Charles Towne Landing - Tourist Adventure #7

Today we went to lunch with Grandma Katie and Aunt Carol, then headed to Charles Towne Landing. It is the first time in a while my Mom and I have had the time to do something fun when she was in town.

The park has been beautifully redone since I was there last time. It is a big place and we only had a bit of time with the girls before they were ready for naps so we decided to check out the Animal Forest. This was great place to view animals that were here before the land was settled. Nora and Morgan both love the otters. They were swimming and playing and very fun to watch. We had to stop on the way out for a second viewing. Mom loved the gobbling turkeys and was even able to call them over to us. I liked the Bison the best. They were so huge and so close!

My Mom is in town to help me drive to Florida with the girls for the weekend to visit my Grandma Fran. It will be the first time she gets to meet the girls and we are looking forward to seeing her. We are also going to visit other family and friends in Florida while we are there. So look for updates late next week.

Landing Brave

The girls are in an enclosed cage that has birds. I was so afraid they would fall in the water.

Mom and the girls watching the otters.

South Carolina Aquarium - Tourist Adventure #6

Today we went to the South Carolina Aquarium with my friend Ashley. I have to admit that I thought this aquarium was okay until we went to the Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg, now my expectations are too high. I have always thought it was over priced at $16.00 per adult and $8.00 for children 2 and over. That puts us at $40 just to get in (not to mention parking, food, and souvenirs) and we can make it through in less than an hour since the girls aren't really interested in staying still long enough to read everything. I guess you have to think of it as more of a donation to support what goes on behind the scenes, like the sea turtle hospital.

Nora likes to see the sharks, but the tank is so tall that the sharks stay at the top and there are only a couple in there. She still loves to look at all the fish. Morgan was really enjoying all the turtles until she discovered the long flight of stairs that go from the second floor to the main floor by the big tank. All she wanted to do was climb. So she had a bit of a meltdown when it was time to move on.

On a positive note the girls are getting the hang of getting in the picture frame together! And it was fun to spend some time with Ashley!

Football

Dang! I really wanted Favre to win it this year...well you know, since Peyton or the Bears couldn't.

Talking Politics

This is the most excited I have ever been about an election. I think part of it is that South Carolina has such an early primary that it is the first time I feel like I can really have an impact on what happens. I also think it is wonderful that Clinton and Obama can run and have a real chance of getting elected. I originally thought the Republicans would be pleased thinking it would be an easy run against them, but I think they are going to have a real fight on their hands.

My friend Jen sent me this link that has an interesting "test" you can take to see which candidate most closely matches your stance on the big issues. http://www.dennis4president.com/ The website recommends researching the candidates and I do to.

I was pleasantly surprised at who came out on the top and the bottom of my list...

Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum - Tourist Adventure #5

Today we went to the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum with Jen and Gene. Check out the link for all the details, but make sure you have your speakers on!

We had a great time checking out all the Yorktown, riding the flight simulator, checking out the submarine and the destroyer. Man there are a lot of stairs in that place. And Morgan insisted on doing them all herself. She has just hit that stage that she wants to do it herself and she will not stay in her highchair for an entire meal. I thought we were going to skip that stage with her, but no such luck. So we may forgo eating out for a while.

We had a great time with Jen and Gene and were very sad to see them head for the airport this afternoon. Please come back again soon!!!

Colts Lose by Four

Unbelievable!! Bummer!

The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon - Tourist Adventure 4 & 4.5

Yesterday was a busy day! We started out by going the Mellow Mushroom for lunch, which was yummy as usual, but the service was sssllllooooooowwww. We narrowly avoided a meltdown by the girls and then headed to the The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon. It was a little less than a mile each way from where we parked so we decided to walk. It was overcast, but the rain held off.

This was a very interesting stop with lots of historical information about Charleston (see link above for full details). The "Dungeon" was cool, but it was at garden level and when I think of a dungeon I would expect it to go deeper. I do realize that we are in Charleston and the water level is very high. That is why we don't have basements here and most houses are elevated. Nora wasn't a big fan of the dungeon for the same reason she wasn't a fan of the Fire Museum. She really isn't a fan of the animatronics. Morgan liked running around in the Great Hall. She doesn't seem to like being held during tours, so she meets lots of people.

I thought it was interesting that in the 1700's they all threw their trash over the wall protecting the city right into the ocean and that all the million dollar mansions along the peninsula were essentially built on a land fill. Part of the original wall is viewable in the dungeon. Ben thought it was lame. There weren't any cells and it wasn't very big.

After the dungeon we brought the girls home and then headed back downtown to go to Hyman's for dinner. It was fabulous to have a night out with good friends! I don't think we will be going back to Hyman's again soon though.

Quote of the day ~ "I'm just not a crab dip kind of guy." Gene Ito

In the Great Hall

Morgan in the post office, really

Gene and Jen by the wall

Animatronic fellow that ended Ben's tour

Boone Hall Plantation - Tourist Adventure #3

Today we went to the Boone Hall Plantation with my friends Jen and Gene that are visiting from Denver. (Jen and I have been friends since high school.) You will have to read the link to find out the interesting information about the plantation because Morgan and Nora weren't really cooperative during the house tour so we did the stairs outside, checked out some oak trees, and had a snack. Now the girls are taking a much needed nap!

Oak lined drive in front of the plantation house

Jen and Gene

Inside slave quarters

The back of the plantation house

Pickn' cotton

Fire Museum - Tourist Adventure #2

Today we went to the North Charleston and American LaFrance Fire Museum and Educational Center with my good friend Jennifer. I thought the old trucks were very neat to look at and beautifully restored. Nora's favorite part was climbing up the fireman's ladder and going down the slide. She really wanted to try the pole, but she just couldn't reach out to grab the pole. It was probably the terrified look on my face as she looked down at me. Overall I don't think she liked the museum because there was this fireman display case and it started talking when you walked up to it. After that she seemed pretty ready to go. Morgan wanted more than anything to go down the slide too. The first time was okay, but the second time she bonked her head. So the third time I went with her. She just wants to do everything Nora does.

After the museum we headed for Sam's and went to Chili's for dinner. Yum! The girls were great today, but it was very nice to have an extra set of hands! Jennifer got sprayed with water and nearly lost her soda and burger. Morgan has surprisingly long arms and moves very fast! It really is amazing how small a table gets when you have a toddler at one end. But they love the pasta at Chili's and ate a ton!

When we got home and Nora and I were looking at the pictures she let me know again she didn't like the museum, then asked me where the pictures were from Sam's. ha ha!

Valuable Lesson on Electric Heat Pumps

I am happy that this life lesson only cost me $55.00. At our last house we had a gas heater and they seem to be very different than electric heat pumps. We have vaulted ceilings and this might be part of the issue, but our upstairs is about 85 and downstairs is 65. Good thing the only time this is an issue is when it is is below 40 degrees outside and that doesn't happen very often here. Anyway, I went online and requested service from our home warranty company this weekend because the unit out back was running constantly and it took several hours for the house to warm up in the morning. Then in the afternoon when I got poor Morgan up from her nap she was sweating.

They sent Ed from First Priority Maintenance (843-761-0498) to fix my heater. Turns out there is nothing to fix on my heater, but he was very sweet about explaining to me how it worked without making me feel like an idiot. Turns out heat pumps only increase the air temp coming out of the vents by about 20 degrees, so if the air is cold going in then it doesn't feel hot coming out like it does with gas. He then recommended putting in a dampener that would automatically shut off the air to the upstairs vents when it was warm enough. Since we will only be here a year...I will just manually close the vents upstairs.

Unfortunately, he also pointed out that my air handler unit was rusty, which we knew and is why we have the home warranty...but they failed to mention I would need a larger opening than we currently have to replace it should the need arise. So let's just keep our fingers crossed!

The Girls at the Park

Wow, what a gorgeous day! We bought a "tourist in your own town" pass with some Christmas money that is good for the month of January. The pass is good for 35 attractions around Charleston. So yesterday we went to North Charleston Wannamaker County Park. It wasn't the coolest on the list, but it got us out of the house for a little bit and is close to home. I didn't get a photo of it (there is one on the link above), but they had this huge slide, almost a mini alpine slide and Nora just took off up the long flight of stairs, pushed a few kids a side and came down. I'm sure we will be doing this again and I will take pictures then. In the mean time here are some pictures from yesterday. Stay tuned for upcoming adventures!

Now I remember

So the other day Nora really wanted to go outside and rake leaves. Morgan was taking a nap so Ben, Nora and I headed to the front yard. We raked another 4 1/2 huge bags of leaves, but it was very fun to be hanging out as a family. We all ended up in the pile at least once.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Things have been a little busy since my last post. My sister Kristin came for a visit before Christmas. It was really nice to have some time to hang out together since we really haven't since I moved away over five years ago. Here is a picture of Kristin and Nora at the beach. It was a little chilly when we went, but that couldn't keep Nora from putting her feet in.

Ben's Uncle came on the 22nd and we celebrated his birthday on the 23rd. Thanks to the MN/CO Biebel's for the yummy steaks we ate for dinner!

My Mom, sister Amy and her kids, Lila and Micah were supposed to arrive on the 22nd, but due to heavy loads they were bumped and got in on Sunday. They stayed at the lake with Uncle Rick and Aunt Carol. Everyone came here for dinner on Christmas Eve and some of us went to a nice service at the Presbyterian Church across the street. All the kids left food out for Santa's reindeer and cookies and milk for Santa. Santa left a nice note for Nora and Morgan.

Christmas Eve was very fun! Kristin and Uncle Don helped Ben and I put together the girls Rose Petal Cottage, book shelf and storage bench. It is a good thing they were here or Ben and I might not yet be speaking :o)

They LOVED the Rose Petal Cottage and just started playing. It gave the adults a few minutes to wake up before we opened the other presents. Thank you to everyone for making Christmas wonderful for us and especially the girls!!!!

After we opened presents I dropped Kristin off at the airport and then we headed out to the lake to spend the day with everyone. Then just before dinner was to be served Melvin and Sawyer disappeared. So a search party ensued...my Mom made a wonderful prime rib and we enjoyed it quickly so we could search more, but Sawyer spent the night out alone :o( Luckily, someone Amy and Uncle Don had talked to found him early the next morning and brought him home. We were all very relieved and appreciative.

The next few days were spent enjoying time with family, including decorating gingerbread houses and looking for treasure on the lake bottom. Then Ben and Nora went off on an adventure to Tellico Tennessee to do some off-roading and get a much needed break. I will do another post on this later, they took lots of fun pictures.






I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! Hope to hear from everyone soon!