Kiawah Island

I'm convinced that if someone stumbled upon my blog (hello!) he or she would think that we are so wealthy my husband doesn't need to work in the summer and therefore all we do is hop around on various vacations. Err. Wrong. Except for the hopping around on various vacations part. We are certainly not wealthy (we have very generous families who like to spend time with us and vice versa), my husband works very hard in grad school most of the year, but his stipend is only for ten months, not twelve, so he does various teaching/tutoring in the summers which gives us the wonderful flexibility of taking said vacations with generous families.

Whew. 

Now that we got that cleared up, I'm happy to report that our latest vacation to Kiawah Island (off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina) was a delightful success. This time we traveled with the immediate Bedinghaus family -- Mom and Dad B, Lauren and fiance Ryan and Kayla. We missed Kayla's boyfriend Chris who had to stay and work on his internship in Pittsburgh. Mom and dad rented a big house on the beach which allowed us tremendous flexibility for Liam's nap, cooking, traveling between the beach and the pool, golfing, playing games, etc. By the end of the week we all agreed this was one of our best and most relaxing vacations ever. I tell you, there is nothing like renting a house when you travel to the beach with a toddler. 

We had the option to go into Charlestown, and we did twice to eat dinner and lunch. We could have gone more as there was plenty to see and do in the area, but it was so hot and humid we decided to stay near the water and ocean breezes. Honestly, being at the beach was the best part and even with the historical and beautiful surrounding areas, we didn't really care to do much of that. The one thing I was surprised by on this vacation was the ocean water. I'm used to Ocean City being freezing in June, but this water was like a bath. I could have stayed in it all day. One afternoon Rob and I took the boogy boards out and spent over an hour "surfing" the waves. Liam was napping so it was almost like a date. Almost. The beaches were huge and almost always empty so it felt very private and fun. There were also tide pools every morning that were perfect baby pools for Liam, even though he wasn't scared of the ocean at all. He did miss his beach buddy Marco, but there were plenty of people, kids and dogs to keep him entertained. 

I've said it here before, but I really love this family and am so thankful that I'm not just an "in-law" but a daughter and sister. We do have so much fun together and I'm always thankful for the time we get to spend together. 

And now, to do what I normally do, I'll photo dump on you (I did not pick up the "y'all" in the south unfortunately or perhaps fortunately?) and show you what we got to spend the last week doing. Most of the photos are from my phone, but some are from our camera too. I didn't even dare to dive into my MIL's hundreds of pictures for this blog post, but she had a lot too. In no particular order...

Hanging out in the tide pool watching a helicopter go by

"Why are you taking my picture? I have better things to do!" 

Liam and Mimi hanging out in the tide pool

Our house is the second from the right. It was huge and beautiful and contained my dream kitchen...

The family (hint: you might see this again at Christmas!) 

And our little family 

Boppy and Mimi with their grandbaby

We were so glad Lauren's fiance Ryan could come with us on vacation. He certainly fits right into the family! 

"Hey mama. I want to see myself on your camera!" 

No fear -- he loves the water, even fully clothed!

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Our first night out to dinner for South Carolina BBQ and watching the alligators down by the pond. 

This is as close as I let Rob get!

We stayed far away from the alligators 

The lovebirds in Charleston. Ryan just thinks he's tough.

Ever since I bought Rob the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream book for Father's day, Liam has loved it. He sits and looks at it and talks about the "i-cream guys" and knows their names are Ben and Jerry. He was delighted to visit their store, as were we. 

Mr. Uncooperative for photos

We rented bikes for the whole week and had a lot of fun going around the island on their bike trails. One morning five of us made the 9 mile trek to Starbucks. It was worth it! 

Liam loves his aunties! And jelly candy apparently. 

One night Rob and I went on a "date" of sorts to three golf holes behind the house. Rob lost some balls, I took some pictures and attempted to chip a shot onto the green. (How's that for professional talk?) Needless to say, my eye/hand coordinator deficiency is still not cured.  

Down the cart path toward our house

One night we ate dinner out at the Ocean Course, home to the PGA Championship next week. It was a gorgeous course right on the edge of the ocean. Things were being set up for the tournament, plus it was super windy, but it was fun to see where a major will be played. 

WINDY family! Clearly wearing this dress was not a good idea this night...

On our last night we went to an outdoor concert on the "village green". I love my man! 

I could not resist posting this picture! I laugh every time I see Liam in his helmet. He was so excited to get it before we left and then wear it while riding in the little bike trailer behind Rob's bike. 

200

I've been watching my 200th blog post creeping up, unsure of whether I should make a big deal or just do nothing about it. I decided it's like a 17th birthday. 16 was a really big deal and 18 had its perks too, but 17, eh, not so much.


I asked myself if the milestone even needed marked. What's the big deal about 200? Maybe it's just me and liking round, even numbers. In some ways it does feel like a marker in blogging, but really, who cares?


I thought about going back over old posts and talking about how I've changed and grown and the ebbs and flows of our life here in Indiana. I thought about specific categories I could link up with certain posts to make some of you newer readers go back into my history. But then I thought of certain posts and am not sure that I really want you to read them anyways. I thought of trying to do some kind of giveaway, but I'm poor and too busy to make something cute, and besides, I really don't think I have enough readers for that kind of thing.


So, here's the conclusion...a rambling blog post that in the bigger scheme of life doesn't matter. Thanks to all of you who've been there since the beginning and all of you who are new readers. I hope I will be able to keep blogging about this good life I am blessed to live. To God be the glory!

Fourth Anniversary and Counting...

Our actual anniversary was June 29th, but we were able to celebrate the Saturday and Sunday after we left the beach. My parents took Liam home with them (he didn't even cry!) and we went up to Lancaster City for a quick overnight getaway. We'd thought about staying down at the beach, maybe in Cape May, but decided to go somewhere more on the way home and where we didn't have to stay two or more nights like some of the places down at the beach. 

We chose a newly renovated hotel, the Cork Factory, on recommendation from my cousins who live just outside the city. It was beautiful and we really enjoyed staying there. 

The Cork Factory hotel. It really is a renovated cork factory

The whole hotel and our room had lots of exposed brick and high beam ceilings. 

It was fairly close to downtown Lancaster so Saturday afternoon we walked through funky shops and enjoyed the historical atmosphere of downtown. It's one of the oldest cities in the nation and it shows in the architecture. Living in Indiana, we simply don't have that kind of history! It really is a lovely city and we had fun poking around. Saturday night we had a nice dinner out at Character's Pub and then breakfast out again Sunday morning at Rachel's Crepeire. Yum! I didn't know what to expect, but the breakfast crepe was delicious and filling. Rob enjoyed a breakfast crepe and a nutella crepe. He can't pass up anything with nutella! 

In downtown Lancaster

Rob found the oldest tobacco shop in the nation (founding fathers shopped here!), but unfortunately it was closed indefinitely. He was pretty bummed because from the windows it looked fascinating. 

Of course I had to order a drink named "The Great Kate" 

My cousins recommended the apple cobbler with salted caramel sauce for dessert...amazing...

I look strangely orange in this picture, but again, just our little camera...not a fake tan 

Enjoying my breakfast crepe 

As we spent time together over the weekend talking we kept saying how it's hard to believe that we've been married for four years already. Watching our wedding video again and helping my sister-in-law Lauren start to prepare for her wedding has brought back so many good memories of our special day and the years after. I wouldn't trade this life with Rob for anything in the world. I'm thankful to be able to look back and see who we were when we got married and by God's grace alone, where we are today. I'm thankful to see growth and pray for much more growth as we go forward for years to come. 

After our reflections and resting we headed back to my parents to collect our most valuable baby and spend a few days there. We had fun playing and shooting "hoops" as Liam called basketball. 

We did miss this silly guy! 

And who can pass up a family trip to Costco where they have giant everything, including lifesize stuffed bears? 

On Tuesday we drove home eleven and a half hours, of which Liam slept 45 minutes and I got carsick from turning around to read to him...but we made it home in one piece and it was so good to be home. 

Our garden didn't miss us as it grew like crazy while we were gone

We were home for Wednesday and then drove again to Cincinnati for a visit with some of Rob's extended family and an engagement party for his sister Lauren and her fiance Ryan. We are thrilled for them and are even more excited that they are getting married on our anniversary next year! Everything comes full circle I suppose or maybe they just want to be cool like us. :) Either way, we are happy for them and I'm already having a blast helping with wedding plans. 

Life has slowed down somewhat since we got home Saturday night and we are attempting to go on vacation detox (three mile family walks in the early morning are helping) and spending time with friends here before we leave again on July 12th for our Bedinghaus family trip to Kiawah Island. Our summers never stop, but we love it and would probably be bored if we had to stay in Bloomington all summer! 

And now with the sound of our neighbors lousy fireworks outside and the reminder that many things will be stopped tomorrow (including the shipment of diapers I'm waiting for...), I wish you all a happy 4th of July and goodnight!