South Carolina Aquarium in Charleston:

How Beaufort, South Carolina is responding to the tragedy that occurred in Charleston last week:

I LOVE this shirt....it says it all!


A candlelight unity vigil was held on Saturday evening at Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park to remember the 9 victims of the tragedy in Charleston.
A Unity Chain vigil is planned for Sunday evening at 8pm, where Beaufortonians are asked to line the Woods Memorial Bridge in downtown.
(all) Photos by ESPB/Brittany Morgan


(credit for all the photos goes to Eat-Sleep-Play Beaufort)

james island waterpark....take two

Fourth Summer Visiting the James Island Water Park in Charleston

Fourth summer.....fourth summer?  How in the heck did that happen...seems like just yesterday we suddenly found out we were moving, drove down towing a boat, and a camper...with a golden retriever, a four and a six yr old....and NO place to live......

and here we are now three years later, feeling more at home than we've ever felt anywhere!  The only thing that will complete us is when grandma and grandpa join us!!!

Here are some photos from our day.   I should report that on our first trip here, both girls were wearing life jackets and watched very closely...but now, they are free to roam on their own (and they did), and are both swimming very well.  Further, both girls are now eligible (tall enough) to go on the big water slide, unsupervised...this was not the case even last year.  Times sure flies!


 We had a quick stop on the way back at one of my favorite little places I discovered when we first movedd down.  We live much further away than when we were renting, so unless we're going to Charleston, I can't really go there:) 







 

When You Take Your Girls to the Beach on Friday....

your hubby does a u-turn because he suddenly remembers an in water boat show....

when you arrive to the boat show....

you look at the boats....

when you look at the boats....

a sales guy approaches...

when a sales guy approaches....

he offers to take you out for a spin....

when he takes you out for a spin....

he magically makes dolphins appear....

when dolphins magically appear....

you miss boating (because your current boat is lacking a floor that said hubby removed)...

when you miss boating...

you go on the hunt for a good used boat....

when you go on the hunt for a good used boat....

you go  to the fun town of Charleston....

and when you go to the fun town of Charleston...

you go for an amazing ride ....

and when you go for an amazing ride....

you come home with your brand new to us boat (just five days after that u turn;)

oh....it was a perfectly legal u-turn, just in case you were concerned;)

  
Do you like my Mother's Day gift?!!!  I think it's WAY more cool than receiving flowers!!!! :D

And now, scenes from our first boat ride, taken in Charleston, Mt. Pleasant, Isle of Palms:

we woke two young girls, not conditioned to waking early, let alone 4 hours earlier than their normal wake up time....and we arrived early (which is rare for us;)...so we thought they deserved a rare donut treat...I had a sour cream donut;)




celebrated with a local favorite place for lunch (right on the water, of course;)


Here's the ironic thing....while living in Wisconsin...we had a boat...but we didn't have the time or the weather to take advantage of boating very often.

Now down here, we definitely have the weather (and the water;)...and with J's four day work week we have the tme...but we were lacking an appropriate boat.....

that made us scratch our heads and say, hmmmmm, what exactly ARE we waiting for?

SO, when you make a u-turn, you buy a boat!

the end:)

We STILL Love our Pumpkin Farms

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Charleston Tea Plantation

Guess how many people work this plantation?

5!!!  (are you seeing a pattern here:)  The tea here is not handpicked as it is in most countries (which I assume provides jobs for many), but rather is collected at the hands of THE GREEN GIANT!!!!  (btw, after we got off the trolly ride of the plantation fields, we were headed back to the shop and factory to take a tour.  My girls were PETRIFIED to go back; because they were afraid of The Green Giant, that the tour guide spoke of:O  It was then that I walked them over to introduce them to The Green Giant, below.   They felt much better:)
This is the ONLY tea plantation in the entire Unitied States; another interesting fact, no pesticides are used on the leaves of tea plants, as tea leaves are very hardy and resistent.  However, this is not organic tea, because nitrates are still used in the soil.  The plantation is working on other methods to make their tea organic.

  

 

Did you know, it takes five pounds of tea leaves to make one pound of tea?  (there's that five theme again:)

http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/ 

Angel Oak Park

The oldest live oak in the entire state of South Carolina.  This thing is MASSIVE!  I'm sure you're wondering just how old this tree is?  Take a guess!!  Click on this link to find the answer and let me know if you even came close!!

Charleston and Bubba Gumps

James Island Splash Park

We had a wonderful day together today.  J's been working 7 days a week, plus very late hours for the two months we've been down here.   His hours are getting old, fast!!  So, today, he did NOT go in, and our family DID get out to James Island Splash Park in Charleston.  We also had a great night after in The Battery, Charleston, stay tuned...

http://www.ccprc.com/index.aspx?NID=93