Showing Grammalyn a Little Bit of Charleston!

Today we thought it would be a great day to go to Charleston! And it was!

We found great parking at St. Philip's Church parking lot.
Sorry about the date stamp. Mark and Lon got me a new camera for Christmas, and I did not turn off the date stamp!

We went on a carriage ride. They pack alot of history into the hour. There are three tour routes, so far, Mark, Lon and I have done numbers 2 and 3!
This is Steve's backend.

The next series of  pictures are going to be the things we saw along the way.

All the marble around the windows! and Santa butt.

I took this photo to show off the climbing roses that are blooming on December 27!

There was only one decoration on this house, but they made it count!

I like this basket display

The family with Steve.

We walked a little bit in the market. The decorations are so pretty!

We stopped for lunch at the Noisy Oyster. Lon thinks that is a fun place. He likes the food there. This time, they did have the 5 layer chocolate cake. It was good, but the best dessert was the carmel cheesecake! Oh! that was good!

We stopped by the Savannah Candy Kitchen. Grammalyn got some candy to bring back

It was getting almost time to go. We saw that the Powder Magazine was right next to where we parked.  We went to go see what it was like. This year was the 300th anniversary of it's existence!
It no longer contains larger stores of gun powder.

Lon is looking at dioramas!

Mark was having fun too

Daddy and Lon played several rounds of Sink the Pirate Ship! They were having a good time!

Out side they had a pillory. Lon was able to wiggle his hands out of it!

Mark played it up well! Someone was walking by, they took Mark's picture too. The guy told him, I have no idea who you are but you are forever in one of my pictures!

Back to the parking lot and away we go!

We did not go straight home! Grammalyn wanted to go over the Ravenel Bridge, so we did. We went over to Isle of Palms.
We saw a female cardinal in the bushes along the boardwalk.

Lon was looking for shells. We found some! We are going to try to make shell angels out of them

We did go home for a little bit, then out to Ye Olde Fashioned for an ice cream snack after dinner!

On our way home from the ice cream place, we looked at some lights! This Yoda was a favorite!
We had a good day!

Merry Christmas

It was a fun Christmas time at our house!

The last Sunday of Advent, December 22, St. Nicholas appeared at Church!  The kids who stayed after Mass could go up and talk to St. Nicholas!

The man who is behind the beard has been doing this for over 25 years!

He spent alot of time with each child, and everyone waited patiently!
Mark was called back to work, and we stayed and decorated the church for Christmas!  We put up trees, arranged pointsettas, put lights on trees. It was very fun

On Monday night, we went back to see the James Island lights.  It was amazing. Looking forward to going again. This time we were smart and brought our own s'mores kit. Lon had four!

Fun presents started to come in the mail. Goofy glasses from Australia!  Lon thinks they are silly

The only photo I took on Christmas Eve. Our big roast beast! I meant to take more, but it just did not work out
We had company for dinner, the neighbors next door.  It was very fun

Then it was Christmas Morning! Lon got up at 3:49. We tucked him back in, but about every 20 minutes or so, can I get up now? No. WHEN? Not now. ugh. and repeat. We lasted till 5:51. There was no stopping him then!
The first present he opened was the ones from Cousin Milana!

Christmas Market Legos!
Lon and I have agreed that this will be a Christmas decoration. We can add to it every year with a winter village scene. He thinks that is so cool, guaranteed Legos every year!

Super Hero Sqwinkies!

The balsa wood airplanes we got at Kitty Hawk, I told Lon I would wrap them for Christmas, and I did.
You can see Lon's big present from Santa. The EV3 Mindstorm starter kit. It is an introduction to Lego Robotics.  Santa also brought extra power packs and a book all about the things you can do with the EV3. It all came in a special plastic tub, they will all be kept there, so they do not get mixed up with the other random bits of Lego!

Reading the letter from Godfather, telling him all about the vintage Hardy Boys books that were wrapped up for Lon!  Lon thinks they look really cool!

 Brian and Kayla sent a Lego that Lon really wanted! He was so thrilled to get it!

Then it was time for Church. We thought about going to Christmas Eve service, but it was going to be so crowded.They were expecting over a huge crowd at both Masses.  Christmas Day at 10, it was smaller than a normal Sunday. It was good!
The outdoor Creche. The Wise Men do not show up for 2 more weeks!

The indoor Creche. This looks like the photos my mom took of my sister and I at the Creche when we were little.
The rest of our Christmas Day was lazy good. We got comfy, ate when we were hungry, and played with all our new toys.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

Third Grade Song Program!

Tonight the entire third grade had a singing program.
They sang 8 songs.  December Around the World,  La Pinata,  Happy New Year  (Gung Hay Fat Choy), Pickle in the Tannenbaum, Jump at the Sun, Miracle of Lights, December in America, and the encore, Children Go Where I Send Thee.

Processing in

Lon taking his place. It was not a good spot for me to get him on camera though! I was in the second set of tables.

Lon was not starting to feel good. But he kept singing!

Lon had a speaking part in Gung Hay Fat Choy. He talked about how the houses were decorated with red symbols for long life and prosperity. (I will get the whole line again when he wakes up)

Going back to his spot after doing his lines perfectly

Doing the hand gestures on the last song.  He was so proud of himself for learning all the moves.

He then went home and went to bed. I hope he feels better in the morning.

Junior Ranger Badge #41

Today was an early release day. The kids got out of school at 11.  We had been hoping to get back over to Ft. Moultrie to finish up Lon's Jr. Ranger Badge from there.  And that is what we did today.

Crossing the Ravenel Bridge

Learning about the Fort

The volunteer was so thrilled with Lon, she thought he was a brilliant kid. Lon is showing her how he does the cipher in this booklet

The volunteer was so happy with Lon, she went and talked to the Historian Ranger.  He thought Lon was an amazing kid, and he quizzed him on what he learned on the Fort, and Lon gave the right answers.
Getting his 41st Jr Ranger Badge. They took his picture with all his badges !

Across the street. Before you enter the Fort itself there is the grave of Osceola. Yes, the Seminole Chief.  I did not know he was buried here. Or that he died of a throat infection.

Into the Fort!

Lon loves the sea command complex

They were even playing a Christmas radio show from the 1940s on the speakers in the command center

He is having a great time exploring the Fort again. He is looking forward to coming out again!

So proud of himself, and rightly so!