Childrens Museum of the Low Country

On Thursday of our summer trip to the IOP, we decided to take a break from the heat and sun and head to downtown Charleston to the Children's Museum. Always a favorite for the kids, we though it would be a nice break on Thursday afternoon after nap time. John, Emily, and Walker drove the truck, while the little ones and I took the van since we needed to divide up after our visit. When the little ones and I arrived, we headed straight for the ball room. John and the big kids had not arrived yet, but the little ones started the fun without them.



Since the ball room was such a hit, we stayed there for quite a while, even after the big kids arrived. Walker and Emily seemed to enjoy going up to the top of the steps and letting the golf balls go down the ramp the most. Ansley really enjoyed the ramp on the far side where she tried to get the ball in a hole and Bailey liked trying to get balls in the buckets.



After the ball room we moved on to the water room where the girls really enjoyed painting on the board with water and Walker really seemed to like the makeshift water city. In addition, the kids enjoyed a boat race with their little plastic boats.



Next we moved on to the crab boat where all of the girls really liked pulling up the crab net and pretending to catch crab. Following the crab boat we made it to the market where all the kids filled up their carts with pretend food. By no surprise Ansley filled up a cart with fruit. After the kids were shopped out, we headed to the art room for a project. While we were there, they announced they were having science time, so I took Emily and Walker out to the front patio where they set up an experiment involving baking soda and vinegar to make rockets. The kids had a great time seeing the film canisters explode with the reaction.

Once we were done with science time, we headed back inside for a few minutes in the art room before it was time to leave for the reunion finale dinner.

SC Aquarium

On Tuesday morning, my Dad and I took the girls, Walker, and Christian to the Aquarium.

IOP Park

On Tuesday afternoon after nap time, the kids and I made our way to the store to pick up some items we needed. As we were leaving, we got a call from Katrina to let us know that a group of them were at the park on the Isle of Palms and did we want to join them. Since it was going to be getting close to dinner, I ran through a drive through to get the kids some food and away we headed to the Park. While we were there, the kids enjoyed playing on the newly expanded playground and eating.

Pitt Street Bridge Fishing/Crabbing

On Sunday evening after dinner, we took the kids over to the old Pitt Street Bridge. When we arrived, we were lucky to find the last couple of parking spaces. We all walked down to the grassy area and let the kids walk around, while John, along with Emily and Walker attempted to fish and go crabbing. They didn't have any luck with the fishing, but luckily there were other people around so the kids were able to see a couple of sting rays being caught and a few small fish. In addition, they did have success with the crabbing. It was not the "Deadliest Catch", nor was it even the blue crabs I would have expected, but they were able to catch, lots of tiny and a few medium size hermit crabs. The kids really enjoyed looking at them, before we finally released them. After a while, we all took a walk down the old bridge. As it was getting darker, we packed everything up and headed for the condo.

Smith Family Reunion

On Sunday morning at the IOP we all headed over to one of the houses that was being rented for the Smith Family reunion. The kids went over decked out in their loual stuff. While we were there we all enjoyed lunch, playing in the very unique pool and the kids had craft time.

1st Day at the Beach

On Sunday morning, everyone was up early and excited to head out to the beach. It was a little cloudy, but we decided to press on for some fun!! As were were headed out to the beach, there came a quick shower. The kids huddled under the back door of the van, but luckily it passed almost as soon as it started and the sun came out. Once we were out on the beach, the kids had a great time playing in the water, jumping waves, and playing in the sand.