Isle of Palms= Isle of Heaven

In September, Scott’s parents generously took us, along with Scott’s brother Brent, his wife Jenn, and their baby Story, on a week long trip to Isle of Palms, South Carolina. We were in search of a get away that provided a slightly warmer place than home, a place where we could hang out and make fun family memories, and perhaps most importantly, a place that was family friendly. We found it all in Isle of Palms.

The Duncans rented an absolutely beautiful and extremely spacious home just a block from the beach. It was so well decorated and stocked with anything you could have ever needed from home (and more!). There was a pool in the backyard, bikes to ride, toys to play with… you name it! It was comfortable luxury at its finest! (Perhaps I should write a review of this place online, huh?) We spent our days playing in the waves, digging in the sand, jumping in the pool, taking runs and walks, lounging around the house, and just enjoying each other’s company. Us girls even ventured into Charleston one day and did a bit of shopping at a few of Charleston’s outdoor markets. Probably my favorite part of the trip was watching my boys interact with their cousin, Story. They loved playing with her, and she loved watching those rambunctious boys play. All in all, Isle of Palms turned out to be just the perfect place for this growing family!

Here’s the proof:

We took some time for family photos at a marina-side restaurant we went to one night.

Brent, Jenn and Story

Gigi, Papa, and their grandkids.

I missed the best part of this moment, but caught the end. Tyler and Story were sharing a snuggling moment. So sweet!

With the pool right out back, we spent quite a bit of time out there and had a blast!

The boys (little AND big) came up with all sort of games to play in the pool, but the favorites seemed to be jumping over or into things as you jumped into the pool. It was quite entertaining! Check out Tyler's face in this first one.

Brent, of course, had to join in.

Carter made it in the noodle circle!

Then started the game of jumping into Tyler's floaty ring.

We got quite a chuckle watching the big boys try to get out of that ring!

Tyler enjoying the pool!

My little surfer dude.

My boys were pretty much wet all weekend, between the pool and the beach.

My thumb sucker.

The house even had a backyard for the kids to play in. Perfect, I'm telling you.

And I couldn't leave the week without a little photo session of my precious niece, Story. Such a sweet girl!

Stay tuned for Isle of Palms, Part 2, for beach photos. I took over 489 pictures this week, so it's really hard to choose just a few!

P.S. Do any of you other bloggers know why some of my pictures are blurry on the blog but not in my iPhoto on my computer? Help would be greatly appreciated!

I'd love to take the credit, but...

I didn’t do it. My new blog banner, that is. My dear friend, Holly, so kindly offered to make a banner for our blog that had pictures of the fam AND matched our background. She didn’t have to twist my arm! She is clearly gifted in that department and actually knows what’s she’s doing in Photo Shop. You should check our her blog, and she how beautifully decorated it is…AND check out her adorable little man, Liam: http://thegranings.blogspot.com

Thanks again, Hol! You’re the best!

These are a few of my favorite things...

• The fact that Scott is FINISHED with being on nights for the rest of residency and fellowship! I just can't seem to sleep well when he's gone, so those weeks are just exhausting. But, they are no more!
• My newly recovered kitchen chairs (which I recovered one night at midnight while Scott was on nights in August). Having upholstered chairs with 2 little ones is not ideal, but luckily, it just takes about $30 of fabric, a staple gun, and a few extra hours to recover them. Check out my before and after. Here's the before...loved the fabric, but notice the stains! Had too many light colors for my boys.

Here's the after:

And ta da! Here's the whole thing! Gotta love a $150 table and chairs from Kmart that keeps on kicking for over 6 years!

• Celebrating birthdays. Mimi and Dudaddy both have birthdays in August, so we had them over for a special dinner and homemade birthday cookies. Here they are listening to the boys sing Happy Birthday to them.

• How well (most of the time) that my boys are playing together. I don't know, but I think one of my favorite parts of being a mom right now is seeing them play together. I just can't explain how it makes my heart feel that these 2 little people that I made (with Scott's help!) love each other.

Tyler following around Bubba (as he calls Carter) in the golf cart. Tyler wants to be ANYWHERE that his big brother is.

When Papa was visiting, the boys decided they wanted to take a bath outside in the little plastic pool. Don't know how they come up with these things. This was the most G-rated shot I could find.

• These curls. Oh. My. Gosh. Don't these just melt you? Unfortunately, now that it's less humid, the curls aren't really showing up. It's about to be time for a haircut, since Tyler seems to be sporting a mullet now.

• Pullen Park. We've recently been to this park in Raleigh a few times, and it is just great fun, with playground equipment, paddle boats to rent, a historic carousel, a train, and more! We had fun there at a birthday party AND when Papa came to visit!

• Friday pizza nights. This summer, we started a "tradition" of ordering pizza on Friday nights and taking it to the pool or a playground. There's nothing like some good family fun and a Papa John's pizza.

Hey Bubba, give me a bite of your pizza.

• That my Carter is pretty much a naturally born athlete. Yes, I am his mama, and I may be a little biased, but even other people and his teachers comment on his athletic skill and agility. Most recently, this boy can do pretty much any length and height of monkey bars ALL BY HIMSELF! I don't know about you, but I'm super impressed.

• A family photo. They are so few and far between around here. Here's a pretty good one that we were able to capture before Ellen's sweet babies were baptized.

• Having boys. Granted, I know there are wonderful things about having girls, but there are just some special things about having boys. How about this one? Can't find a potty? No problem! Can't really do that with a girl, no can you?

• Speaking of girls...I have a lot of favorite girls right now. My cute niece Anna, who is coming to visit soon. My sweet niece Story, who we got to spend a whole week with at Isle of Palms. And my sweet "nieces" Claire & Caitlin, who are growing and getting so big!

Here's Story at a restaurant in Isle of Palms. How cute is that dress?

And here's the other cute niece, Anna.

And, of course, the adorable Powell twins!

I often poke fun of Scott because every time a good song comes on the radio, he says, "Oh, this is one of my favorites!" I always kid him and ask just how many "favorites" he has, and if he really has that many, are they truly favorites?

So, here I am ending my list of recent favorites, and I feel like I could go on and on. Okay, Scott, maybe you're right about there not being a limit to favorites. And yes, you better write that down, because I said that you were right. You know that doesn't come around too often.

Thing are busy and crazy as usual in the Duncan household...just the way we like it! :)