At the end of June our family packed the car and headed to South Carolina for a couple of weeks. Michael had to travel for work during the first half of our time there but returned for beach week. Here are some pictures from our time!

We kicked off the time in South Carolina with a visit to my grandparents’ house on Lake Murray!

Back in Columbia…

We checked out the water park at Ft. Jackson.

My grandparents also took us all to the zoo!

One evening Colt was thrilled to go watch my mom compete in a tennis match which she OF COURSE DOMINATED!

At my parents house the kids run the show.

After a week in Columbia we drove to Charleston for a week at the beach with my family!

The beach week was in celebration of my mom’s 60th birthday that previous May. She and my dad joined together with my dad’s brother and his wife and they rented an awesome beach house for all of their kids & grandkids. There were 4 from my parents generation, 8 from my generation and 7 little ones (ages 10 months, 1.5, 3, 4.5, 6, 8 and 10) so it was a full, FUN house. The house was a block off the beach and had a great pool that was well shaded in the afternoons so the routine was usually beach in the morning, pool in the afternoon. Some highlights included celebrating the 4th of July, celebrating Colt’s 3rd birthday and lots of family time! Here are some moments from the week!

On July 7, we were so happy to celebrate Colt’s 3rd birthday!

Last April (almost a year ago…eek!) we flew to Arizona! 

We were visiting for a family friend’s wedding in Sedona so after we landed we drove straight there to the Harpers’ property at Hidden Valley.

Sweet little visit from Sharon’s sister Patsy and brother Tim for a hand of Pfeffer.

The rehearsal dinner Friday night was western.

A couple pictures from the wedding and party Saturday.

After the wedding, Michael had to fly to Brazil for work for the week so the kids and I stayed in Arizona. Since we were there for a full week, Michael and his parents decided to take advantage of the time and get Colt into swim lessons with the amazing swim instructor, Marta. The Harpers originally met Marta when she taught the Harper kids to swim back when Michael was 2 or 3 years old. Soon she stepped in to fill the void left by an au pair and has worked for his family ever since – currently their Home Manager! So, she’s basically family. But her hidden talent is definitely swimming lessons. People come from all over Arizona to have her teach their kids – especially since pools are so common there so water-safety is essential.

Colt was only 2 and a half and had NO swimming experience. We only had a few days so they coordinated with Marta to have him take lessons every morning and evening for 5 days. The first few days were pretty brutal and Colt would seriously resist getting dressed and ready for it, but just when I was ready to pull the plug, he turned the corner and started to like it. 

By the end of the week, Colt was able to jump into the water, go under and come up onto his back totally on his own. Then he learned how to float and paddle over to the wall until he could grab on, flip over and “monkey” across the wall to the side of the pool until he reached the steps where he could get out. I was amazed by the incredible progress and accomplishment! We celebrated his “graduation” with medals and gifts.

And when we weren’t swimming we were busy enjoying time with family in Arizona!

To close out the trip I did one of the bravest things ever and flew with both boys by myself from Phoenix to DC. The Harpers walked us up to security and Michael met us on the other side but I was nervous about the 4 and a half hours in between. Thankfully it was before Colt was really potty trained (so no emergency runs to the bathroom!) and before Finn was mobile so he stayed relatively content in his carseat (I think the only time we’ve bit the bullet and bought a seat for a baby under 2). Not sure I could do it again right now but it was worth it to get that sweet time with family! 🙂