American War between Puerto Rico and a US Navy ship were fired by the cannons on top of Fort San Cristobal in 1898.
It was wonderful learning about all the history in San Juan while we were touring the city. One of the neat parts about going on a cruise is we had a chance to visit a variety of different islands and learn about their history. We were simply amazed and grateful for the time to soak in all the history in these islands. San Juan was very fascinating, and like many of the other islands we visited, it would have been nice to stay a few days to learn more of the history and experience the culture.
The island of Puerto Rico is approximately 100 miles long and 35 miles wide with almost 4 million people. It is nicknamed the “Island of Enchantment,” and has a modern multicultural society which has been influenced by the Spanish, African, Native American Tainos and United States.
Facts about the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico:
- Land Area: 47.5 square miles
- Water Area: 75.4 square miles
- Population: 420,326
- Density: 2,110 per square kilometer
- Housing Units: 182,101
- Per Capita Income: $12,437
Another interesting fact of Puerto Rico – “While Puerto Rico is the oldest city under U.S. jurisdiction, most people consider St. Augustine, Florida the oldest city in the continental.” Informational facts received from To Puerto Rico
I will be posting more pictures in a few days explaining and showing more about our adventures in San Juan. It was a wonderful trip through the city filled with neat history. The piece that made it more enjoyable is that we spent with with extended family. What a blessing it is to have a chance to explore areas with 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. Explore with a good attitude, look 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!
Magazine: “Family Fun” Magazine
We have been receiving the “Family Fun” Magazine for awhile now and love it! The girls have enjoyed picking out a variety of crafts and fun activities from the magazines. Each issue contains information and “how-to” demonstrations on crafts, recipes, activities, parties, family friendly articles and much more. If you are looking for a great family magazine packed full of ideas for the kids check this one out.
