Sarah's Soccer Adventures

Sarah was so excited to play soccer this year.  She got to play on a team with lots of friends from school and really improved this year.  By the end of the season she was challenging others for the ball, following it down the field, making some sweet passes, and really being competitive (which is a rarity for her).

 Running down the field.

 Playing goalie.

 With her best friend Makayla.  They got to be on the same team and they wanted to show off their medals!

Kathryn's soccer adventures!

Sam got to coach Kathryn's team this year.  So far she has shown the most competitiveness out of all our kids.  She had lots of fun and loved being with friends.  This is her and Sam with the rest of the team.

Going after the ball.

Kathryn's favorite thing to do was be goalie.  She was very good at it and was not scared of the ball at all.  Plus she loved to pick up and throw it or kick way past everyone.

At her last game she got a medal and treats.  She thought that was pretty awesome!!

What we've been doing lately...

I brought back quite a few seashells so the kids really wanted to make necklaces out of them.  They thought it was pretty awesome.

Luke got to start preschool last Monday.  He rides the bus to and from school and absolutely loves it.  He goes because of his speech, I am just so glad that more and more people can understand him.  Preschool also means that I have 3 hours for 3 days a week to myself.  I wish I could say that I was relaxing, but yeah right!  I think I have canned every one of those mornings.  And speaking of canning...what a women will do to not cry!

It that awesome!!  Those onions were mighty strong and when you have to cut up 15 of them man I will do anything to see.  And this last picture is just because he's so cute!  He loves being home by himself in the afternoons and is always building, fixing or cooking something!

Charleston--Day 4

This was to be our last day in Charleston.  We had originally decided to head a couple hours south to Savannah, Georgia.  Paula Deen is based there and as much as my mom and I love to cook (my sister not so much) we thought it would be awesome to go to her restaurant and check out the history there.  Well after we heard about this boat ride we bagged our plans for Savannah and chartered a boat to go see the old Morris Lighthouse.  We got to sleep in again (can you tell that this is one of my favorite things to do), get ready leisurely, read some books and then head out.  This is what we got to see.

Heading out, we left from Folley Island.

The wind does a number on the hair, man was it a pain to comb out.  

What we saw on the ride out.  We saw many dolphins but unfortunately I didn't get one of them on the camera and it was absolutely gorgeous.  The day was beautiful and we were having a marvelous time.

Our captain dropped us off at the nearest sandbar to the lighthouse.  It now sits out in the ocean after many years of storms and hurricanes.  

We got to walk around the island looking for seashells and just enjoying the amazing, beautiful sights.  I have always dreamed of walking along the beach with the waves crashing.  I have seen it in the movies and wanted to do it and I finally got my chance.  I loved it!!

The view of the lighthouse from the island.

I never knew about oyster beds.  By the time we came back, tide was low and we got to see them.  They were everywhere.

Several hours later we headed to dinner.  Man was it not good!  At least most of it.  Two things were not too bad:  the mud bugs

and the view.

Then it was back to the hotel to pack and leave stinkin early in the morning.  Our trip was over and it was fabulous!  I loved it but I was ready to get home and see Sam and my kids.  Ahead:  8 hours on a plane--yuck but thank heavens for dramamine!

Charleston--Day 3

This day was absolutely beautiful!

We decided to have a relaxing day at the beach so after sleeping in till 9:30 (man was it awesome!!) and taking our time getting ready we headed to the Isle of Palms.  Now I know what they mean about beaches in the East.  They are amazing (remember this was my first time seeing them)!!  The water is warm, the sand is not rocky, and you can actually play in the ocean.  I loved it :)

I made some things for those I left behind--Sam this one's for you!!!

Seth, Sarah, Kathryn and Luke--this one's for you!  (just use your imagination)

After playing in the water, ie trying to body surf (man were we terrible--but it was so fun trying) we hung out and read our books.  I've always wanted to do that, it seems so relaxing, and now I finally got to do.  It was awesome, as long as you don't count the sunburn--oops!!

I just have to put this picture in.  Every time we would go over a bridge (they are kinda hard to avoid in Charleston) Jenny would get paranoid and saying things like "I hope we don't fall in the ocean".  I thought it was hilarious so I took a picture of this bridge, one of the prettiest we crossed.  Sorry Jenny I just had to do it :).

For dinner we headed to Hanks.  It was one place Chris (my brother-in-law) said we had to try.  

We had very yummy food, especially the She Crab Soup.  Now don't get disgusted, it was amazing, delightful, delicious and pretty much anything else you can think of.  The rest of the food was really good too (if you want to see what else we ate check out my recipe blog).

After dinner we headed to the Angel Tree.  It took my breath away!!!!!!!

I wish you could see it in person.  You can't even imagine how big it was.  They estimate this oak to be over 1400 years old.  Can you believe it?  I can't.  It is like a spider web and the branches are bigger than most normal tree trunks.  Unfortunately when we got there, they had already closed the gate so we had to take pictures through the fence, but if you are ever down that way, you really should see this.

Charleston--Day 2

We decided that on this day we would walk all around downtown Charleston and of course it was the hottest day the entire time we were there.  Can I say that I am not a fan of humidity?  Man were we sweating, sick and gross!!!  But we did have a fabulous time looking at some amazing things like:

the architecture,

the homes,

(this is called Rainbow Row--very colorful and some of the oldest homes in Charleston)

Battery Park,

the streets,

and the Nathaniel Russell House (we met some very funny ladies from Louisiana here and they were a hoot).

After we were very hot and gross 

we headed to Magnolias, one the top 100 places to eat in the United States.  We ate some very yummy food (again :)

and then we headed to the open air markets to buy souvenirs.  We had a wonderful time shopping and then a massive thunderstorm came in that was beautiful.  

CHarleston, SC--Day 1

Frist I have to give major props to my hubby!!  He did an amazing job while I was gone.  He made breakfast every morning, got the kids to school and Luke to a friends house, made dinner every night, did his meetings, went to 5 different soccer games, and had the house cleaned and laundry when I got home!!!!!!  Plus he was the catalyst behind me going so thanks to you my awesome husband who made it possible!

I don't know if you all know, but about 9 months I decided that I was going to embrace turning 30 and go on a trip ( I have never traveled before--seriously anyway).  My mom and sister Jenny decided they were going to join me, so after a lot of planning the day finally arrived and we were off.  I was gone 7 days (3 in just traveling).  Last Wednesday morning I took off to Boise so I could fly out with my mom that night to Seattle where we spent the night and then got up bright and early to head east.

(6 am in the Seattle airport)

After many long plane rides we got to our hotel and decided to eat (peanuts and pretzels do not last very long).  Many people recommended Coast so we headed out.

It was an amazing place to eat and because I love food I took food pictures for you all to see.  The food was absolutely delightful (atleast if you like seafood).

This is what I had, mmmm...Crab Stuffed Lobster.

This is what my mom had.  This was one of my favorites it was absolutely to die for, 

Braised Grouper with Truffle Stoneground Grits.

The next day we decided to hit one of the plantations, Magnolia.  This is what you see when you drive down the road, really any road in Charleston.  I couldn't get over the beauty of so many trees.  I loved it!

We toured the romantic gardens at Magnolia:

(can you see the lizard?)

took a boat ride in the swamp and saw alligators and lots of birds:

toured the house:

and visited the petting zoo ( I swear it was for a picture for my kids).

Afterwards we headed back to downtown Charleston to try some authentic, fried, low-country food and man was it fried and tasty!!  We ate at Jestine's Kitchen and had some green tomatoes and chicken.

Lastly we walked Market St. and checked out the candy and sweet shops.  This was the best lemonade ever.  I'm serious, I have never tasted anything like it.

Then I had to take this picture just for Sam, the lover of Ben and Jerry's that he is!