Our Family Vacation!

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!