mommy musings: Vacation 2013

So we took our annual family vacation with my family a little early this year. We went to Edisto Island, South Carolina June 1-8. The house we were in with my parents was really nice and about a block from the beach. We also had our own pool. My sisters and their families were across the street in a different house.

Best way to travel!

Noah stayed entertained and helped keep Jake happy!

Greg was thrilled I took his picture!

Our kids usually travel fairly well. We have books, puzzles, toys, cars/garages as well as their hand held games and dvd player in the car. The drive to my parents is about six hours. We went there on Friday night and drove the 3.5 hours to the beach on Saturday.

The weather wasn't as cooperative as it has been in other years. I think it rained almost every day and we had several thunderstorms topped off by the appearance of Tropical Storm Andrea Thursday. We made the best of it and the kids had a lot of fun.

Jake was indoors a little more than his brothers. He made climbing the stairs big "fun"!

This was the pool at the house we stayed at - Music City Miracle

The kids were excited to play on the beach and dig "pools". They rode the waves. Noah had a boogie board and really liked using that to ride the waves into shore.

Cora and Andy ready for the beach

The older boys went crabbing with Greg and the other guys. They were excited to catch a few crabs, but they were all small enough they had to be thrown back in the water. Blake and Noah went exploring with Gran on the part of the beach where there are tons of shells. They both came back with buckets full of shells.

Noah on the boogie board

Obviously, having 11 children under the age of 10 has its own set of challenges. Fortunately, there was a nice screened in porch at our house. The kids ate most of their meals out there, so it didn't matter if they were wet or in a bathing suit.

We went to Botany Bay Plantation, which is now a protected area, on Thursday before the storm. There are lots of old "live oak" trees scattered on the beach. The boys had fun playing in the sand and were really bummed that they couldn't take any shells from that beach. It belongs to the state now and is a "preserve".

The drive into the plantation is gorgeous with huge trees and hanging Spanish moss.

Some information about Botany Bay is above. The kids really enjoyed exploring and hanging shells on the trees (this is what people do there!).

Kids clowning around on the big trees on the beach.

Having fun in the water at the Charleston Children's Museum

On Friday, we went into Charleston. We spent a few hours at the Children's Museum, walked to Sticky Fingers for lunch and then drove over to Sullivan's Island to explore Fort Moultrie. Fort Moultrie was a very important place during the Revolutionary War. They really enjoyed climbing and looking around there. We could see Fort Sumter in the harbor. Blake really wanted to go there, but because of the high winds from the Tropical Storm, all ferry boat tours were cancelled.

Anytime we are in Charleston, we make our way to the Waterfront Park and the pier. There are many large swings along the pier and we like to get a picture of all the kids on the swing. This year we took one with my Mom and my Mammaw.