Fun with Farmer Ted

Surprise in a box!

playing with Grandpa video

Sad Goodbye

This morning after a ten day visit, Grandma and Grandpa left in their rental car for home. Sabrina followed Grandma around and "helped" her pack her suitcase. When it was time for the photo by the tree, Sabrina cried. Two hours later, she is already showing signs of withdrawal. We will have to plan the next visit to be soon.

Bridge Champions!

These week we have squeaked in several hands of Bridge. Some nights the cards were good and others like tonight the cards were not good for Julie and Grandma. (Julie has several hands of 4 points!) So the evening champions were Randy and Grandpa! Several hands of almost slamming us will do that!

Playing with Grandparents

The fun of having Grandparents is that they play with Sabrina. All week she has followed them around, been read to and had some beginning "music" lesson with Farmer Ted (the Fisher Price Banjo playing frog) and Grandpa! This afternoon was no exception. Sabrina even played with the laundry box and had a moment where the box tipped onto her and Grandma talked her out of it. Everyone has bonded so beautifully and the videos and photos prove it!

Strolling with Grandparents!

Sabrina has really enjoyed strolling with her grandparents. This park is along the daily stroll to the market to get veggies and the newspaper!

Egg Dyeing!

It has been a long time since any of us have colored Easter eggs. We discovered things have changed like the dye package no longer has a wax crayon to decorate the eggs. Instead, there are stickers to apply later. Regardless, we entertained ourselves with the vinegar- dye combo to make our eggs look festive! Sabrina watched the process from the backpack while her Grandfather, former Oregon Chemistry Teacher of the year from 1979, mixed the dye and vinegar together. Grandma's dyeing technique was clever and she held the eggs in only as far as she wanted and had multicolored eggs. I think everyone had fun! Nothing like dyed eggs to brighten up the kitchen counter!

Going for a car ride

Sabrina is enjoying her Grandparents' visit. She loves playing peek a boo and clapping with them in the morning. The whole group went to historical Charleston for a tour.

Charleston Strolls

Saturday we took a tour hour walking tour with Grandpa and Grandma. Along the way, in Washington park, was a huge flowering peach tree. The blossoms looked like they were grafted on the tree. Great photo background... bad for allergies...

Strolling in style

Today the stroll to the market was so exhauting, Sabrina had to stick her foot out of the stroller and zonk out! She continued her nap for about thirty minutes.

"Two Spades?" you say

As is becoming a tradition, we enjoy playing Bridge with Julie's parents. Sabrina could not resist the glass table and looking up at the cards.

Fort Moultrie with G-ma and G-pa

Saturday afternoon we took Grandma and Grandpa to Fort Moultrie which is right on the Atlantic Ocean near the bay. From the top of the Fort we looked down upon a really pretty old Catholic church. The sunshine felt good.

Yeah! They're here!

After several days of long hours of driving, Julie's parents arrived! We are so thankful to see them. Now the task of having fun and relaxing!

Sabrina has been "taking them in" from the arms or pack of her parents. She is warming up to them, but has to recall her "grandparents" memory cell. They gifted her with a cute doll. The doll is holding a little bear. Sabrina keeps on trying to take the bear and play with it.

Watching the Clock....

The house is clean. Food is purchased. Baby is napping. Waiting for Grandparents to arrive. It occured to me this afternoon that roles have reversed. Instead of them waiting for a call or for me to get home, I am the one waiting in anticipation. They better get here soon or I won't have any nails left. :-)

Friends visit

This weekend we had our first friends come visit us. Yeah! The Hurts were friends of Julie during her time in Roseburg, Oregon. Now both of our families are here in South. A long way from where we met. We reunited at the Bucaneer Restaurant, one with a pirate theme, in downtown Charleston. Their children enjoyed the large fish aquarium in the middle of the dining area. From there, we walked to a children's museum so the kids could play while the parents talked. The next evening, the Hurts came over for dinner and Sabrina made new friends.

All Clean

After filling the bath, Sabrina got all clean again. She flipped around in her bathtub so she could splash. By the time I got the camera, she was almost done splashing. Her clean hair was "out of control" until we got it combed.

New Hair Treatment

Lately, Sabrina's hair has grown to a long state. She has discovered how to take out clips which also adds to the dilemma! For fun, she smears bananas or rice cereal in it for the "gelled" look! Tonight was no exception and the only remedy was to take a bath. She loves baths and splashing so she did not object!

Spring

Last week we noted some wonderful flowers while downtown.

kisses

Mystery buildings

From the Arthur R. Bridge we can see along the river some brick buildings. Sunday, curiosity finally got to us and we took a field trip to drive near these buildings. Our guess is that they were used to transport goods down the river. Today they are crumbling but look like a they could tell stories.

Once is enough

Yesterday, we ran over the Arthur R. Bridge. Randy ran from Mt. Pleasant to Charleston while Sabrina napped in the stroller pushed by Julie. Sabrina woke up from all the car traffic noise and the wind and was not happy about it. She cried at the top of her lungs which would have been unbearable but the wind muted the volume. Julie ran the leg from Charleston back to Mt. Pleasant. Randy pushed Sabrina in the stroller at a fast walk/ jog speed to get her back to the car quickly. After our little adventure we decided not to do the official bridge run in a couple of weeks. The race is host to 4,500 runners. We scoped out the parking on either side of the bridge and thought about the logistics of trying to drop a runner and get back over the bridge before 7am and manage Sabrina. After being overwhelmed with details, we decided to continue running a 10K distance around where we live. It is lovely to run near a river away from traffic. From one end of the island we can look at the bridge and that is appealing.

Trial run

From the day we came to this area of the country, we have really been drawn to the Arthur Ravenal Jr. Bridge. It is the largest cable bridge this side of the Mississippi. In a couple of weeks there is a 10K run that goes over the bridge into Charleston. Both of us have been training. Julie has had some set backs like falling on the sidewalk and twisting her right knee. Today we are going to take a trial run over the bridge. One of us will run towards Charleston while the other pushes Sabrina in the stroller. The other will run back from Charleston to Mt. Pleasant. The distance across the bridge is 2.5 miles in one direction. There is a bike/ walking path away from the car traffic. Today is nice and sunny and should be a great day to test our training.