Charleston, part 1.

Back in November, we packed up the kids (& what felt like everything we own) and drove 10 hours to Charleston for a week-long vacation. The husband had learned the year before that our beloved Flyers were playing in a tournament down there the week before Thanksgiving. Since Charleston is a city we had always talked about wanting to visit, it seemed like fate.

The weather was completely uncooperative while we were there. It was "unseasonably cold", lucky us. And by cold I do mean freezing (it was warmer in Cincinnati while we were in Charleston). The kids wore hats & gloves the whole week & I wore boots almost daily (boots that were thrown in the car last minute, even though I assumed I'd be in flip flops all week!)

Thankfully, our very first day there was beautiful so we got to enjoy a little bit of sunshine at the beach!

Brooke loved everything about her very 1st trip to the beach! On the way there, she told us we needed to stop & get a surfboard. She couldn't wait to dip her feet in the water and play in the sand. She spent a good chunk of the 90 mins we were there collecting sea shells and sand dollars. The phrases "Awesome waves, dude!" & "This is totally cool!" actually came out of her mouth (I'm so not kidding.) Homegirl could have moved there.

The makings of a sand castle, step by step.

 

Joseph, on the other hand, was less than impressed.

He spent a good chunk of the 90 mins we were there freaking out and screaming. He was NOT a fan of the water one tiny bit. After traumatizing him at the beginning by letting his precious feet touch the ocean water, it took a good 30 mins for me to convince him to leave the towel. Thank goodness I had the foresight to bring a couple balls or that child wouldn't have budged. After some coaxing, I got him to play in the sand with the shovel. He finally had about 3 mins of fun digging in the sand before treating himself to a sandy snack.

 It's hard to see, but the little man is losing his mind right about now because the tide has made its way up to his little tootsies.

The Atlantic Coast must taste delish as both of my children ate sand.

Thanks to the generosity of my parents, we stayed in a gorgeous suite in a resort by a marina with a beautiful view of downtown Charleston & the Ravenal Bridge. The kids loved watching the boats from our balcony and running down the dock.

The end of this dock was the perfect place to have a dance party! (You can see at this point that the sun has disappeared, not to return the entire time we were there. About an hour after this was taken, a cool front swept in; we were in coats by dinnertime.)

Part 2, coming soon.
 (Even though this was just Day One, it was by far the most photo-heavy. If I don't post this now, who knows when I'll get to the rest & then you'll just never hear about this trip.)