Belated Beach Week

Look at that cute little bottom! Lil' Miss who does not like water actually took to the beach pretty well. (Lois picked out the Peppa Pig tutu swimsuits, by the way. It would not have been my first choice, but they did look adorable in them.) It was great to see the girls on the beach and a really nice visit in general. I have so many photos that it's hard to choose just a few but this gives you a good idea of what it's like to be in Seagrove, FL with me and my family. The water and sand are amazing there. Icy blue-green water and fluffy white sand. It was aunts, uncles, cousins, my mom, my sister, her family and a bunch more. When I was growing up, we'd go to Destin, FL many summers and the last few years we've tried to get together as adults and make a big family event out of it. Last year we couldn't go because I was too pregnant, and the year before... I can't remember why we didn't go, but we went for a few years before that. In the past we met in Edisto, SC, but I prefer the gulf because the water and sand are much prettier (though you don't find the amazing seashells that you do in Edisto). We had a really good visit but were all bummed by the bad weather. Argh, that annoying tropical storm had to rain on our parade, literally! It rained, I mean poured, 4 out of 6 days of our beach vacation. I went on and on to Lois weeks before we left about how fun the 4th of July parade and fireworks show would be. Parent fail. Probably should not have said a peep as the parade was canceled and the fireworks were minimal. I also learned that riding in a car with a 4 year old who easily gets motion sickness and an 11 month old, who is not used to riding in cars, for 6 hours is not a whole lotta fun. I'm glad my mom was willing to cart us all there and back. (We don't have driver's licenses, but that's another story. I haven't driven a car in more than 3 years, which just sounds nutso to me.) So this is Florida!

Lazy Days

Our beach vacation is over now, but we had a great time! Lazy days of summer. We head back to London tomorrow, but I'm sure my mind will be drifting back at the beach in no time.

Seaside

We got to the beach in South Carolina on Friday and have been having a great time! My mom, sister, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins are all here. We've been eating, sleeping, and chilling on the beach--about the only things you can do around here. And I've been having a great time taking iPhone pictures, using my most recent favorite app, tiltshift (all of these are with the tiltshift app on my iPhone). We've tried bringing our Canon on the beach, but it's been so humid and windy that condensation forms on the lens and doesn't want to go away. That's also because it's coming from out from the AC. But that's okay. It just means more fun with iPhone pictures.

King's Farm Market

Back down south again today for some good eats. The significantly better alternative to the Piggly Wiggly in Edisto is King's Farm Market. It's a little farther out, but worth the drive for some homemade pie. Not only are the pies great, but the fruit and veggies can't be beat. We needed some basil but didn't see any, so we asked the nice lady who was working there if they had any, and she said she'd go pick some! She walked out to the garden then was back in about a minute with our hand-picked basil. It doesn't get fresher than that. The market also has really cute country charm: fresh flowers in rustic tins for vases, a great vintage stove stands in for display, and some vintage items for sale, too, like "nostalgic" signs. They even have chickens out back.






Speaking of food, I guess I haven't mentioned yet how much Andrew cooked while we were at the beach, like his own homemade peach pie, which we ate in addition to a number of King's Farm pies (oink, oink). When I say Andrew's homemade pie, I mean the crust, too. YUM. He also made homemade pizza on the grill, homemade--get down good--sticky buns, and burgers with some local grass fed beef. He's quite the gourmand. Beach eats were good eats for sure. Shown below, Andrew's peach pie, or in this case, beach pie!

Bye Bye Beach

Today we made it back home to San Francisco. Lois is a pretty well-seasoned traveler, but today's flight was the hardest one so far for all of us. She SCREAMED most of the 5 hour flight home while arching her back and attempting to twist around, and to top it off the flight was incredibly bumpy. Alas, I wished I was back at the beach. I have the memories, though, and a few more Edisto seashells to add to our collection. Sun, sand, sea--I miss you already.

Shells.

Morning sun.

More sea oats.

Cash in his PJs on the beach.

A beautiful day.

Lois looking cute.

Me and Lois in a sunset pose.

Sunset.

Cash and Wyatt going on a boat ride.

Crashing wave.

Rainbow umbrella.

See you next year, Edisto.

Fun in the Sun

We're having a wonderful time at the beach! Edisto is a great beach vacation spot. When I was growing up we used to go to Destin, Florida sometimes for summer beach vacations. I loved going to Destin. The sand there is white and fluffy, and the water is clear blue-green, at least that's how I remember it. I also remember high-rise buildings. No high-rise buildings in sight here in Edisto. The shoreline is just dotted with cute beach cottages, some small, some large, with the Piggly Wiggly at the end of the road. Beyond heading to "the pig" (its unfortunate nickname around here) for that necessary gallon of vanilla ice cream to go with Andrew's peach pie, there isn't much else to do around here besides lounge on the beach with a book. It's pretty much perfect. Tomorrow, though, I think we might leave our flip flops at the beach and head to a most beautiful place.

9 Month Birthday . . . from the beach

We're at Edisto Beach having fun in the sun, and Lois has been modeling her collection of bathing suits. She has more bathing suits than her mommy and boy does she look cute in them. Lois celebrated her 9 month birthday on the 10th, but I thought it would be fun to wait until we got to the beach to take her birthday pictures. We don't have internet access at the beach (a good thing, really), so I'm at the local bookstore writing a few posts until we have access again, and keeping them short since the caravan is going to leave me if I take too long. Here are pictures from yesterday--Lois' first day at the beach! It was so fun.