What I did on my summer vacation...

The picture above is from Hallie Joy's going away party. She's off to New Haven and taking the QC to new levels of greatness. Good luck Hallie!

Sweet Freedom was an amazing (almost) two months of revitalizing adventure, rest, and fun. Overall, I've lost 12 pounds and I've regained a little bit of that ole sparkle. What a blessing!

Highlights from Sweet Freedom include the trips to Florida and South Carolina, baseball games, bike rides in DC, VBC, dinners with friends, and lots and lots of quality time with my sweet hubbin'.

Tomorrow I start my new job in Old Town. It should be a lot of fun and the office has the nicest view I think I've ever seen. Maybe I'll get some pictures and post them soon.

Until then, I leave you with the latest sighting of the (not so) elusive, yet extremely menacing, green Sweet Freedom friend....

VBS!

What a great time we had this week in Vacation Bible School!

We made lots of crafts. We played outside on the playground.

We also learned a bunch of new songs in music class and made a lot of new friends too!

But best of all.... we learned about Jesus!

When Pests Attack

Even more rustic were the old barns near Robby's mom's house. I had a field day walking around these old dilapidated relics, spotting deer tracks, and making the cows curious. The old trucks and tractors reminded me of my grandpa's farm.

And his old hunting dogs.

A walk down to the old pond made me want to grab a fishing pole and spend the rest of the day catching a few whoppers.

Instead, I managed to catch about a dozen or so chigger bites. It was horrible. Itch! And this brought to mind another distant memory of my days at Grandpa's... the pungent smell of Campho Phenique. Ugh!

I guess that's the price one pays for interloping on land that nature seems intent upon taking back. It seems so odd that less than a mile from this place stands the typical generic shopping centers -- Target, Wal-mart, Starbucks, you name it, it's there. Of course all of these stores have been built in the past few years. Before, it was all farm land. And before that.... chigger territory, I can only presume.

I wasn't the only one feeling nostalgic about this place. As we drive past the Panera, Robby remembers the place where he got his first job (working on a farm) as a kid. It's hard for me to imagine it-- all I see is concrete, asphalt, and free wi-fi.

The land I was walking is currently "owned" by Mr. Alexander; a sweet man who has simply gotten too old to take proper care of all these old buildings. I imagine this place will become a shopping mall or a new housing division when he passes. He keeps signs up to keep people from hunting and from tresspassing, but they still do. Don't misunderstand, I was given permission to snoop around, but, while back by the pond, I spotted an intruder!

Hunting Island

In addition to those polished and charming cities on the water, we also visited more rustic places, like Hunting Island. About an hour from Charleston and a stones throw from Parris Island, this island takes a different step back into the history of South Carolina. The lands here are protected from development and the largest threat to the loggerhead turtles here seems to be the steady ocean creep that is slowly reclaiming the beaches.

The main attraction on this island is the lighthouse.

We enjoyed our time here, and were especially intrigued by the large amounts of driftwood. As the ocean creeps closer and closer to the lighthouse, the native palm trees in its path are swallowed by the waters and shaped over time by the sands and tides.

This was once a popular layover for sailors and pirates.
It's not hard to imagine Blackbeard and his crew hiding out and counting their treasures here as they waited for their next mark to make their way toward the rich port city of Charleston.

Tree bones

Charleston, SC

Recently, we took a little trip down south to Charleston, South Carolina. It's a beautiful city filled with brightly painted homes and palmetto trees. Due to location-- ideal for shipping and distributing goods-- it has a rich history filled with both prosperity and conflict. Today, it is recognized as America's "best mannered" city.

The flags above are the United States flag and the state flag of South Carolina. I point this out because this poor flag is often mis-identified by those not from South Carolina. My husband (who does happen to be a South Carolina native) was once asked by a co-worker..."what's up with all those radical Islamic fundamentalists you got down there???"

Confused by this question, he asked the fellow to explain.... turns out... it was the flag.

If you look closely at the pictures below, you will see that it is the abundance of palmetto trees that inspired this flag's design.

I liked this fountain. This little girl and I feel the exact same way about pigeons.

A view of the new span bridge. All of the stories I had heard were about how scary the old Cooper river bridge was. This new bridge is very nice. Not scary at all.. well... that is...

until Gumby attacked!