First time at Hilton Head

Thanks to Ashley's suggestion of going somewhere for one of our only free weekends, we found a good deal on a room in Hilton Head and took a mini vacation on Friday. I had never been and for Ashley, he hadn't been since high school. It's a quick drive (only 2.5 hours) down I-95. After checking in at the Park Lane Hotel, we went to dinner at Hudson's, a famous seafood restaurant on the intercoastal waterway.
Because we got there before it opened at 5 p.m. (the joys of eating with kids), we had some time to walk around outside and enjoy the view.
This is probably one of the better pictures that I have taken. It rivals my Key West sailboat sunset shot. The clouds are the remnants of Hurricane Bill.

Check out the little crab. There were tons of these crawling around!
Levi loved our suite, from playing under the dining table to climbing up the carpeted stairs, the whole place was a jungle gym!
Saturday morning we were out at the beach at 8 a.m., again thanks to Mr. Levi.
Levi checking out the ocean. Yes, he's still crawling, and yes, he's 14 months old. He CAN walk but chooses to crawl. If anyone has any suggestions for motivating a boy to walk, please let me know. He starts preschool on Sept 8 and is supposed to be walking. Anyways, he really enjoyed playing in the sand!
Notice the caution flag on the lifeguard sand. The water was pretty rough.
The entrance to Coligny Beach at Hilton Head has a cool water fountain area that Levi enjoyed.
Saturday at lunch we went out to Sea Pines and had lunch. Afterward we strolled around HarbourTown. Levi chucked his Matchbox car into the water after this picture. He didn't seem to upset about it (maybe because he already has a good collection!).
Heading out of Sea Pines. I loved the trees and natural areas on Hilton Head. Saturday afternoon we found a park off of Pope Street and read more about the history of the island. The original developer really had a vision for preserving the natural state of the island, while making it more accessible to tourists.

Laundry Helper

One of Levi's usual activities is "helping" me with the laundry. He loves the washing machine (especially when it's on and filling up with water).


And what's a good, clean basket of laundry for except relaxing in?!


These pictures were taken with my new camera, a Canon Powershot SD1200 IS. I opted to go with 10 megapixel because it was much cheaper (and a big improvement over my 7 megapixel before).

Farewell Powershot SD 550

This post marks a semi-sad occasion--these are the last of the pictures taken with my Canon Powershot SD 550, which is the camera I started with for this blog. I dropped it on Saturday (while it was on) and it's a goner. I'm looking forward to a new 12 megapixel Canon but in the meantime, these last pictures will have to do.

Levi and Ashley chilling on the bed.
Saturday we went to Greenville for a baby shower for our friends Kevin and Christine. Levi found the piano and joined two other little girls to play along.

Kevin and Christine. Christine is due in October with baby Mallory (another Mallory for us!).
After the baby shower, we went to Saluda, NC, to the mtn house with Buffy, Leighton and Holly. I hate that I don't have any pictures because we had such a fantastic time. Chilling out on the porch, eating spaghetti supper, and then Sunday lunch in Asheville at Toad Bar (?)--up the street from Tupelo Honey (which had an hour wait, thanks to the Sunday crowd!).

Pillows and Books

This summer Ashley has been taking two online classes. So while he's on the computer at night after Levi's asleep, I've been reading (a lot) and sewing (some). Here is my main project: new pillows for our living room.
I actually made four pillow covers for our existing tired, red pillows. And wow, it's really pulled our living room together. Since I've had success with this project, I'm thinking of other ways I can use fabric around the house. I didn't use a pattern--maybe I'll take a sewing class this fall to learn how to really use Mama's old sewing machine.
And reading...I've read several books this summer that I just couldn't put down, including A Thousand Splendid Suns, something by Anne Rivers Siddons whose title escapes me, and these two: Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands and Prodigal Summer. Both are amazing books in their own way.

Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands has been compared to To Kill a Mockingbird. It deals with a family's experience in 1950s racially charged Florida. Until reading this book, I wasn't aware that Florida had such a role in the Civil Rights struggle. Susan McCarthy writes amazing dialogue and descriptions. It helps, too, that I've always been interested in the Civil Rights era.

Prodigal Summer tells the stories of three people who live in a small community in the Appalachian mountains and how their lives are intertwined. Because Kingslover is a trained biologist, her book was filled with extra details about plants, animals, etc. I learned a lot about insecticide and predators. Which sounds strange--but those details work perfectly peppered in with the overall story of a forest service employee (woman), young farmer's widow, and old farmer and their community.

One of the best things about these books? I got them for free from Melissa and Lindsay, who were cleaning out their office at USC.

If I read other interesting books, I'll be sure to post them. It seems taking care of Levi, cooking, and reading are my main tasks right now!

Babies Day(s) Out

Last weekend Ashley's parents took Weston and Ryan to the mountain house. While they were away, we had some time with just the youngest of our bunch. Saturday night we hung out with Carey and Kleck (and the Rawls) and got to take a cruise on the new golf cart (though it doesn't seem like a cart so much as a machine!). Levi and Mallory cruised around in my car. Just kidding...but this picture looks like they're getting ready to head out for a night on the town.
Sunday we went to McBee to go to church with Ashley and Carey's grandparents.
Levi and Mallory got to hang out with their cousin Campbell, who was born a few weeks earlier than them.
Here it looks like Campbell just told a funny joke and Levi is catching on.
O sweet Mallory!
Ashley's grandma and I matched in our green and white.
Babies Days Out concludes...riding home in the Suburban together.