Charleston, SC

I drove to Charleston with the kiddos solo this past week. It was fall break at Lauren's Mother's Day Out. Todd was also flying for 6 days so it was the perfect time for me to plan something fun with the kids. I don't mind just taking off and doing something fun with Lauren and Connor. It's a long road trip but I just always figure it can't be that bad. If they both start fussing, I just find a McDonalds to burn some energy. 

I try to break the 8 1/2 hours up by stopping in Atlanta the night before. We crash at my Mom and Dad's for the night and then continue on for 5 hours the next day. The kids were really really good. Connor is always a breeze. Sweet Lauren? Well, she's sweet but girlfriend will gladly let you know she needs a break. We ended up stopping a little past Columbia, SC to play at a McDonalds.

Lauren loved playing outside all day long with her Papa. He has Alzheimers and I think it's good for him to be outside playing with her. He truly loves it and gets so so sad when we leave town. You would never know he's in his 80s with the way he likes to play.

 My sweet little Connor got a lot of love last week. 

 Papa introduced him to the soccer ball. Connor loved playing with all of the balls outside.

 On Tuesday afternoon, we headed over to Boone Hall Plantation (where Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds got married). They have an annual pumpkin patch that is really fun. There are a lot of kids activities like bounce houses, a hay ride, and goats to feed. Lauren loved it. We stayed for about 2-3 hours and enjoyed the beautiful afternoon.

 Mema is in her 80s too but she still climbs in bounce houses like it's nothing.

 My sweet babies.

 Missing Daddy Todd....

 There was a neat tractor ride that was fun too. It was quite lengthy and fun. They drove you all around the pumpkin patch area. Everything was decorated for Halloween so there were floating ghosts in the trees, etc. Lauren loved it. For once, Connor was super still in my lap. He usually wants down in 2 seconds to crawl but he just took it all in.

 My sweet Connor showing off his teeth. He now has 6. 2 more just popped through up top. Please stop growing up.

 We tried to teach Connor how to sit still and just rock. It lasted maybe 1 second. If you don't watch wild man close, he will nose dive off of anything. He then either laughs or cries. Silly boy.

This was our 2nd trip to Charleston this year. Papa and I took the kids downtown one afternoon to walk the market and for me to pick up a birthday gift. I always pop into the Christmas ornament shop downtown to pick out an ornament. I love a Christmas tree full of sentimental ornaments. They bring back such good memories and are great to pass down to the kids one day.

We sure missed Todd on this trip. A trip is never the same without Todd. Ever. I'm thankful that he works so hard so I can stay home with the kids. I'm thankful I'm very independent and take them everywhere. I'm thankful he believes I should be spending everyday with Lauren and Connor. I'm thankful we are on the go all the time. I'm thankful we live life to the fullest and travel to see the world together. We may have 14 years between us but I'm thankful for our many similarities. I'm super thankful I met that sweet man over 8 years ago. It was my lucky day for sure. Ya never know who you will meet in an airport :)