The difficult we do right away...

buried alive!

For our third week at the beach this summer, things went a little differently. For one thing, I was sick. So sick. So when Mommy isn't feeling well, we do less stuff, take less pictures, and spend our time more quietly. The boys spent lots of time on the beach, playing in the water and building castles. This year they were less interested in digging gigantic holes, which was a welcome break. Another difference is that we had three days of rain.

we are accidental Boston fans - we bought the hat for the "B" but became fans b/c Yankee fans were so obnoxious

One of those rainy days was our trip to Charleston. So, we didn't get to see as much of the actual city as we had planned. We did a harbor tour, which was a lot of fun. We saw dolphins, Ft. Sumter, Sullivan's Island, Ft. Moultrie, the island where they hung pirates, and various other stuff. We also did another tour of the aircraft carrier this year. We had planned to go to Boone Plantation, but it was pouring. Somehow, it didn't seem like as much fun in the rain and the aircraft carrier was all indoors.

channeling Lt. Pete Maravich (pls tell me you know who this is!)

waiting on his flight instructions in the flight room

Luke's not so sure that being an aviator is the life for him

this reads "The difficult we do right away, the impossible will take a little longer" - awesome

Nicholas, in the Admirals seat

pretending to be Navy men in the sleeping area

And...we finally got to go see The Citadel! I was very, very excited about this! I just love that school and all the charm and craziness that goes with it. Pat Conroy is my very favorite author of all time and The Lords of Discipline is one of his best books, in my humble opinion. The Citadel is so beautiful. I was absolutely enchanted.

"Remember thy Creator in thy days of thy youth"

This year we also got to take both boys out past the breakers. The water was very calm and warm so it was a great time to go. They had so much fun jumping over the big waves. Nicholas hasn't quite grasped the concept of running into the wave and diving in if you can't beat it before it starts to break. He isn't much shorter than me, so I'm really not much help in getting him up and over the great big ones and Steve had his hands full with Luke. Inevitably, one came that we could not jump over; he was going to have to dive into it. I looked at him and said "Nick, you are going to have to go into it with me buddy" and then I dove in. I popped up gently on the other side to find him halfway up the beach, coughing and sputtering. He looked at me and said "I didn't dive in." Obviously. He was so horrified but all I could do was laugh. I told him everybody eats a wave sometimes and it wasn't worth crying about it. He took it really well and came back to play some more. I'm proud of him. I know grown people that can't eat a wave and stay in the water.

Even though I spent great amounts of time trying not to be sick, we had fun. Steve took Nicholas to Wonder Works and they had the time of their lives. It was really fun for them to have some time, just the two of them. Luke and I were as content as could be at home, resting. The trip would have been better if I'd felt better, but life is what it is. We have to make the best of each day and know that there is nothing else we can do. Life happens. We just have to laugh and jump back into the next wave.