Edisto Beach, SC

We got back this afternoon just in time to watch the US vs. Canada Gold Medal hockey game. Sadly the US got silver.... on to our beach visit....

Nana came into town earlier this week and Joe needed a weekend home alone to study... so... the kids and Nana and I all went to the beach. The weather did not cooperate as greatly as we had hoped, but it never rained... it sure was COLD though. You'll see in the pics that we are all bundled up.

We arrived Friday night and went straight to the beach. The tide was just starting to go out and there were lots of shells to look at. Caroline was in HEAVEN! That child LOVES to collect things so the beach was right up her alley! We were lucky enough to see a couple dolphins jumping around the rough waves... we probably would have seen more if it wasn't so cold!





I took Nicholas and Molly back to the room to cook dinner while Caroline and Nana stayed at the beach and watch the sunset...

Saturday morning we got up and went to the indoor pool and the kids swam for a little bit. They were anxious to get back to the beach. We bundled up again and went back... man, was it cold though!!! Would have been so much more fun it was warmer!

Nicholas and his "hershey" crab shell helmut...

Nana and her babes......

First Tee...

Caroline and her Girl Scout friends all got to go to First Tee of Augusta and experience golf. Caroline has never played, or had a lesson, so it was fun to see if it peaked her interest or not. The girls all got a quick lesson and then we got to join some official First Tee members and go out on the 6 hole golf course and play a mini best-ball round of golf. Caroline was the only lefty out there and a couple times she got confused trying to imitate the other girls. She enjoyed herself and said she would play again. First Tee starts at age 8... guess we have a couple years to wait. But maybe we'll go back an dhit some balls again soon.

Trains....

We got up kind of early on Saturday morning and after a night of snow we drove to Chattanooga, TN to go see Joe's dad. This is what the road looked like through much of Georgia....

We arrived at the Railroad Museum just in time to jump on a quick train ride. This was the Engine that took a couple passenger cars up and down the rails that we went on.


Getting ready to go.....

Aunt Katie, Uncle Lee, and little Henry came up from Birmingham and got to the train just before us and just in time to join us on the little ride....

"CHEESE"

Little Engineer.......


Joe, Grandpa, & Nicholas all got to go up in the engine on the way back... super cool!!!

After the train ride and a quick bite to eat, we went off to the Tennessee Aquarium. Caroline took a ton of pictures of the animals... one of her favorite things to do :)

This is Molly towards the end of the day. We found a bench next to one of the large tanks of fish and she decided she was going to take a nap. She laid down, used my jacket as a blanket, and chilled out for a few minutes....

After the Aquarium we went back to our hotel and Joe took the kids swimming. I cooked up a quick batch of spaghetti and we all got to enjoy hanging out for a little bit longer before Katie, Henry and Lee had to head home.

The next morning, Grandpa came and joined us for breakfast before we headed back to the Aquarium again...

The kids were watching the snow flakes falling outside....

The butterfly exhibit at the Aquarium...

We had a great, quick visit with Grandpa. It was fun for the kids to see the trains and get an idea of what Grandpa does. It took us just over 3 hours to get there, so hopefully we'll be able to go back for another quick visit before he goes back to Colorado for the summer...

SNOW!!!!

Snow.... Georgia..... those two words are not often spoken in the same sentence, but yet, today.. that is all we heard!!! It has not snowed in Augusta, Ga for quite a few years. It threatened to snow a few weeks ago, but as usual around here, it never happened. Today.. it did! People were going a little crazy this morning before the snow started and were stocking up at the grocery store. School for Caroline had already been cancelled and Nicholas was home around 1:30, well before the snow started. But once it started, it didn't stop.. In the last pic there is 4.5 inches of snow on our table, before I sat down to do this post, there was just under 6 inches...
Caroline and Nicholas had an absolute blast playing from the moment the first snowflake fell till dinner time. Nicholas especially was a crazy kid out in the snow. He was FROZEN when he finally came inside...

This was as far as Miss Molly wanted to go.. she loved the snow when we were back in WA, but it wasn't "snowing" when she was in it. She did not like the snow falling on her!


Nicholas didn't want the snow in his eyes so he wore his sunglasses :)

Our little neighbor Jade came out to play with the kids...

More is falling...

Nicholas is SOAKED! He was making snow angels and running around having a fantastic time in the snow!

And then he had to get all warmed up under some blankets and then a warm bath. It looked like a Campbells soup commercial.... He was eating some soup out of a coffee cup to try to warm up before his bath.

The cars....

4.5 inches...

Sadly, most of it will be gone tomorrow, and we will be driving to TN to go visit Joe's dad. It sure was fun while it lasted though!!

Superbowl....

Colts vs. the Saints... Joe lived in New Orleans for a few years so if he were to be a fan of a football team, he would choose the Saints. I don't get him to sit with me and watch football very often, but he watched this Superbowl with me :)

I made up a bunch of crazy football game food for dinner and we even pulled our little picnic table into the living room to put all the food on. the kids had fun getting to eat in front of the TV..

more dresses...

She found a Sleeping Beauty dress of Caroline's and this has become a favorite as well... If it's anywhere in site, she wants to put it on... Thankfully she spilled spaghetti sauce on it one night at dinner, so it's been hiding in the wash.....

Girl Scouts...

Caroline has started Girl Scouts this year. She is really enjoying getting to hang out with some really fun girls, and hanging out with me. Somehow I got talked into being a "co-leader" which means I get to go to everything. Thankfully we have the most awesome leader who has done this before, and is on top of everything, so I really don't have to do a darn thing!

We had "Thinking Day" today and it is a chance for every troop to learn about a country and then present that country in a "science-fair" type setting. Every troop had a board telling about their country and most booths had some food from their country as well. Caroline's troop picked the USA as their country and we gave out Hershey candy as our food. The girls had a great time walking around and looking at other troops presentations and tasting different things...

Here are a few pics from the day...

Caroline & Shelby...


Cheese....


The Juniors and Daisies...


Our Country Board....