I hope I am not boring you all to death! :)  I just love going through photos after a trip.  There will be one more installment after this, and really, I saved the best for last!

So we visited Edisto Island in South Carolina a few weeks back.  Going through these I sooo wanted to be back there.  Oh, well.  I’m very glad I took over 2,000 photos to remember the experience.  :)  Going through them to pick what to put on the blog was so hard.

Here are a few more days from our trip.

We got up early one morning, and we were just thrilled to go visit a plantation that a friend of ours (hi Heidi!) had told us about.  It was opened to the public for the first time this past summer, and our friend told us about how cool and eery it was….with massive live oaks, old worn down buildings, and a private beach filled with dead trees that looked like a scene from a Tim Burton movie. AHH!!  Heaven. :)  I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  These two shots were the drive up to the entrance…..

We got up there and guess what?  “CLOSED for hunting, will reopen on Sunday.” “CCCLOOOOSSED!!!???!! But it was Monday, and we leave Saturday??!!” I almost threw a temper tantrum.  I almost considered this to be a failure- the weather sucked, it was cold, and now the one place, THE ONE PLACE I wanted to see was closed.  Then I made Brett call the offices, “surely they will open it just for a little bit, like can’t we just figure out some way???  Can I just sneak in a round the hunters???”  I realized I had lost.  I chose to move on.  Drat.

Brett snuck off at sunset with just Adin one night.  I LOVE these.  :)

The next morning Priya and Brett got up at 5:30 with Brett’s Dad and Step-Mom, and they went to see the sun rise.  They were so excited, the sky got pink, and then a cloud moved in.  They didn’t get to see it.  :(  But they still had fun.  I had fun too- staying warm in bed. :)

Then Grandpa took all his boys fishing.

Riah had a blast.

…..so much so, that he passed out after coming home. He NEVER does that. I actually went over and made sure he was breathing!! :)

Next day, CRABBING!  Brett, his Dad, Adin, Priya and Riah went exploring where some locals had suggested to go find crabs.  They took all the supplies like chicken necks (YUCK), bucket, net, and weight.

They were lucky enough to have help from an expert they met: Charlie.  He does this every single day.

Those are blue crabs.  Why he holds them like that is beyond me.  They are fast little suckers.

They filled a whole basket.

Then they brought them home and cooked them for dinner.  Brett and his Dad are both wanna-be chefs.  (Don’t tell them I called them that.)  :)

Here’s Brett with the final results.  He felt like such a man- catching his food in the wild, bringing it home, and making it for dinner.

Next day at the beach….we have a version of this photo from 3 years ago, minus one kiddo.  We needed an update.  Can anyone say canvas?  I’ve always wanted my big feet on the wall.

Gabriel is so stinkin cute here.  It’s ridiculous.

He loves his Baba.

Those boys….I love them to death.

Another big print coming soon.

Moments like this make me so happy I take photos.  This makes my heart sing.

Took me a minute to read this…I don’t know why.  A lot of people around this area speak “Gullah.”  This is a family that put a sign up on the dirt road we went down.  If you wonder what Gullah sounds like, think of the African American lady on Pirates of the Caribbean.  Do you remember how she spoke?? I actually love the sound of it.  If you are into history, you should click on the link above and read about how it got started. I found it so interesting.

Guess what?  We make it into the place I threw the hissy fit about.  :)  This photo was us leaving there….I’ll tell you more about it in the next post.  WOW, you don’t want to miss it.  But for now, these are all of my boys.  I love so many things about this photo.  The way Gabe is sucking his fingers and holding his ear how he always does, the way the boys are carrying their shells like prizes at the end of a scavenger hunt, the way Brett is still sporting the same Adidas shirt that he wore on vacation HERE in 8th grade. Wow, I love that man.  I love this photo.

Our last evening.  We said we wouldn’t take our camera….I slipped a little point-n-shoot.  :)

I didn’t want Gabe getting all sandy AGAIN for the 10th time that day, and he was going to bed when we got back, so I put him in the sling.  He is getting a bit too chubby for it.  Probably his last time ever he will be in it.  :(

Me loves this too.

Thanks for looking!  :)

I hate seeing my kids sick.  But, inevitably each fall they bust out with their first cold.  I never was a germ-a-phobe until I had children…and the more of those I get (that being kids), the crazier I become about fearing germs. Pretty much if one gets something, you can either drive yourself crazy sanitizing, trying to prevent the rest from getting it, but most likely they all will.  I sound like such an optimist this morning don’t I?  :)

The worst is when the little one gets it.  Right now Gabe’s face is a wet mess of snot.  YUMMM.  For the most part it doesn’t even phase him too much.  He’s a pretty happy guy.  How cute is he in his old man PJ’s?!!!

You gotta teach them early how to wipe their own noses.  :)  16 months.  Did I tell you he was brilliant?

Cuteness all wrapped up in a 20lb. ball of flannel.  I could eat him alive.

More photos from our vacation coming later today or early in the morning!!  :)