Last weekend we had a wonderful trip to Charleston. It was HOT!
Mom, Elise & I drove down Friday afternoon...and Elise got to use her new suitcase for the trip. This girl is going to be a traveler...she loves to pack & tote her little bag. We made a run to Wal-Mart & there were large air force planes flying overhead. Elise looked at it and said, "I take my jump-rope and pull it down." First, she doesn't even have a jump-rope & second, why does she want to pull the airplane down? So funny!
Jodi flew into Charleston late Friday night. Elise was quite thrilled that she got to sleep in 'mommy's bed'. Of course, now after our trip...she still wants to sleep with mommy.
Aunt Jodi loaded Elise up with gifts! Foam stickers...this will keep her entertained for hours and hours! She loves to pull off the paper backing and stick away...again our challenge is to keep the stickers strictly to the foam paper. One morning as we were walking out of the hotel, my mom looked down and had about 5 stickers stuck to the bottom of her sandal.
The guys drove down Saturday morning, and we took a walking tour. It started at 9:30am, and was supposed to last a couple of hours...but our guide must have either enjoyed the group, or was simply slowed down by the excessive heat - we finished after a little more than 3 hours. We were sweaty, hungry & ready for air conditioning.
My cousin Robbe was with us, and I asked him if he thought it was hot - his reply was, "I think 70 degrees in Colorado is hot." Poor guy was ready to jump into the harbor. It was probably near 90 & the humidity in Charleston is always a bit grueling.
Elise just loves!! aunt Jodi. She pretty much only wanted Jodi to carry her, or hold her hand the whole weekend. They had fun together.
I had to snap a picture of our stroller during the walking tour. I didn't know if we'd have easy access to a bathroom, so we strapped on the little potty & went on our way. Thankfully, we didn't have to use it - but we had it along, just in case.
Saturday evening we drove out to the beach to see if there were any swells from hurricane Bob out in the Atlantic - and it was just a picture perfect evening. We intended just to walk along the beach and bit, and continue on our way out to dinner, but we were all savoring the warm water - and Elise was full of squeals of delight. The water was at an extremely low tide, so the beach was huge & stretch far out into the water.
Mouth open = squealing!
Brandenburg family - summer 2009
We decided to get rid of the dress, or she would be soaked all evening as we went to dinner. She loved running in and out of the waves. The last time we were at the beach with her was last summer, and I think she was really able to enjoy it more this year.
The girls on the beach.
Dad & the girls.
We had a wet, sandy little girl by the time we were ready to leave. We had to make a stop at Target to buy some new undies so she could go to dinner. Thankfully I had a dry dress & towels in the car.
Saturday evening, we had to check in on Curt. (If I haven't mentioned it here on the blog, he is an intern with Joe Gibbs racing here in Charlotte). He went with Kyle Busch's pit crew to Bristol to help out with the tire pressure. When we got back to the hotel, we turned on the race to see that Kyle was leading the race, and watched as he won! We were able to see Curt on ESPN with the pit crew as the all celebrated a victory. We weren't able to check in with him until the next day, and poor guy got his new cell phone soaked in champagne...I guess that's a casualty of winner's circle. He said it was pretty awesome, regardless.
Sunday - we enjoyed a yummy IHOP breakfast, and then it was back to the beach. I guess everyone had the same idea - it was pretty full! August is extremely hot, but the ocean water is just like bath water - unbelievably warm. We boogie boarded & dug in the sand, and tried to stay cool. The guys all drove back to Charlotte after dusting off the sand, and we girls went back to the hotel to clean up and head to dinner.
We savored some yummy low-country cruisine at Magnolias - one of my favorite restaurants. After dinner, we headed over to the harbor to swing on the boardwalk. It was a lovely way to end our weekend downtown.
Monday morning, we got up, packed the car & dropped Jodi off at the airport to fly back to D.C. Thanks for making the trip! It was such a great last weekend of summer.
Aunt Debi played with Elise in her little kitchen and made some "food" for us all as we were prepping in the kitchen.
My mom (middle) and her two sisters - Elaine (left) & Leesa (right)
You can never have too much food at Thanksgiving, right? So, in addition to the full meal, we had a few appetizers & punch...yum. Let the holidays begin!
A happy crowd!
A little help from family to decorate some sugar cookies...nice, Paul.
Ah, yes! Elise is at such an impressionable age, and Paul was teaching her how to be a "gangsta".
On Saturday night we went out for pizza in Uptown Charlotte.
Aunt Jodi and Elise.
Paul and Jodi.
Me & Curt
What a wonderful week! Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving as much as we did!
