Mission Safari: The Next Chapter(s)

A Few More Kiawah Videos

It has been a hot and humid week here with afternoon temps reaching triple digits.  I went for a 7 mile run today, ate breakfast, and then cut the grass.  I was beat by the time I finished.  The sun and humidity whipped me.

Ben is still with the summer missions team in Cherokee, NC.  We haven't heard much from him but reports from the team sound positive.  Sarah has been mostly reading and relaxing this week; she was pretty worn out from the photo workshop in Utah.  Sam has been busy with Tennis Camp last week and Baseball Camp this week.  Marti took Sarah and Sam to see Toy Story 3.  They loved it.  The ending made them cry.

The little girls have been little girls this week.  They are really best little buddies.  I thought I would post a few more videos of them from Kiawah.  I hope you enjoy them.

Have a great weekend.

Kiawah Videos Part II (and Pics)

Here are a few more videos.  Also, check out our albums from Kiawah.  Lots of great pics of the kids.

Kiawah Videos

I finally am getting caught up on my Kiawah Island pics and videos.  I should get some photo albums posted and a few more videos uploaded by the end of the day.  In the meantime, enjoy the videos below.  The first is "Beach Ballet by Sarah" and a short video from the 4th of July.  I will get Kate's birthday party loaded soon.

The Rest of Last Week...and an Update on This Week

 My last post was over a week ago.  Since returning from Kiawah Island on Saturday the 10th, we have been a bit busy, both not overwhelmed.  Sunday morning I drove Sarah back to Richmond to fly her out to Salt Lake City, Utah for a photography workshop.  In fact the photo to the left is courtesy Sarah.  I will post a few others below to give an idea of what she has been doing this week.  I think she has done a pretty sweet job.

Anyway, I returned to work Sunday night for 3 shifts.  It was easier to get back in the swing of things than I thought.  Sunday-Tuesday nights can be pretty rough as they are some of our busiest night shifts in the ER.  Happily, I didn't go through the "man I need a vacation to recover from vacation" syndrome.  That was very helpful.

Others in the family have had a good week since returning as well.  Ben has had a friend spend the night, Sam has been going to Tennis Camp this week, and Marti has been helping get things settled into place.  The little girls have just been happy to get back into their routines.

Before I finish, I will give another quick synopsis of what we did to finish out our last week at Kiawah.  From the 6th through the 9th we: had a family photo shoot on the beach with a photographer, spent more time on the beach, played 9 holes of family golf on the Cougar Point golf course, ate dinner with my old partners from Newberry (who just happened to be at Kiawah last week for a medical conference), finished reading my 3rd book of the vacation (see the Book List to the right), made up a game of Criffle Ball on the beach (a mix between cricket and whiffle ball), lost Criffle Ball to Sam, and took a 10 mile run on the island.

The next couple of weeks are going to be busy as well, but I guess our weeks are always busy with 7 inhabitants in the home!  Enjoy these few pictures taken by Sarah out in Salt Lake City.

     

Seen and Done

We are now enjoying Day 9 of 14 down at Kiawah. It has been an awesome time.  We have had near perfect weather (mostly sunny skies and low humidity).  We are definitely getting recharged and refreshed.  And despite most of our days being easy going we have seen and done quite a bit.  Here is a list of the things we have seen (wildlife) and done.

Seen: alligators including 4 baby gators, deer, snakes, crabs, and multiple types of birds.

Done: reading on the beach, bike rides with the kids, swimming with the little girls, water basketball, breakfast on the beach with Sam, tye-dye shirts, playing on the green at Freshfield Village, run 7 out of 9 days including an 8 mile run, watched a sunset with Marti and Sarah at the Bass Pond in Kiawah, ate fried green tomatoes, she-crab bisque, filet mignon and shrimp and grits at the Jasmine Porch, flown a kite on the beach with the kids, ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company in Charleston, bought Life is Good shirts at Jake's on Market in Charleston, visited Redeemer PCA in Charleston on Sunday, ate a picnic lunch at the Waterfront Park in Charleston, played frisbee on the beach, watched 4th of July Fireworks on the beach, ate pulled pork at the 4th of July picnic at Night Heron Park, played tennis with the boys, bought Amy and Sarah dresses at Lilly Pulitizer, played Axis and Allies with Ben, watched some World Cup Soccer games on TV...

These are just to name some of the wonderful things we have done the past several days!

Mini-Chaos

The other night while we were out to eat (at the King Street Grille here on Kiawah) I was struck by the amount of chaos generated at our table.  It's not that we were loud or that the girls were wild, but that keeping two toddlers happy when they're hungry, paying attention to Sam, and trying to have more grown-up conversations with our teenagers makes for quite the challenge.  One minute you are struck by the maturity of conversation with Sarah or Ben, the next you are trying to keep Kate from licking the salt shaker.

Then to complete picture of chaos, we strolled around the Freshfield Village to check out a few shops before getting ice cream at the Marble Slab Creamery.  We are like an amoeba sprawling down the sidewalk.  Sometimes we are in single file, then 4 people wide, sometimes compact in a small area, sometimes spread out over the whole block.  And again, with the variety of ages come the variety of interests.  You can guess who wanted to go in the Lilly Pulitizer shop, who wanted to go in the candy store, and who wanted to go in the sporting goods store. 

This mini-storm was recreated a couple more times this week as we ventured into Charleston for a movie (which we didn't make because we went to the old location of the IMAX) and again to go to church yesterday.  But even though it seems hectic, it is a real joy.  It just takes a little bit of patience.