Life is Good

We are so fortunate when mornings start like this...

And 8 hours later end like this...

Life in Mt. P is good.  Really good!  We have great friends, who happen to own a boat.  Quality family time...nuff said :)

The Miske's Visit

The first 4 weeks of summer were nice and leisurely.  We slept late, didn't make too many plans, and just enjoyed our days.

Then our summer took a crazy turn and we haven't stopped moving!

First up was a visit from family.  The Miske's came to visit!



The first night they were here we went to Izzy's Parable-looza performance which will get a post of its own!

The next morning we took a boat ride over to Morris Island.  It was 2.5 hours total (15 minutes to the island, 2 hours searching for treasures, and 15 minutes back).  It was the perfect kid friendly boat excursion.



On our way to Morris Island




We had the place to ourselves








We even found a couple treasures along the way - lots of shells, shark teeth, sand dollars and a ton of blue crab!




And no trip to Charleston would be complete without a trip to the beach





While Izzy and Katy were nearly inseparable...Drew hung with the big girls.
















We had some fun trying to create a "star fish" type picture


Flying our kite


And covering Pete in sand


And finally, while the beach is a must see, so is Jack's Cosmic Dog.

no one even looks at the camera, rather they just keep putting food in their mouths!

Thanks for coming to visit!

4th Fun

Have I mentioned how much I love our neighborhood?  Probably just once or twice, huh?

Our great group of neighbors / friends decided to stay low-key for this holiday by simply reserving the pool shelter.

The kids had a blast swimming from about 4-9 and then we lit some fireworks and ate some smores.  A great time was had by all and I am hoping this becomes our fourth of July tradition!







Drew and Jack spend a ridiculous amount of time going underwater and then jumping up.






Love this picture of sweet Austyn


Time for food and fireworks!












Can you say "trouble"


Drew is not a fan of loud noises...check out his face in this picture




At one point we tried to use some headphones as earplugs but they didn't work.  Eventually we settled for just squeezing the heck out of head by covering his ears.


We followed up with SMORES!








And when it got loud he talented enough to eat a smore while keeping fingers in his ears


And silly us...we tried to get some family pictures at 10:30...to remember the fun we had!

"Swim Meet" meet "Seizure"

Tonight one of my swim meet fears came true.  Izzy didn't begin her race with the buzzer due to a seizure.  It was an away meet, against Park West.  Izzy was in lane 3 (meaning she was favored to win for her heat).  I was at the far end waiting for her to finish, while Pete was working as a timer on lane 6.   Izzy got into the ready position, but then stood up.  Once she stood up I could tell she was having a seizure.  The buzzer signaled for the start of the race and Izzy stood frozen.  My heart sank - and I tear up now recalling it to type - I knew she would start late, if she started at all?  What was probably only 5 seconds felt like an eternity!  The timer in lane 3 happened to be our neighbor and she recognized what was happening immediately.  A couple other neighbors were standing near me and noticed as well.  Thankfully once Izzy snapped out of her seizure she dove right in!  By golly if that girl doesn't have heart!  She kicked and pulled like no ones business and managed to finish second.  I WISH I would have had it on video just so she could see what an amazing job she did.

I don't think I have ever been more proud (well I probably have but this was a really awesome feeling) of her and how well she swam.  The mom in me wanted to grab her a first place ribbon and give it to her ...cause she certainly swam like a winner that race.

These seizures sure do suck...but Izzy reminds me through her actions that they don't define her.  She sure is one awesome kid.