Charleston Vacation

We made it back home! Yea! We decided to go ahead and leave Saturday after we got back from the beach and the kids did such a good job we ended up driving the whole way (~10 hours) and got into my parents' house about 2 am! Since we left later in the day the kids went to sleep and we didn't have to stop as much and actually only stopped twice! We are very thankful for how good they were and that we made it home safely!

We had an absolutely wonderful time in Charleston. We love that city so much! I got sooooo many great pictures! So be prepared, there's a lot here!

Aquarium

First up, we headed to the aquarium. That was Benjamin and my favorite place to go when we lived there. It stunk that Dave couldn't go, but it was still really cool being there with a 2 1/2 year old instead of a baby! I think he was still tired from the time in TN, b/c he didn't seem to enjoy himself too much. I'll go ahead and spoil it and tell you that most of the pictures where he's smiling I worked hard for and had to be super silly! We still had fun though. This is Benjamin waving at the diver in the big tank....

I was able to get Benjamin to have more fun once I got Anna to sleep and could focus on him. I think Anna enjoyed it more then too! :)

Pointing at the octopus...

Big fish....fake smile....still a cool picture!

This picture is kind of bittersweet for me. This is my favorite place in all of Charleston to get pictures (it's the back of the aquarium). So it was great to get some, but I missed Dave not being in them!

Benjamin really loved being out here too. I think part of why he didn't seem to enjoy the aquarium was b/c it was a rainy day and there were so many people there. So I think he enjoyed some space!

Now he can sit on the turtle all by himself!

We love downtown, but had done that so many times and weren't interested in shopping or anything so we decided to try something new and took a carriage ride! It was great! Benjamin loves horses, so he of course loved riding on this! This is his smile as we first started moving! It was so sweet! Dave and I enjoyed it too b/c we got to see the whole downtown without having to walk it with two kids and we learned a lot of things we didn't know!

Going for a stroll downtown after eating at my favorite restaurant, Blossom. I thought Anna looked like a little southern belle in her hat! :)


Later that night in our awesome hotel, I got some great naked baby pictures!

Beach Time

It wasn't raining on Tuesday, so after Dave got off work, we headed to the beach! Benjamin had the time of his life! We went back on Saturday too (but I forgot my camera :( ) and he had so much fun both times! He would get upset when I would tell him we have to go back and get Daddy so they can have a turn! He just didn't want to leave the ocean! He loved standing in the water and waiting until the waves came and then having Dave or I lift him over the wave. He would just laugh and laugh!

Daddy's turn!


Anna's first trip to the beach!

Benjamin also really loved sitting in the water and throwing the sand. Doing this activity successfully got the sand EVERYWHERE and yes I do mean EVERYWHERE!

Benjamin cried so hard when it was time to leave! This is him crying/yelling "Bye Beach!" It was so sad!

Shem Creek
After the beach we went to another favorite restaurant of ours that is on a creek that fishing boats come in and out of. The sunsets there are amazing!

Anna found her feet about 3 weeks ago and has been playing with them all the time now!


Tickle time.......


Benjamin's turn!

Old playground

I took Benjamin back to the playground we used to go to one morning. It was weird seeing him being able to do all the stuff when before all he would do is hold my hand and walk around watching all the kids. He had a great time there and didn't seem to notice that he had been there many times before! :)

Making his "stinker face" almost 2 years ago.....

Battery

Here's some of the rainbow houses downtown on our way to the battery.

This was Benjamin's absolute favorite part of the trip to Charleston. He is still talking about the pineapple water fountain! Every day after we went here he would tell us that's what he wanted to do. It was pretty funny. He doesn't look too happy in this picture b/c the water was a little cold, but I promise he loved it!

Anna and Daddy sat this one out!

On his way to another water fountain!

Dave edit: Picture caption should read "Come on everybody, we're going streakin"


We made him take a detour though and go out on the pier first.

He only stayed in this one for about 2 minutes b/c a big kid accidentally splashed him and he was too scared to get back in after that. Oh well!

Round two in the pineapple one!

Hugging a Palm Tree, I'm sure he was thinking, "I love the Palmetto State!" When we got back in the car, Dave said, "You're not going to make him a tree hugger are you?"


Children's Museum

On our last day, I took the kids to the children's museum. Benjamin had a great time. He played with almost everything. He especially loved this water exhibit! That's him in the yellow apron. If you look in front of him you will see his loot. He had this big fish that he would play with and wait for a boat to float over to him. Once it did, he wouldn't play with it, he'd just line it up in front of him! I'd feel bad for the other kids except that the whole rest of the time we were there the bigger kids were mean to him and would take what he was playing with. He was so passive and nice he would just give it up! Poor thing!

They have a grocery store set up that is pretty much just like a real store and you put things in your cart and then you can scan all the items at the check-out. He thought it was great fun to get to push his cart around and put whatever he wanted in the cart!

This was in the toddler room. Before, this was the only room where he could do any of the stuff!

Anna enjoying her feet at the museum!


Pool Time

Our hotel had an indoor pool in it that we enjoyed several times. Benjamin had a great time and even started trying to float!

Road Trip

The kids were so great and made the trip back home so easy on us! Here's Benjamin fast asleep! Bye bye Charleston!

Benjamin Funnies

Well we are still having a lot of fun here in Charleston. We are planning on staying here through Sunday morning and then making the long trek back home. I have gotten a ton of great pictures (I'm sure you're shocked) and will post them when I get back. But I couldn't resist posting a few things Benjamin has done lately that have tickled me.

Electronic World

We were hanging out in the hotel and I went to the bathroom. Because I get absolutely no privacy that meant Benjamin was in the bathroom too! I asked him if he wanted to flush (b/c if I don't at least offer he will occasionally throw a huge fit). Well he hit the flusher and nothing happened. He turned to me with this sad face and said, "Not workin' Momma....need batteries." I couldn't help but laugh at this! Obviously he is living in a very technological world!

Drive Through

It was raining this evening after Dave got off work, so we decided to just go to the mall and walk around. We were trying to find out if there was a play place, so I went to look at one of the maps to see. Benjamin followed me and started saying, "Sandwich please" over and over. I was thinking well that's funny as he just kept doing it. Then it all of a sudden it hit me and I almost fell over I was laughing so hard. The sign was lit up and he was putting his face right up to it and asking for a sandwich.....just like we do at Subway!

4th of July Lakehouse Trip

We headed down to TN for our annual 4th of July get together with Dave's family. Except this time, we had a few more join us. It was so cool, b/c all of Dave's extended family from Florida came too! In total, there was 26 of us (in one house)!!!! We had a great time and were so happy to get to see everyone! Here are some pictures of our fun times! Happy belated 4th!

Benjamin all ready to go! Oops, wrong seat! :)

PS Both kids did WONDERFUL in the car!!! Yea!

These are two of Dave's second cousins, Ashley and Emily. They are such sweet girls and had a lot of fun with Anna. I think Anna had more fun though, b/c she laughed and smiled more at these girls than I've ever seen her! It was really sweet!


Some Father/Daughter bonding! :)


They had a pool there and it was really neat b/c we were able to get all the great-grandkids in the pool at the same time! Here's a good portion of us! Also, we got some good family pictures of everyone, so if I get those, I'll post them later!


Benjamin loves to swim so much and he especially enjoyed doing it will all the other kids!


Anna getting some time with Emily!


The three of us enjoying a boat ride! I told Dave after they took this picture that it was like deja vu just being the three of us again for a little bit!


Look at this cool boat dude!


Benjamin got to drive the boat for the first time this year!


Cute baby Jack! He wasn't a fan of his life jacket but boy is he a sweetie!


Three sweet cousins!


Benjamin and Jack clapping!


Benjamin playing with Jack and Uncle Jimmy!


Look at this sweet happy girl! She was laughing so hard here!


Daddy's girl!

One VERY happy and thankful family!


Benjamin got to go fishing for the first time too! They had these cool cane poles that he just had to hold on to and wait for the fish to bite! He really enjoyed it and even caught a few!

It was really sweet b/c Dave would have Benjamin pet the fish after he caught it and then say "Bye bye fishie, love you!"

Some other exciting news is that I'm typing this post in our hotel room in Charleston! That's right, CHARLESTON!!!! Yea! We were planning a trip later this year since it's our 5 hear anniversary. At the last minute, Dave found out he needed to be in Charleston for a week and since we were already almost half-way there in TN, we decided to just go this week! So Benjamin, Anna and I are in the hotel while they nap and Dave's at work and then we'll head off for some fun times in this wonderful city! I already took them to the aquarium this morning! I'll post pictures when we get home next week!

PS Everyone that guessed on the last post was right! That was Anna on the top and Benjamin on the bottom! Good job and thanks for playing! :)