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.

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.

Firework Time on the 4th of July

On Friday evening after dinner, We started loading up the car. I had been packing some off and on during the day. Once we were to a stopping point, I made a quick trip over to Target to get Emily some ear plugs since I knew the fireworks were going to be really loud. While I was there I also picked up a flashlight for us to walk around before the fireworks, and some poppers (since I thought this would be a good alternative to sparklers for the kids since fireworks were not allowed on the IOP). After I returned, Emily and I walked over to my Dad's condo. At that time, the traffic was really pouring on to the island. Once we met up with the group, we found that they were planning to sit by the pool for the fireworks so we headed down there. While we were waiting, the kids and I walked right outside the pool area to play with the poppers. They all really enjoyed them, but unfortunately we had to stop. One of the policemen came by and said that he hated to ask us to stop, but technically those counted as fireworks. Who knew =)

We then headed back into the pool area and chatted for a while. Around 9ish, we started to see the fireworks on Sullivan's island in the distance. They were pretty and it was a nice warm up for the kids. Since they were somewhat around the Sea Cabins, I had to hold Emily up and Daddy held Christian up so they could see them.


Starting around 9:30, there was a lot of activity on the pier and they started shooting the first fireworks. It was a little slow getting started, but then they were off. They were very pretty and right over our heads. Emily was so funny with her wow's. It was really cute. After the finale, we all packed up and started heading out of the pool area. However, there must have been a few that didn't go off, that they decided to light, so we were surprised to see a few more. After those were over, Emily and I walked back over to our condo. When we went in, we visited with John and then John took Emily out for one of their famous 'frog hunts" with Mason.

July 4th Riding the Banana Boat

On Friday afternoon, July 4th, John and I left the girls with Katrina and Christian, and headed to the Isle of Palms Marina to meet up with my Dad and Marna's group. After a little bit, Marna and all the young girls headed out for the first session, which was suppose to be the slow ride. During the 45 mins they were gone, the boys and I visited. It had really heated up a lot that day, so we stayed under the awning some and went out on the dock some. When the girls got back, they said they had a great time. Once they unloaded, we all put on our life jackets and hopped on. We took it slow on our way out until we got out of the no wake zone. It was really pretty and we enjoyed the sites. Then we sped up since we were in the fast group. It was not nearly as fast as I was expecting, but it was tons of fun. John was in front, followed by Mason, Jim, Daddy, and I brought up the rear. After a short ways, John attempted to make us capsize and ended up being the only one off the float. It was pretty funny!!! After we picked him back up, we took off. Soon, we all capsized thanks to John. It was actually a lot of fun and since it was obvious we were capsizing, I took a dive off. It turned out Mason was scared to be in the water and ended up crawling up on the back side of the raft so fast, we could not believe it. Everyone, including Mason, enjoyed a good laugh before starting back. The water was nice, and it was nice to be wet on such a hot day. During the rest of the ride we capsized two more times while in the fast part (always on purpose) and had a tone of fun. After that Mason was acting scared so the guys did not try to flip us any more. Then once we got back to the no wake zone and were going very slow, Jim flipped us. It caught me off guard, but it was fun to get in again. The driver just laughed since we had been going in so much. After that we made the trip back to the dock after about a 45 minute trip and unloaded.

Here is a short video of the adventure =)

Independance Day 2008

The morning of July 4th we got up and I fed the girls breakfast while john went to get on-line to do some work stuff. As soon as he returned, we headed out to the beach to play. By Friday, it had gotten much warmer, but it was still nice for July. Not long after we had gotten out there, Mason and Christian came down, and were soon followed by Daddy, Katrina, the Bartons, and the Mauros. All of the kids had a blast playing in the ocean. Emily even got brave enough for me to take her out in the waves with the big kids. She really enjoyed riding the waves. In addition to the water, we played in the sand a lot and had a great time. Once it was getting to much for the babies, I took them back to the condo and John stayed with Emily for some more fun in the sun.

Playing at the Beach and Pool with Cousins

On Thursday afternoon after everyone had arrived, we all met out at the beach and played in the water. All the kids had a great time. Christian and Emily partook in her favorite activity, punching waves. They also rode on the float some. After a little while we were even joined by Aunt Pat who came out into the ocean. Not bad for someone 70+ =)

After a while, the kids wanted to head to the pool so we made our way back up there. We all played int he water and afterwards headed to the condos to clean up. Emily and I then met the group at CiCi's Pizza for dinner. While we were there the kids ate a lot of pizza due to playing hard in the ocean, and then thoroughly enjoyed playing the games. Mason was so good at the stuffed animal grabber game that he one a dinosaur and an animal for Christian.

Cookout at the IOP

On Tuesday evening, we had a cookout to visit and to greet Aunt Pat who had arrived on Tuesday morning. When we got to the cookout area, they were just starting to bring out some chair and the table. Soon, Granny, Aunt Pat, and Jennifer came down. We all visited for a while. Soon the burgers and hot dogs were ready, so we all enjoyed dinner.

After dinner, John took Mason, Emily, Daddy, and the other big kids out to the pier to try fishing, while the little ones and I hung out at the cookout area. Blake, Ansley, and Bailey thoroughly enjoyed feeding the birds with leftovers. And Ansley did her impression of Ray Charles (see photo =) ). After a while, the fishers came back. They had a lot of fun, but surprisingly had not caught a thing.

Playing at the IOP

After arriving Saturday night at the IOP, we got settled in the condo. It was a nice trip down, despite taking several extra hours due to some accidents that slowed traffic on the way. After getting the critical stuff in to the condo, John took Emily out for a swim. They had a lot of fun but were not able to stay long due to it being cold due to the extreme wind. John said it was so windy, there were white caps in the pool. The next morning, we got up and had a very nice time at the beach. We could not have asked for nicer weather in July, but it was unusually windy, so we had to really anchor stuff down on the beach so it did not blow away. After we were finished with the beach,w e headed back to the condo and bathed the little ones. After they were settled, I took Emily back out to the Ocean Side pool for a while. While we were there, her favorite thing to do was throw her dive rings in and try to get them with her feet. She also really liked throwing ones in the deep in for me to get. After we had been there a little while, we happened to see Leslie and Blake. They were heading over to the Sea Cabins pool, but decided to try the one at Ocean Side so the kids could play. Blake and Emily had fun, but due to it still being very windy and the pool being shaded at that time, it was cold for the kids. So we headed back in for lunch and a break. That evening we played at the condo and had Leslie and Blake over to play for a while after dinner. The kids had a great time playing in the condo.

Monday morning we headed back out to the beach to enjoy a lovely day. The girls really enjoyed playing in the surf and digging in the sand. In fact the girls loved playing in the surf so much, it was hard to keep them from trying to go out further. After a nice time at the beach, we decided to head up to the pool for a little while following. The kids really enjoyed playing in the baby pool, but also were really in to getting int he big pool. After we had been playing for a while, Leslie, Blake, and Megan came out to the pool. At first we got in the baby pool with the kids. They really enjoyed playing with Blake's swimming Nemo fish and the various pool toys we brought. After a little bit in the baby pool, they were all anxious to get in the big pool so we got in and had a great time. Ansley was even up for Megan holding her some and letting Megan float her around.

That afternoon, My Dad, Katrina, Mason, and Sydney arrived. Once they were settled, we all met up later that afternoon and headed to IHOP for dinner. We had originally planned on going to the beach or having a cook out, but due to the weather, that was not possible. We all had fun at IHOP and then called it an evening.

Hangin' out at the IOP Park

Saturday afternoon, we met up with Daddy, Christian, and Blake in the parking lot of the condos and all walked over to the IOP County Park located next to the condos. Emily enjoyed swinging the most and also enjoyed playing in the sand and on the slide. Ansley and Bailey loved swinging. Once we had stayed a while, Leslie picked up Blake. Then Daddy, Christian, John, Emily, Ansley, Bailey, and I all headed to the cars and drove over to CC's Pizza on Mount Pleasant for dinner.

Playing on the Beach with Cousins

On Friday, Daddy and Katrina called to say they were thinking about heading to the IOP since the other condo was free for the weekend. By late that evening, Daddy, Katrina, Christina, Leslie, Megan, and Blake all made their way to the IOP. The next morning, Daddy and I took Emily, Christian, and Blake over to the Sea Biscuit for breakfast. After eating a hearty breakfast, we started walking back to the condos. We decided to make a brief stop off to visit Bubba the McCall at the surf shop on the strip. Once we made it back to the condos, we all decided to head out to the beach. A cool front had moved in Friday night, so it was not quite as warm as it had been during the week, but it was still quite nice. Emily and Christian had the best time playing in the water. The little ones also enjoyed being at the beach, playing with toys and being carried around.

Getting Roudy at the Beach

On Wednesday we all went to the beach. The little ones had a very good time playing with water toys, trying to eat sand, and dipping their feet in the water. Emily's favorite parts were splashing in the tidal pools and feeding the birds.

Playing at the Beach (October 2007)

Although it was October, we had a beautiful week at the Isle of Palms. While we were there all the girls enjoyed playing in the tidal pools on the beach. Bailey wanted to splash, Ansley wanted to eat sand, and Emily wanted to run around like crazy jumping in and out of the water. Due to the great temperatures, we were able to enjoy the beach much more of the day than we are able to in the summer. In addition to the beach, we went to the pool since Emily wanted to go to the pool. Ansley, Bailey, and I stayed at the edge of the baby pool, while John and Emily got in the big pool. The water was quite warm in the baby pool, but the big pool was another story. It did not matter to Emily that the big pool was cold, she put on her swimmies, grabbed John, and away they went.

Our Little Fisher (IOP October 2007)

On the first full day after we arrived at the beach, John took Emily fishing out on the pier. She thought it was GREAT!!! Although they did not have any luck in catching a fish, there were some nice people that would give Emily some small whitings to put in her bucket. She loved to pick them up and talk to them. Her first one she named Annie. I believe this name came from her favorite TV character, Annie on the Little Einsteins. After a while me, Ansley, and Bailey took a walk out to the pier. Emily showed us her three fish in her bucket. When we were packing up to leave, I asked her if we could put them back in the water so they could go back to their mommy. She agreed for the second two, but Annie (who had clearly expired), was not going back. We let her carry Annie back to the parking lot, but then she unfortunately had to go.