We just got back from a week-long vacation to Harbor Island, 15 miles from Beaufort and close to Fripp Island. We had a nice, relaxing time. Ella got to swim in a real pool for the 1st time and really loved it. Not as much as her mommy though-oh, how I LOVE to swim in a pool-such good exercise and so much fun. She got to use the float Aunt Cherie got her and it was great for keeping her shaded. Between her canopy, her hat, and her SPF 50 sunblock, she didn't get burned-yay! Ella wasn't as fond of the beach-she didn't like getting sand on her-such a dainty girl-but did go in the ocean a little. She let me dip her legs in but didn't like it when I sat her in the water on my lap close to the shore. My favorite part of the vacation besides swimming at the pool was eating at A Matter of Taste in downtown Beaufort. Not only was the food delicious and the restaurant quaint yet sophisticated, but we had 1 1/2 hours to slowly eat and enjoy our meal and Ella was great during the whole thing; many people commented how good she was and how adorable. After that we tried our first and last time at a drive-in movie w/Ella. Saw Dead Man's Chest but Ella wasn't very cooperative and she kept sweating so much, so we had to run the car most of the time. Not quite the romantic outing I had envisioned! Will's just glad I got it out of my system. We were planning on doing a drive-in movie for my b-day while Mom and Kenny watched Ella-not anymore-I'm cured-and we'll be going to an enclosed air-conditioned movie theatre-thank you very much. :-)
Besides that, the only downside to the vacation was that Ella had a hard time napping-she only took 1 good nap a day, as opposed to her normal 3x a day at home. And she slept w/us some nights-but she's adjusted fine since we got back yesterday. She seemed so relieved to see her room/crib/toys and is recuperating by napping lots today. We're glad we got to experience a different vacation spot, but don't know if we'll go back there again next year. The beach wasn't the best-not so wide and we were on St. Helena Sound more than the actual Atlantic Ocean. Also, the nearest groceries were 20 min. away at Lady's Island-a bummer when you just needed a couple items. However, the low-key setting was great. Oh, and Will enjoyed some fishing off the beach and caught a couple shark (3-4 ft. long), 2 sting rays! and a couple whiting. We also went to Hunting Island State Park and climbed the lighthouse (wow-lots of steps!) and saw a great view. They had a much better beach there but you had to pay $8/day to use it. Will fished off their pier one day but didn't have much luck, though it was fun watching 2 dolphins swim and play nearby. Enjoy the pictures!
P.S. We just found out last night when we got in that Chuck is going to Guam (flew out this mornning) to teach at Harvest Christian Academy for 3 years! He just found out Tuesday he was going himself. From Chuck's testimony about how God worked everything out and how quickly, it's evident this is where God wants him, so we're excited for him but will miss him a lot-we won't be able to see him until he comes home for his summer break next year-by then Ella will be 2!
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Happy 4th of July!
Since, I'm up late again (surprise, surprise!), I thought I'd go ahead and wish everyone a Happy 4th! We went to Will's folks for the weekend for the annual 4th Picnic. Ella had lots of fun with Grace (almost 3 yrs.) and Isaiah (10 months). The last time we saw them, Grace was only 9 months old-quite the change! So, we greatly enjoyed catching up w/them. We also got to see Laurance and Kimberly's new house (they recently moved to Sumter). It's very cute, but it's just temporary; they're renting until they can build on the old homesite. Anywho, back to the picnic. I forgot my bathing suit so couldn't enjoy tubing w/Em and Kimberly, but I did remember Ella's, so she got to enjoy her first wading pool. She really had fun; she didn't mind the cold water and didn't even cry when Grace splashed her [accident, I'm sure :-)] I was very relieved she liked it since we're leaving for our vacation in a few weeks, and we plan to use the condo pool a lot. Will had fun catching up w/all his brothers and going fishing at the mill. Laurance was the only lucky one who caught something-see pic below. Even though we had a good time, it was very hard on Ella, sleeping-wise. She missed her naps all day Saturday at the mill; she refused to sleep in her portacrib-she just cried and cried. Then that night at Ma-Ma's she fought going to sleep and then kept waking up every couple of hours. Poor thing—she doesn't do well in unfamiliar settings. So, today (or technically yesterday), she slept until 10am and only woke to eat and for very brief play times. She's obviously trying to catch up on her sleep. I'm glad Will has today off-he's planning on going fishing at Lake Hartwell in a few hours, and then he'll be back for us to enjoy a family day together. Tomorrow we'll be having Dayton, Erin, and the kids over to stay with us for a few days-we're looking forward to that. Hopefully, Ella will have caught up on her sleep by then!
Monday, July 03, 2006
More Birthday Pics!
You'll notice a different outfit on Ella-that's b/c of the wonderful job she did w/gettting chocolate all over her dress. :-) I think she was more comfortable crawling around in the 2nd outfit anyhow, so that's okay. Will got off early from work for her party, but then had to go back in after she opened up her presents. He was such a big help to me and made delicious hamburgers! I know Ella really enjoyed the attention from all the family-I'm so thankful they could come and share in her special day.
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