Kiawah

We went with my family to Kiawah Island last week. I grew up going to Kiawah in the summer and have so many wonderful memories and I love getting to take my girls there and make memories with them! Growing up we first went with my grandmother and my Granny and Grandaddy and later we went with my Aunt Joy, Uncle Bill, and my cousins, Michael and John. I am so thankful now for all the fun memories I have with my family...making Christmas angels (you had to make a certain amount before you were allowed to have any fun), playing MANY games of Hands and Feet (a card game) and SkipBo, and Rummikub, bike riding (although we quickly learned not to go with my dad...he was famous for his insane rides in the heat with no water...I think I'm the only one that he stopped to hydrate), my cousin John would always fly his kite on the beach (I remember him now whenever I see a kite flying...he would have loved the day the hurricane was off shore...lots of kites up that day!), walking on the beach at sunrise with my Grandmother, trying to "surf" with my cousins, Michael's uncanny ability to find sand dollars, and so much more fun. I hope that as my girls grow they will value the time we spend as a family without the distractions of the outside world...such precious time!


We started our week of fun by picking up Uncle Ben at the airport Friday night. The big girls were so excited to get to go with me and they both made him welcome home signs. I didn't tell Ben that the big girls were coming to the airport so he was surprised!

Emmie got up bright and early Saturday morning to wake up Uncle Ben!

We packed up Saturday morning and headed to Kiawah, stopping for a lunch and play break in Summerville. It was a full car!

This is what Ruthie thought about riding next to her Daddy in the car.

The girls were so excited when we got to the house. They went and checked out their room and Emmie was absolutely astonished that she had a TV in her room. She told us all over and over about the TV! I would let them turn it on and watch when they woke up in the mornings...might have been the highlight of Emmie's week! Ellie was so thrilled with her "big girl" bed. (She slept in a twin bed with a rail.) I thought it was so funny because she sleeps in a "big girl" bed at home. I guess the difference was that she shares the bunk bed with Emmie and this bed was all her own.

We quickly fell into a routine during the week. The girls and I would go to the beach in the morning as soon as everyone was up and feed and Paul and my mom would wander down throughout the morning. The girls had so much fun playing in the water and building smashing sand castles and running on the beach (Emmie would just all of a sudden take off down the beach and just run and run..it was pretty funny.).

Ruthie was the only one who would "help" Paul build a sandcastle without immediately destroying it.

Franklin made it down to the beach a few times to play with his people.

We quickly learned that putting the pacifier in Ruthie's mouth prevented her from trying to put sand in it. She loved the sand but loved the waves even more...she's definitely a water baby!

Ruthie took a nap at least once a day on the beach. Her white noise machine is set to ocean so I think she thought it was naptime when she heard the waves!

Paul convinced the girls to let him build a WHOLE sandcastle on the last evening...

....and as soon as he was done the girls took great pleasure in smashing it!

Emmie of course found a friend as soon as we got there and Ellie found a little puppy friend who came out to play everyday. Ruthie wasn't always up for staying at the beach the whole time (she would get mad when we wouldn't let her eat sand) so she would often go back to the house with my mom and I know she loved the undivided attention she got from my mom and anyone else who happened to be at the house.

I LOVE this picture!

cuteness...I adore Ruthie in a hat!

We would head back to the house around noon for lunch and naps and then we would go back to the beach either after naps or after dinner depending on when the girls woke up and what everyone else was doing.

Ellie had so much fun letting us swing her around in the waves!

Tuesday Fred and Gin-g came for the day to visit and to celebrate Ellie's, Ben's, and my birthday. We had a fun day with trips to the ocean and the pool and then a yummy steak dinner and homemade ice cream (my request for the birthday celebration!).

Love this picture!

Ellie adored her birthday hat!

Ruthie was obsessed with my ice cream...we about had to arm wrestle for it!





On Thursday Hurricane Arthur was off shore but we definitely lucked out with no rain. It was overcast and much cooler (80s instead of 90s) but we still could go down to the ocean and play as the waves were higher but that doesn't matter much when you only go in as far as a 4yr old goes! The guys were also thankful for the cooler weather as they were playing golf with an eleven o'clock tee time! On Thursday evening we went back down to the beach and it was COVERED with treasures. We found lots of intact conch shells and lots of other really pretty shells. We found tons of horseshoe crabs and jellyfish and the find of the week was a starfish that had washed up! Every time we found a good shell I thought of my Grandmother...she would have loved it! She could always find the good shells (she could also make a fortune in a parking lot...she was the queen of finding dropped change!).



In the middle of all the beach fun the guys played some golf  and we got to go watch them on Thursday as they were playing the course by the house. The big girls anticipated this event all week!

strategizing

 We enjoyed spending time on the porch. Who doesn't love rocking chairs and a swing on a big front porch!



My mom led us in some yoga exercises...HILARIOUS! Ben and I both got some great video but I'm pretty sure I might get in trouble for posting it!
Franklin got lots of petting from his favorite people.

Ben didn't even make it into the house Friday night before Franklin was in his arms being held like a baby!

We read books. We have a Wizard of Oz book that is pretty long and we were reading a little bit at a time so we finished that at the beach and so the girls wanted to start Little Women (we have the copy that belonged to my mom when she was a little girl!). They have done really well with the long books and I've been especially impressed by Ellie who sits still and listens the whole time! I need to find some chapter books at the library to start reading to them. I'm pretty sure Ellie would sit and listen all day! We got about half way through Little Women and now Emmie has decided she wants to wait and finish the rest on Christmas Eve...



We all rode bikes. Ben and my dad rode for a few hours every morning and the rest of us took much shorter jaunts! Emmie LOVED having her little balance bike at the beach and is definitely ready for a big girl bike for her birthday (I mentioned this and she told me maybe when she was 16 or 18 and then told me we'd "discuss it" closer to her birthday). Ellie had her tricycle but hasn't learned to peddle or steer yet so whoever drew the short straw had to push her on her bike!




One of their favorite places to ride was to the lagoon right near our house to look for Mr. Alligator (as Ellie referred to him). He swam right under the bridge we were on the first day Emmie and I were out there and after a failed attempt to find him with Ellie (who wanted so badly to see him) we found him on Thursday sunning on a fallen tree in the middle of the lagoon so she didn't get to see him too close up like Emmie and I did but she was happy!


On Wednesday night Freshfields, the shopping center just off the island, was showing Monster's University so the girls and I took our chairs and went and watched the movie on the green. It was a cute movie and the girls seemed to enjoy it and they loved getting to stay up late to go. Best part of the movie...when Mike and Sully were expelled for breaking the rules I explained to Emmie that they disobeyed the rules so they weren't allowed back in the school. Emmie thought about this for a few minutes and then said "Mommy, I'm sorry that I sometimes disobey the rules". I think she thought I might kick her out of the house!


Friday was fourth of July and the island had lots of events going on but we didn't get organized early enough to make it to any of the kid events. (If we're down there for the fourth again we will definitely plan to participate in the bike parade...the girls would love it!) The girls aren't really fans of fireworks so after they went to bed my mom and Benstayed at the house with them and my dad, Paul, and I went and sat at the beach and watched the fireworks. They did them at 2 different places on the island so we got to see lots of really great fireworks!

We had so much fun throughout our week and loved getting to spend time together as a family and also with our extended family! It was quite hard to return to reality but I'm thankful for the time we had together to enjoy each other and make memories!