South Carolina!

Casey and I were able to sneak away on a trip with just ourselves,
 my favorite thing in the world!
He always lets me do the picking of the destination. 
Charleston has been top on my list for quite some time.

Plus with it being in the middle of August and lots of beach towns in the area

it seemed fitting! 

We flew in late in the afternoon. 
Grabbed our rental car and do what we always do first on a trip.

Find a place to eat!

The restaurant had a bit of a wait, which turned out fine because
it was right behind the historic King Street.

AKA the best shopping in town!

This street is the epitome of Southern charm. 
It has a variety of high-end specialty shops, boutiques and restaurants. 
Can we say boujee?!

The fanciest Target I ever did see!

Time to eat!

Poogan's Porch!

An old Victorian house turned restaurant. 

Could it be any cuter?!

A perfect place to get Lowcountry cuisine to kickstart our trip.

Even the plants were unique and charming.

Fried chicken, collared greens, shrimp and grits and of course biscuits. 

We ate lots and lots of biscuits that week!

I couldn't have been happier to find a Kilwins!

I love their ice cream so much. 

I had a tough decision to make when planning this trip.

There are so many amazing beach towns in South Carolina!

All were fantastic in their own different ways.

I originally was thinking Hilton Head or Kiawah Island. 

If Hilton Head wasn't 2 hours away from Charleston we would have stayed there in a heart beat.

I also heard it is its own trip in itself.
Kind of like going to Newport or Oceanside. 

It would have been too much driving back and forth to the city and airport

for the amount of time we would be there. 

Kiawah is swanky and unique in the sense that you can only get on the island

if you are staying there. It is super small and also out of the way.

But beyond gorgeous beaches.

Not finding any accommodations helped weed out that option. 

There are a handful of beach towns 20 minutes outside of Charleston.
I researched and found one that seemed like a winner.
Even though honestly, you can't go wrong.

Isle of Palms, here we come!

We ended up at the Wild Dunes resort.
There were tons of house and condo rentals,

but when it's just the 2 of us I prefer the resort amenities:)

We rented bikes and rode around to kick off our morning!

I couldn't believe how many massive beach front houses there were!

So different than California. 

No boardwalk or crowds.

You have space and sand all to yourselves!

We made it to the golf resort in search for some breakfast.

I came out of the bathroom where Casey pointed to the window.

It was pouring rain!

We waited it out like an old couple on their porch rocking chairs. 

We diverted down some neighborhood streets to check out the houses. 

The trees were ginormous!

And honestly, were a lot more mossy than the trees in New Orleans. 

I kind of wanted to see a gator, but kind of not, lol!

We grabbed some lunch then headed to the beach!

Wild Dunes resort is huge!

They have 2 different "hotel" type of buildings.
Sweetgrass Inn is behind the Boardwalk Inn.

Both have their own pool areas, but anyone staying there can access both.

We stayed in the Boardwalk Inn because it was closest to the beach, only 150 yards away. 

Around the Inns are condos and homes by Wild Dunes. 

Walking down the boardwalk to get to the beach.
These are condos on both sides. 

It was an overcast day, so not as many people were out.

We had to collect our sea shells to bring home!

We drove around the Island to see more of it and check out other beaches in the area. 

More beautiful homes. 

We went into Sullivan's Island for dinner!

It is tiny. 
You blink and you will miss it!

It reminded me a little bit of Leipers Fork in Nashville.

Basically a long road with shops and restaurants on both sides.

Famous people come here just to eat, so you better believe that is what we did!

Taco time.

Street corn queso, easy yes. 

Tacos were yummy, too!

Homemade ice cream across the street hit the spot!

We went up to Sweetgrass to go hot tubing.

Our quaint room. 

 

First day, Yay!! 2022-2023

It was finally her turn to have meet the teacher!

She instantly found her desk and thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Mrs. Limon has been at Franklin for as long as I can remember.

She is also one of my moms friends from high school.
Even though we didn't get Mrs. Stradling who we were crossing our fingers for,

we couldn't be happier about landing her as a teacher!

Rusty boy, my heart.

All big and heading to Jr. High!!!

In my mind he is still my little side kick who will never grow up. 
Nope, no longer.

7th grade was going to be loaded with many friends and memories. 

He was ready to get there and start wood working, his first choice for electives. 

 

He is the only boy in our carpool, lucky!

My friend took this right after they hopped out.

It is a smaller school, so it was nice knowing he had at least 2 friends in 
every class. That sure helped my mama heart.

Next shift were the girls.

4th grade and KINDERGARTEN. 

All day at that. 

I was nervous.

The other 3 did half day. 
They still offered it, but the program changed.
Instead of 1 classroom only having half day for am/pm classes, they had

everyone in full day with the option to take your kid out before lunch. 

I knew she would be sad to be basically the only one to leave early.

She is older with an October birthday, so I felt okay about sending her the full time. 

Lane was pumped about no A-hour or AP classes this year!

Sophomore year is probably going to be his easiest, so hopefully he 

lives it up!

He gets to ride with us to the bus stop before taking him to school.

November can't come quick enough so he can drive himself!

I dropped Della off the first day.
No tears!

I was quietly patting myself on the back.

She usually puts up some kind of fuss when leaving he in new places for the first time.

Spotted Lindi in line on my way back to the car!

Everyone had a good day!

However, you could see the tired, unsure eyes in Della's face.

She asked if she could do half day and I was like uh oh. 

The next morning she got on the bus no problem.

I thought we were for sure in the clear!

Third day is when it hit.

She would NOT get out of the car to get on the bus.

Screaming and crying... the newness wore off and she knew what the
day ahead of her was going to be like.
She kept saying its soooo long at school.

I hear ya girl, it is long.
My heart was breaking for her, but what do you do?

I can't keep her home forever!

I drove her to the school and walked her to the playground.

I was hoping seeing her teacher and friends would help her hop in line to walk to class.

Ha, wishful thinking. 

I walked with her in line as she clung to me, crying hysterically.

Luckily the principal had come over by now.

Everyone was going into the classroom.
 I somehow pried my leg free and bolted to the

gate exit as Mrs. Baxter was holding her back from running after me.

I turned around to see her lying on the floor screaming for me as I ran to my car!

It was terrible!!

It was literally a scene.

I could see parents staring with concerned, but also laughing faces.

I could see their thoughts... that poor mom, I'm so glad its not me, haha. 

 I pretended to drive off so she knew she was  stuck there. That always 

helps her calm down. 

I drove back to the office right as Mrs. Baxter was walking back.

She said she was about to call me to say she was in class and doing great!

Goodness, that was exhausting. 

Oh, but it gets better.

I was supposed to be the parent helper that day!

We decided it would be fine to try it out. 

She did good, until it was time for me to leave.

Gosh dang it, should have never gone in.

Sobs all over again. 

This went on a solid 3 weeks.

It was exhausting. 

But of course, the little stinker loves Kindergarten now.
We have no problems with the bus or class.

She is a stubborn one (big sigh). 

Both girls made company dance.
Life of little ballerinas, here we come!