Maggie's Field Trip

 Maggie and I had a fun morning visiting Mrs. Pam's farm.  Maggie LOVED holding the baby goat and thought the rocky horse was pretty cool as well!  Thankful for precious preschool memories.  We love our school and our school family!

 As we were walking back to the picnic area, Maggie picked these sweet flowers for me!  Love her!!

Relay for Life

Caroline and I got off the bus, met Andy and Maggie and loaded into the van.  We were off to my hometown for Relay for Life.  The girls weren't in the van 5 minutes before they were both asleep.  It made for a super nice, quiet ride for me!  Maggie had the best seat in the house...her sweet sister pulled her around in a great little wagon. :-)

I absolutely LOVED this idea by Daniel and Claire.  They did a luminary in honor of Mom and the caregiver that she was to Daddy!!

The girls attempted to win us a cake in the cake walk...didn't happen! :-)

The food is always super yummy!  We enjoyed some delicious wings from Uncle Daniel's tent.  For dessert we enjoyed a yummy, hot funnel cake from Uncle Bob.  Granny sent us home with chocolate pound cake and regular pound cake! 

As hard as it is, I'm thankful for  a night to celebrate so many who have battled cancer...oh how I wish we were celebrating my daddy as a cancer survivor...but instead, we will celebrate his fight and the example he showed.  Love my daddy!!

Mrs. Virginia

Mom and I, along with the girls, hit the road early this morning for a road trip to visit Mrs. Virginia.  This precious little lady will celebrate her 92 birthday next week!  She is still just as spunky as ever!!  The girls played with their American Girl dolls for a little while.  However, they also enjoyed Mrs. Virginia's stash of beanie babies and coloring accessories.  We enjoyed a yummy lunch but didn't make it back in time to enjoy the ice cream shop...next time! 

As I have said many times before, this sweet lady is so precious to us!  She is like our other grandmother.  So thankful that my girls have met her.  Although I see our faults, she told me what a joy it is to watch me as a mother.  That Andy and I have done a good job with them...that they really are sweet kids.  (sometimes I think we look like one big mess...)  I'm thankful we get to share this season of life with her!

REACH Field Trip

We loaded up on this bus shortly after 6:30 AM for a long bus ride to Charleston for their end of the year REACH trip.  It may have still been dark outside but these girls were SO excited!  They played hang games, finger knitted, read and wrote stories the entire time!  These little girls are so precious together!!!

Our first stop on today's trip was the US Hunley submarine.  It was so interesting.  The facts that they have been able to uncover is amazing.  Some highlights of our time there:

• 7 men fit on this tiny submarine
• The submarine was only 42 inches tall.  These guys did what is equivalent to wall squats for 12 hours a day, never being able to fully stand or stretch their legs.
• The submarine went out with the tide and came in with the tide.
• No one really knows what happened to the submarine to make it go down, but they have 4 theories.
• The Hunley successfully shot down the U.S.S. Housatonic before going down itself.
• The Hunley is currently submerged in a solution that is helping to preserve it and full the salt from it from its years buried at sea.

After about an hour tour of the Hunley, we got back on the bus and headed downtown for a carriage ride.  We were divided into groups.  There were 13 girls and 3 adults in our group.  Thankfully we had a fantastic group which made our day super easy.  McCall's dad was "in charge" while another mom and I pulled up the rear. 

Our tour guide was absolutely amazing!!  She commanded the kids respect from the get go and they were all ears.  They loved it!!  I'm pretty sure I was just as excited as the kids.  Although I grew up really close to Charleston, I learned a lot of new information about the city.

•  Only 32 carriages are allowed 'on tour' at a time.  We had to wait for one tour to return before we went out.
• Today we use window boxes for decoration.  Years ago, window boxes were used to help with the odor caused by outdoor 'plumbing.'  The hope was that if you planted things that smelled really good, that would fill your home when the wind blew and not the smell of waste.
• Rainbow row got its name after a photographer from National Geographic came to visit the city.  They thought the houses looked like a rainbow and thus gave it the name "rainbow row."
• There is a difference between a graveyard and cemetery...a graveyard is on the property connected to the church.  A cemetery is a burial spot not connected to the church property. 

The kids got a chance to love on our horse once we returned.  Then it was time to walk back to the bus and grab our lunches. 

We ate lunch at Waterfront park.  It was gorgeous!  We had a great spot in the shade.  The kids were ready to eat!  After lunch they ran around and played for a while before it was time for us to get back on the bus.  We could not have hand picked better weather than what we had today.  It was gorgeous!!

I am SO THANKFUL that I have been able to enjoy these last two trips with Caroline.  I don't take for granted that I have a job that allows me to take a day of personal vacation.  I don't take for granted the MANY folks who went out of their way to take care of Maggie for the day.  I don't take for granted that the Lord had provided for us financially to be able to afford an extra ticket for these costly trips.  I KNOW that when I look back on Caroline's childhood, these two trips will be bright spots for both of us! 

Can we sit with you?

A few days ago Andy was sitting in the chair looking at something on his phone.  Caroline came behind him and laid on his back to watch his phone with him.  Then Maggie said "Daddy can I sit "wid" you?"  He said "if you can find room, you sure can."  She piled on top of Caroline and all was well in their world! 

Kickball Fun

Tonight we met our church family at the park for pizza and kickball!  It was a beautiful evening and I LOVED playing kickball!!!!!  I only got to play 1 inning due to my youngest losing interest in the game but it was so much fun!  We are already planning another kickball night.  I love my church family and I am SO thankful for the way the Lord is blessing us!!

Saturday Fun

We were SO thankful for a low key day today.  My mom came up and took the girls to breakfast at KK as well as to Sam's for lunch.  Andy and I enjoyed running errands that are way easier without kids.  We LOVED having time to actually complete a thought without being interrupted.

This afternoon Charissa and Catherine came over for a little bit.  The girls enjoyed playing outside while Charissa and I worked in Maggie's room and caught up on life.  Can't say enough what a blessing this weekend has been!!! 

Strawberry PIcking

We had a gorgeous afternoon in the strawberry field today.  The girls did a great job picking beautiful red, juicy strawberries!!

Boone Hall Field Trip

I was blessed to attend Caroline's 3rd grade field trip.  We took a LONG bus ride to Boone Hall Plantation. It was GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!  I am not sure who enjoyed it more, me or her!  We got to tour the gardens, see the old slave quarters and hear a gullah presentation.  Thankful to enjoy days like today with my oldest baby! :-)