The Ms. Kip Fan Club

If the name Ms. Kip sounds familar, it is because you read it on this post about gymnastics. It turns out that Ms. Kip teaches swim lessons...all you need is a pool. Um, check! However, because I waited until our pool was not green, I couldn't get in until this past week. The lessons went for 4 days, but we didn't watch or take pictures until the last day.

Here is Ms. Kip instructing James and John:



They usually took turns as Ms. Kip would work with one:



and then the other:



James did really well. He learned to swim a little bit underwater and then flip over onto his back.



Ms. Kip had all these things to help them do things. One thing she did in order to get them to go underwater is she would ask them "do you want to eat ice cream or read a book?" James picked read a book. (?) Here is his transformer book:



and here he is reading the book:



If you were good, at the end you got the jump in!



Here are some videos of James swimming:

Blueberry Pickin'

I can't believe this is my first blog post about blueberry picking. We have gone as a family for the past couple of years, and in fact, it was something that Mark and I did before kids. I don't know if we would have started this on our own, but our good friend, Kendra, her grandparents had a pick your own blueberry farm called DeZavala Vineyards. It is between Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Once a year, she would have a blueberry picking weekend where she invited her friends to pick blueberries. If you went, you not only got blueberries, but you got to stay for a yummy lunch, and had some relaxing porch time. It was awesome. We usually ended up with 2 gallon freezer bags of blueberries, sometimes blackberries and raspberries, and these would last for about a year. After moving to SC, we wanted to go, but wasn't sure where. Well, one night we were watching Good Eats with Alton Brown and he was picking blueberries at Happy Berry Farm in Six Mile, SC. That has been our berry farm of choice ever since.



James was really excited. He remembered picking (and eating) last year. Andy was just happy to be walking this year.



Weather was good. We got there a little after 9:30. A lot of times it is really crowded. Like tour bus parking only crowded, but look how pretty it is!



Oh, and there is a bear:



After getting baskets and our picking assigments, we were off:



James did great! Although, he only had four berries for the longest time.



Andy did really well. He stayed a picked at one spot for like 5 minutes. James was a little destressed that Andy got a lot of green ones, but what can you do.



Turns out, Andy was a bucket dumper. The boys had to start over a few times.



It didn't take long before Andy lost interest and found a stick:



Andy and I headed back to the house, but I took this picture of Mark still picking.



Another bear picture. At least I am in this one!



A picture of our haul. We ended up with a little over 3 pounds. That is good with our 2 kids!

My life as a refugee

Some of you may know this, some of you may not, but there has been an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. This has been hard to deal with for several reasons. One reason is that growing up, Pensacola was where we went for vacations. There was awhile there during elementary school thru middle school, I think we went every year. We met lots of family there and always had a great time. In college and later, we would hear news of hurricanes hitting the area and one actually destroyed the condo we would stay in. News of oil washing up on the beach makes me very sad. It also caused a big problem because we had actually booked a place to stay for the end of June that was big enough for my family, my sister's family, and my parents. Unfortuately, we were about 3 weeks too late. A few weeks ago we canceled our reservations and scrambled to find a new play to go. We decided on Edisto.

Here are the kids on the way to the beach the first day:


They were very excited. Here is a picture of the placed we stayed:



It was very big. When you have to book at the last minute like we did, well, you either get a really expensive place, or a place that isn't as nice. Guess which one we picked. ;) More pictures of the kids on the beach. Man, that first day is great, isn't it?





Oh, there is baby AC again. Just sitting in her chair.



James found a shell! Last year, in St. Simons, there were no shells. Edisto, of course, has tons. No sharks teeth though.



Andy had a great time, although, snack time still was his favorite!



In non-beach time, C taught James how to play Wii! Not really, but James liked to pretend he was playing...and then die, or crash, or whatever



We took another little hike and my mom got the kids matching shirts. The front says "Five out Five" and their number. James and Andy are #2 and #4.



The back says "refugees from the oil spill"


The hike was half of mile, flat, and stroller and boot brace friendly:



There was lots of running:



And some melting down:



We had dinner at The Old Post Office. I got the Pecan Crusted Veal. YUM!



On a rainy day, we went to the local serpentarium. I expected a tourist trap, but it was actually pretty neat. AND they have a AAA discount!



I kept wondering how Beth would feel about all these snakes!



We were really close to the crocadiles! Or is that an Alligator? I should have paid more attention!



To be honest, the kids liked the gift shop the best.



It was a great vacation!

Safari

Whenever C comes to visit, we have a tradition of taking a little hike to a waterfall. This time we went to Chau Ram park again. You might remember we went here literally days before Andy was born. Again, they have a very nice waterfall that you can drive up to, but a great suspension bridge with hiking trails on the other side. We weren't really planning on going hiking, but James got it into his head that this trip was actually a safari. Apparently, on a safari, you got to hike! We headed down one of the trails, carefully following trail markers and when we came to a big rock off the river, I shouted "yea! we made it!" To celebrate our safari, we let the kids play in the water some.



Oh, and grandma too. When needed, they took a break:



C was the only one to get really wet!



A view of the "waterfall" we "hiked" to:


I know, looks fun, right?

We took a picture of the kids (and grandma) on a big rock. In desperation to get a good picture, I shouted "hands on your head". Imagine my surprise when they all did it!

Lake time!

This will be the first in a 3 part series on the 5 under 5 gang together again. That is right, my sister, BIL and her 3 kids drove out here to visit. The fun started at my parents house. I took the kids out to swim while everybody else was watching the US in the world cup. This was the game where there was no scoring until the 91st minute. I don't feel like we missed much.

AM and C had no troubles getting into action:


James never does:


Even Andy almost made it in. He is getting lots better:


AM liked playing in the sand. Those of you with girls, I know you get a little miffed when I say how sweet and docile girls are. It is because of this one. She is such a sweetie:


Oh, James. In the past two weeks I don't think he ever made it an hour without having some sort of costume on.


The visit was fun, would have be longer and more fun if my sister had not broken her foot. Lucky, she is not one to let something like a broken foot slow her down:


James still loves to drive the boat:


C and AM were enjoying the sites:




Finally, baby AC. Again, girl. Again, would just sit there and watch all that was around her. AMAZING!


Since things were always crazy during the visit. I took my pictures in spurts. Hey, at least I took some.