Island Hopping-Rose Island

If you ever get to the Bahamas, you’ll probably come to Nassau.  While Nassau does have a lot to offer, it is the out islands that embody the spirit of the Bahamas.

We have been fortunate to visit a few, but since there are 700 plus islands in the Bahamas, we won’t likely get a chance to visit them all.

Last Sunday we went to Rose Island, which is a short boat ride from Nassau.

There are also day trips to Rose Island through local charter companies.  Sandy Toes also does a great business there.  If you come to the Bahamas, I encourage you to check out Rose Island.

What the heck? Wednesday

This week’s WtHW is from our recent trip to SC.

I love this store so much that I could do a whole series of WtHW posts on the signs and people of the Briar Patch…

Long Overdue

When we returned from SC I was sick, then it was birthday week and then Miller was sick.  Finally we got a chance for the boys and I to head to the beach for an afternoon of just hanging out on the beach.

Oh how I missed this!

We had to go back the next day too…

 

This picture of Jackson isn’t fantastic because the sun is in his eyes and he’s squinting, but I love it because this is his real smile.

I love that smile!

Good clean beach fun! 

Greenville Part 3

After some time in Greenville the boys and I headed up to NC to see Allen’s family.

As soon as we got there they were treated like, well grandkids!  Allen’s parents love to love on the boys in the way only grandparents can do!

There were walks to the waterfall,

throwing rocks,

lots of playing in the grass,

swinging,

Uncle Remus Stories,

and dessert after every meal!

And that was just the first 24 hours!

I came across this Tiger Lily as we were on a walk.  Wildflowers are so amazing to me!

After that, I headed back to SC and the boys stayed with their Grandparents.  They had a blast.  Miniature golf, go karts, putt putt golf, pizza, McDonald, swimming and more.  I did get the following picture too, but I don’t quite believe it!

Meanwhile, Chele and I were having a little fun on our own.  We hopped down to Atlanta and hit The Ballard Designs store, the Ballard Designs outlet and IKEA.  Lovely!  She got an awesome chair and some great lights.  I got baskets!

We came across a CPK and drank sweet tea.  Love!

We did more shopping

And had lots of good times!

The boys came back to SC and we had to head straight to Jackson’s first Orthodontist appointment.  I can’t believe that we were ready for that, but it was time. 

To add insult to injury, the dentist recommended an orthodontist who is the younger brother of one of my friends from elementary school.  I remember when he was born.

After that we got busy having fun with our friends!

We invaded The Weekes house numerous times….

Hit the bowling alley and had a fun day with the Tates and Norwoods.

Went shopping with birthday money!

Drove down country roads.

And got our fill of peaches.

Believe it or not  this doesn’t even cover it all!  There’s still more!

One more post should wrap it up!

What the Heck? Wednesday

While we were in Greenville we had to do a little bit of traveling to find a Waffle House that wasn’t full of cigarette smoke and wasn’t really packed either.  We came up aces in Taylors.

Not only did we get some scattered, smothered and covered, we also got a rare sighting of Napoleon Dynamite!

He is a little older now, but I am sure we all understand what eating in Waffle Houses and smoking Pall Mall cigarettes will do to you!

He was chain smoking the entire time he was there.  He didn’t even stop smoking while he was picking his nose.

I’m just glad that with everything Napoleon has been through, he is alive and well.

If you haven’t seen Napoleon Dynamite, you need to fix that.

Family, friends and Sweet Tea

So last time I blogged about our trip to SC I finished off with our trip to Waffle House and the AC going out. I neglected to show this picture of the boys playing games at the movie theatre arcade.

The next day the boys and I went to the dentist for cleanings and the boys  {and I} had no cavities.  Woo HOO!

That afternoon we met up with a friend and her boys for an afternoon at Monkey Joe’s.  Kim and I taught together for a few years and she has been such a good friend to me over the years. Jackson took our picture.  Groovy, right?

She has a boy who is older than Jackson and one that is younger than Miller.  They had a blast on all the bouncy things.  Kim and I got to catch up!

They ended the day back at Michele’s with some 4 wheeler riding with Chelsea, video games with Luke and s’mores.  It just keeps getting better!

Tuesday the boys got their silhouettes done {I’ll post a picture of that soon} and we went to the pool.  Sadly on Tuesday afternoon we had to send Miya back to California.

I had a date with a bushel of peaches and Christy made her famous gumbo!  YUM!

Later that week I took the boys to the mall and bless them.  They were amazed by the automatic doors as we went in.  I do love that they live such a simple life in the Bahamas, but sometimes I feel sorry for them.  Like when they saw this Coke vending machine and asked if they could play it.  They had no idea if you pushed the right buttons when you put your money in you’d get a Coke out!

Jackson had to try on uniforms at Sears, so I thought I’d get them a treat since they were such troopers.  Miller said that his Icee tasted like brains.   Brains?  Yep, brains.

Miller had a friend join him in the bathroom.  They are old pals!

Friday we went to the park with my mom.  The boys liked seeing the fighter jet that is there and I introduced them to the Reedy River. 

It was really muddy.

I’ll blame it on the recent rains, but I have a vague recollection of the river being like that when I was young.

After a marathon trip to Toys R Us, we made a quick stop at Trader Joe’s.  I do not love Toys R Us, but I do love Trader Joe’s!

Later that afternoon we had another playdate with Kelly and AnnaKate. 

That night my sweet sister kept the boys so I could have a sleepover with my college girls.  Can I tell you how much I love them?  Thanks Terry and Charlie for letting us have your house for the night!

We were very well behaved but we did stay up until 2 a.m. dancing.  My goal was to leave it all on the table.  I think we were successful!

That weekend the boys, Chele and I went to the pool and just hung out.  Since we had been keeping up a pretty hectic pace it was nice to just chill!

There’s still much more to write about, but I have to get my boys outside now!