Kiawah

It started with Uncle Tony's birthday - it was an opportunity to celebrate with some family.  So Dad and Tony put together a trip to Kiawah, South Carolina.  We were excited to go have a last burst of summer fun before Fall arrived but more excited to see my uncle, aunt, cousins and their families...not to mention their three kids we'd never met!

For a time, right before we left, it looked like we might have to come up with an alternate plan as we watched Tropical Storm Hanna head for the coast but after juggling some tickets, we ended up in Greenville with good weather and then headed down to the beach.  To think we almost cancelled!  The weather all week was sunny and very warm - great for basking in the ocean and taking bike rides.

The grandparents were in hog heaven with their grandkids - it was some great quality time for all of us.  It is always sweet for me to watch them together.

At high tide, there were great tidal pools on the beach that were perfect for the kids to play and splash in.  And the beach was SO wide!  The hard, packed sand was ideal for taking walks and riding bikes.  Joe took Evie out every morning in the bike trailer - good practice for all the biking Joe plans to do with her in the coming years.

Riley is getting more mobile and grabby every day - as Nana soon learned. 

There was SO much beach to run on that Evie could have gone for days.  And she tried.

Here's a shot of the guys hanging at 'the pool'.  Using the travel highchair was the perfect way to keep Riley upright without having to hold him the whole time.  And he loved it!

When Evie met Uncle Tony, she thought his name was Tiny so she, along with the rest of us, called him Uncle Tiny all week.  It was really cute.  Evie has been big into Ring Around the Roses or, as she calls it, Pack A Poses.  Uncle Tiny got the kids to play it a few times one night after dinner.  Naturally, the 'all fall down' part was the favorite.

Mom & Dad's room had a big, empty closet that Mom made a playroom for Evie.  She would take people back there and have little playdates.  Halfway through the week, after we'd tried different sleeping configurations, we discovered that it made a pretty good little bedroom for her too.  A nightlight and the fan for white noise and she was set.  

Riley wasn't left out in the playdate department - my cousin Curtis and his wife Jodie have a baby boy, Brodie, who is just a month and a half younger than Riley.  They played 'football' together and shared some floor time along with a stroller ride.  Handsome buddies.

Our last night, we all went to dinner at a really nice resort for their poolside seafood buffet.  The sunset was beautiful, the food was great and the place was gorgeous - it was the ideal way to end our trip.  There was a folk duo there playing live music and Evie immediately started asking me if they would play "Fwinkle, Fwinkle" and "E I E I".  Unbeknownst to us, Mom went and requested them so just before we started eating, the guys dedicated the songs to Evie and Mom pulled her out to dance.  She was memorized!  It was so sweet and it really brought tears to my eyes.

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take some photos of Joe and the kids with the beautiful landscaping and a bunch of them turned out really great.  It's the first shots I've taken of the two of them where they can both sit up together so it worked much better.  They are great subjects, of course. ;)

Thanks Mom & Dad/Nana & Papa, for a great trip.  We made some good memories.