Girls weekend away!

In late July some girlfriends and I head to Charleston for the weekend. We left early Friday morning with the promise not to return until after all the kids were in bed on Sunday night.

We stayed in the heart of downtown Charleston. It was a hot as possible so after a nice lunch after we arrived, we did what all wild women do without their children - we napped until dinner. We had a great meal at one of my favorite low country restaurants - Hanks. Some of the best peel and eat shrimp!





On Saturday we headed to the Isle of Palms to sit on the beach. Which we did until after the sun went down. It was so nice not to have to pay attention who was in the water, and I was thankful that the girls did scream when they wanted to read the same magazine!! From time to time I would yell out Mommy - just so that none of us would get to spoiled.

(not a flattering picture I know, but we have this thing about taking pictures of ourselves. Leah is so much better at it - I think she has longer arms)

(I think she has a picture of me in this same pose, we didn't even get up to take pictures)
After sleeping in really late on Sunday (9 am!!!) We headed back to IOP to pick up some hermit crabs for the kiddos. And then made our way back to G'town. Not too long before bedtime. The boys had a good "Guys Weekend" I understand there were a lack of naps, late bedtimes, few showers and many meals eaten in boxer shorts!

More Summer Post - Gage enjoys the river.

A few weekends ago Ward and Gage headed up to the North Carolina mountains for a little fly fishing. I am amazed at how much Gage loves to fish. He is very patient and learns something new with each adventure. I think Ward learns something new as well. This day happened to be a very good day on the river. I believe there were over 20 fish between the boys. And Gage learned to take the fish off the line himself. He was so excited to share this news. I never realized how hard it really is to get those little guys off while trying not to hurt them.



And since they practice catch and release - they never bring anything home for me to clean and cook (thankfully!).

-

Fripp

We had decided long before the oil leak in the gulf not to go to Blue Mountain this year. Instead we decided to go someplace a little closer. Fripp Island, SC is a small private island a few miles from Beaufort. I had gone once as a young child with my parents and aside from the fact that we went shark fishing I can recall nothing else from that trip. I had to be a little older than Gage. I am not sure the island has changed much in 30 years. It is still a laid back family focused island. We went for the week of July 4th. We could not have been more blessed with beautiful blue skies and great weather.

Tradition at Fripp is the 4th's golf cart parade. Some people take it very seriously,



Us....not so much,

after you drive through the people-lined streets you take your golf cart into the club area and they announce your family and where you are from, how long you have been coming to Fripp. The boys still talk about hearing their names over the loud speaker!

Another highlight of the trip were the friends we met.



The boys spent most days hunting and fishing.



We ate our lunches on the beach.


Played baseball and soccer ocean side.




We enjoyed the pools and ice cream in the evenings.


The brothers got along amazingly well.




By the end of the week the boys were begging me to put the camera away - well at least Gage and Tru were. Davis is such a poser!




The boys ended up loving Fripp. Between the golf cart, the deer and the long flat beach they had a ball. Sure we missed the gulf, but we sure did not miss the drive!

Summer Swim Team 2010

(davis in middle lane)
Summer began with swim team - Davis swam on the 6 and under team. His meets were every Saturday morning and he really enjoyed it. He would swim free, breast and back. He swam a few relays as well. He was so adorable in his little swim suit and goggles. I noticed at the first meet he would kinda look around while swimming down the lane. When he got out I asked him what he was looking at - He said "my friends, I was waiting for them". Then he asked me why everyone was calling for him, I guess he did not realize we were cheering for him!



(gage never cracked a smile while on the blocks, always focused and fierce, haha)
Gage swam on the "big" swim team. As a 7 year old he was one of the youngest and swam on Monday and Thursday nights. The meets were long - very long. We'd swim against at least 2 teams sometimes 3. Gage swam free, breast, back and a few different relays. He really excelled in backstroke, but also enjoyed free. It was amazing to see how well he improved over the course of the summer. He is a good 6inches shorter than most of the boys he was swimming with and it was so funny to watch him waiting with boys so much taller but it was something he never really noticed.

(trying to stay cool while waiting on the start of the meet, gage between the ladder)



(go Gage!)

Gage finished the summer swim season mid July with an all county meet - this meet is something - it is an all day meet with the 7-10 year old swimming the first half of the morning. It is all 9 teams swimming and it is hot, hot, hot. Gage did a great job. He swam free, back and breast. He swam so well in his individual free that he swam his way into the A free relay. He was dead tired at the end of the day. But it was a great way to end swim team.