Goodbye 2015, Hello 2015 - Kiawah Style

Once again, we were able to spend a week at Kiawah Island, one of our favorite places to relax and enjoy a well deserved break from work and school.

We did a fare amount of riding bikes around the island and on the beach.

We took some nice breaks under beautiful live oaks.

Played Frisbee and flew a remote control helicopter in the soccer field.

And I ran into - almost literally - a childhood friend who was riding the paths with her family as well!  Hi Leigh!

We enjoyed the fun New Year's Eve celebrations at Night Heron Park.

Eliza Grace always finds her way on stage if allowed. We sang and danced and enjoyed the fireworks.

And toasted the New Year at midnight!

Happy 2015!  We hope it is a year of peace and love and joy for us all!

Kiawah in the Fall

The kids and I spent a week at Kiawah Island. My sister Kelly was able to spend several days with us as well.  It was a trip full of new experiences and much relaxation!

We rode our bikes all over the island and found two of the marsh view towers. 

 The views were spectacular.

 
  One of the towers is on an island nature area.
In the middle of the week we took the ferry from Charleston to tour Fort Sumter for the first time.

The fort was really interesting and the park ranger talk was really well done. 

I find listening to the park ranger talks to be the best part of visiting our national parks and monuments. 

The gentleman telling the story at the Wright Brothers Museum in Kill Devil Hills, NC had the entire crowd so enthralled that many of us were moved to tears with his retelling of the story.  

But I digress. 

Unfortunately, you're only allowed a short time to explore the fort (less than an hour) and we felt we had to rush through to see as much as we could.

One thing that took up a lot of time on the fort was finding all the answers to the Junior Ranger questionnaire.

Back on land, the kids passed their test, took the oath and got their Junior Ranger badges as well as their names on the Junior Ranger wall of fame.

The last of firsts on this trip was kayaking the Kiawah River.  It was hot and exhausting but fun. 

We also had the added pleasure {sarcasm} of paddling against in the incoming tide on our way out and against the outgoing tide on the way back in.  

We'll definitely check the tide schedule before the next time we go out!

And so you can say you learned something while reading this, the Kiawah River is not an actual river but is instead a salt marsh and estuary. Now, don't you feel smarter?

We had a wonderful visit and look forward to getting back down to KI in December.

A Very Sandy Christmas.

This year we had the opportunity to spend Christmas week on Kiawah Island, SC.  

It was the first time in over 12 years that we weren't home on Christmas day.

The weather was nice enough most days that we were able to play on the beach some and ride our bikes a lot.

We even got some fishing in. 

Thankfully, Santa knew where to find us so Christmas morning held the requisite surprises and fun. Disney Infinity, in particular, was/is a hit with the entire family.

One of Eliza Grace's gifts was a trip to the South Carolina Aquarium so we went to Charleston to do just that.

Testing the Bald Eagle nest. Will really put himself into the role of baby eagle.

  SHARK!!!

"So I says to him, I says, that's what I'm talking about!"

"Hahaha, that's a good one Fred!"

"Excuse me deary, this is a private conversation!"

Lemur food placed on top of observation area=up close fun!

In addition to the aquarium visit, which included a nice low country lunch at Fleet Landing, the kids also attended Kamp Kiawah a couple of mornings and attended a Kamp pool party at the ever-so-swanky Sanctuary resort one evening.

Regardless of the change of venue, we made sure to keep some of our most special Christmas traditions intact - including the making and consuming of pretzel kisses!

It was a really nice getaway and we're so thankful to my Mother for the opportunity to experience Christmas at the beach!

Live Oaks, Fried Green Tomatoes, Moonshine and Gators

(If that's not a Southern title, I don't know what is!)

We spent our Spring Break week at one of our family's favorite spots, Kiawah Island, SC.

Every year I keep hoping we can learn to travel by car a little less like the Griswold's.  

Clearly we are not there yet.

At least Chewie got to come along this time and he did really well in the car and throughout the whole week. More importantly, the kids LOVED having him along for the fun.

We woke each morning to the tropical-like beauty of South Carolina's low country.

Despite the chilly temps, we did some bike riding and beach walking.

But, truth be told, many mornings were spent pajama-clad doing this:

And we were all OK with some TV and "device" time. It was vacation after all.

We did venture out to drive along the Live Oak and Spanish moss canopied roads to see the sights.

We visited a local winery and distillery on Wadmalaw Island, about 20 minutes from Kiawah.

Scott and I did some sampling of the Muscadine wines while the kids enjoyed a little iPad/iPhone game time.

In between the wine tasting and the distillery, the kids got to harass check out some farm animals.

Eliza Grace stalked one particular goose around the pens until the rooster shown below decided she had gotten close enough.

Meanwhile, Will was enjoying things that let him move, because, well, he's a boy.

(Charlestonians love their joggling boards.)

Next up was the distillery, a mere 50 feet from the wine tasting room.

  
The Peach moonshine.  Seriously good, I kid you not.

We left the distillery and headed to another Wadmalaw Island destination: the Charleston Tea Plantation, the only tea plantation in the entire U.S.A.

Eliza Grace got to ring the bell on the trolley and then it was off to learn about tea.

Fields of tea bushes -  I had no idea they looked so much like boxwoods.

 I loved this graceful old pecan tree on the property.
Eliza Grace gave a thumb's up to the tea, although, like the true Southerner she is, she added sugar to the sweet tea. 

Later in the week, we took a trek into Charleston proper to have a yummy meal at the Dixie Supply Bakery and Cafe (as seen on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives!).  

Scottie had the shrimp and grits.

I had the fabulous bacon, lettuce, shrimp and fried green tomato sandwich.  Oh my word, it was good.

The kids had some baked goods and then we were ready to check out some history.

This time we toured the Nathaniel Russell house, which boasts a fabulous flying staircase and beautiful gardens.

(I love this photo because they're holding hands)

After that, we let the kids burn off some energy down at The Battery before we headed back to Kiawah.

No trip to Kiawah Island would be complete for our kids without attending the Reptile Roundup at the Nature Center.  After all, it's not every day one gets to hold turtles, snakes and a 7 year old alligator.

(This little fella headed right to Will's warm armpit)

We did a little fishing for good measure...

and called it another great week at Kiawah Island!