South Carolina: Part 2

If you missed Part 1, you can read about it here. After we took our family pictures on the beach, we headed to the South Carolina Aquarium. Dayton absolutely loves animals, of any kind, so we wanted to take him to the aquarium to see the sea animals up close. I know I said this in a previous post, but I love watching him get excited about what he is seeing, his facial expressions, when his voice cracks because he's so excited about something, and everything else that comes with an ecstatic two year old. I'm really glad we took the time to go to the aquarium. I'd be lying if I said I didn't love going for myself too. Maybe Dayton gets it from his mama.

After we left the Aquarium, it was time to drive home. Mom and dad drove straight home and Jaimie, the hubs, the boys and I rode in our car because we wanted to stop at the outlet mall outside of Charleston. We grabbed lunch, shopped a little, and then started the drive home. What a mess. At some point in the three hour drive home, everyone had to use the restroom and Colton needed to eat. He started crying and we were all afraid of him waking Dayton up (who had finally just fallen asleep). We found a rest stop with a large parking lot, so Brad drove very slowly (like 10 miles per hour so that Dayton would stay asleep) in large circles around the parking lot so that I could feed Colton. All the while, we were stopping for a few seconds for someone to exit the vehicle and use the restroom. It was ridiculous and hilarious all at the same time. We finally made it home and Brad and I dropped the kids off with my parents and then went out on a late night date night. Woo!

Friday morning we went to a park that Dayton likes to go to (and so do we). The weather down there was so nice that we wanted to get outside and enjoy it. Watching Dayton play with my family is fun and we like to give him as many chances as we can!

South Carolina: Part 1

Time for our annual summer trip to South Carolina! Only this time as a family of four. We decided to leave Friday night and drive as far as we could, then travel the rest of the way on Saturday. Brad came home from work on Friday and then off we went. We didn't get as far as we would have liked...I mean we had a 7 week old and and 2.5 year old and the hubs was pretty tired from the week. We ended up stopping in Illinois around 10:30 pm. Of course, Dayton didn't fall asleep until 9:30 pm so when we stopped at the hotel he was bright eyed and bushy tailed.

Once we got up to our room, I fed Colton while we tried to get Dayton to settle down. The plan was to have Colton sleep in his co-sleeper in the bed with me and Brad and Dayton in the other bed. Well, Dayton couldn't quiet down, so I ended up taking him and putting Colton's co-sleeper somewhere else. Little sweet Dayton could not fall asleep, be quiet, or be still for anything. It was a serious struggle. I mean, seriously, it was awful. He finally, finally fell asleep around 2:30 am. And yes, I was awake for the entire sleep "fight." Ugh. Both boys were up at 6 am. What a fun night it was.

Anyways, we got back on the road around 7 am after breakfast and it was pretty smooth sailing from there. I was exhausted and was able to take a nap when the boys did in the late afternoon, but we made it...eventually. Now that was a long trip. Honestly, it wouldn't have been too bad except for the hotel situation. Saturday night we kept it low key at my parents house. We ate pizza and watched the Clemson game (the whole reason we were trying to get to my parents at a decent hour on Saturday).

Sunday, we got up fairly early, ate brunch at Tupelo Honey (my absolute favorite) and then went to the Greenville Zoo. Dayton loves the zoo and there's a decent one in downtown Greenville, so that was an easy plan. It was pretty warm out, but with some water and staying in the shade we had a great time and Dayton loved seeing the animals.

On Monday we drove to Charleston Man, I love that city. During all of our trips, we stay at the Tides Folly Beach. This trip we decided to stay three nights, so we were in Charleston from Monday morning to Thursday afternoon. I cannot get enough of that place. Everything is absolutely gorgeous, historical, and so southernly relaxing. I'm telling you, I'm going to live there some day. You just wait.

We spent most of our time on the beach. Dayton was a little unsure at first, but after some coaxing from all of us he finally decided he wanted to get in and play in the waves...as long as he was being held of course. The best part of having kids is watching them explore and discover. Everything is exciting. Everything is new. Everything is amazing and "the best thing ever!" Having kids makes you look at the world through the eyes of a two year old and realizing how amazing everything around us really us. God is pretty awesome. He created so many things that I get to show my sons. And I'm so thankful for it all. It's the small things in life that mean the most. Like taking your two year old to the beach and watching him play in the sand and "jump" over waves. I love the beach.

We spent our nights in downtown Charleston eating at our favorite restaurants and walking around downtown. Charleston is filled with so much history and things to see and do. If you ever get the chance, go. You won't regret it. Our last day in the city was Thursday, so we got up to eat breakfast and take some family pictures down on the beach before we headed to the aquarium.

Dayton - 2.5 years old and Colton - 7 weeks old.

Up next...our South Carolina visit Part II.