South Carolina Vacation Part 1

     We just returned from a fantastic getaway to South Carolina! We had decided that we were going to go on a family vacation, and we wanted it to be somewhere we had never gone before! So my obsession with the Carolina's led us to South Carolina. Neither one of us have ever been on the East Coast and we were anticipating our trip with much enthusiasm. Yes, we did take our kids. I can't yet be apart from my little Reesey Cup, and we couldn't deprive Rylan of the water. We left on a Saturday and returned the following Friday. Before you begin thinking what about the flights with those babies? I will tell you it went great. Rylan was so excited about the plane and getting there that the flights were not a problem (plus we had plenty to eat and play with). Reese did great on the plane, she was great and greeted everyone with her huge smile.

     Arriving in South Carolina was so exciting for us. The weather was beautiful, the people were so friendly, and we were so anxious to see this part of the country. Our vacation will come in two parts. Part one is our beach house stay on Sullivan's Island, and part two will be our stay in Charleston. We chose a house that was right on the beach. With our five minute attention span Rylan I figured being right there was the best way to allow him to come and go at his own pace (it worked out great). We chose Sullivan's Island because it is smaller and really very quaint. The first 3 1/2 days were spent on the beach. We relaxed, took naps, played in the sand, played in the water, watched it rain a beautiful rain, I read my book on the porch and listened to the ocean, Tys and I sat on the porch after the kids went to bed and enjoyed the evening, we hunted for crabs, we picked seashells, we fed the seagulls, we watched kite surfers (they were really very entertaining), ate locally (oh my goodness), shopped locally, visited with locals, and just tried to be locals.

     We did have some rain and a little wind due to Tropical Storm Beryl. But coming from West Texas we are used to wind and we welcomed the rain, because we don't see it much. Despite the rain and wind we had two really fantastic days at the beach. The third day we went and explored Boone Hall Plantation. The Plantation was beautiful, and the story there was so very humbling. We took a tour and learned a lot about the Boone family, the plantations history, and how life was for the slaves on the plantation. Walking in the slaves homes was the most somber, sad, and silencing feeling. I love the history behind the plantation, the movies it has been in (The Notebook for one, which is my all time favorite movie), and that it is still so well kept.

These are my babes from the porch of our beach house. We woke up to this every morning, and were out there by 8:00!

Our little bathing beauty. Don't you love those curves?

The Purdy's on the beach in South Carolina.

Our second night there we at Vickery's which is on Shem Creek Park. From our table when we looked out this is what we saw. I love the impending storm rolling in.

We actually captured one picture where all four of us were smiling.

The boys building a sandcastle.

The entrance to Boone Hall Plantation, remember this from The Notebook?

Every night when we returned back to the beach house from dinner we would walk the beach. We fed the seagulls, searched for crabs, hunted seashells, and just enjoyed the view and the fresh ocean breeze.

If this picture had a caption it would be "Free", which is exactly how the beach made us feel.