Just Beachin'. Ft Sumter and Charleston

Chad and the boys had never been to Ft Sumter before.  So, Wednesday, my family and PapaHub hopped in the van and went to Charleston.  We took the earliest ferry over to the fort which was a good thing because it was H-O-T.

With Hunter finishing 3rd grade this year, he was very interested in Ft Sumter due to SC history.

If I must say so, another pretty good family pic (besides Shepherd, I swear, this kid either nails a picture or it is just a bomb).  

Chad and his boys

My loves.  Thanks to Sandee and Tom Tom on my cool hat.  :)

LOVE this picture of PapaHub and his grandsons

Ashton taking it all in.

My dates for the day

Two history buffs

"Slide, Slide, Slide" Hard to convince Bennett that this sloping thing beside him was not a slide.

The boys in the ammo place.  Dont you love my history vocabulary?  

Finally, released them to take a silly picture

 The night before, PapaHub and Grandma too the whole crew into Charleston for dinner at Hymans.  It was really good food and there was a lot of laughs.

Turns out, it is hard to get 13 people in the table picture. We didnt realize it until afterward but Joey is hidden.  If you look between Tommy and Ashton, you can see her little hand waving.  Besides that, it is a really good picture.  Look at Bennett's adorable cheezin grin.   

Example 1 of the laughter

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4-  This is Sandee's duck face... you know the seductive look people like to post on facebook, etc.  haha

Example 5- And of course, Chad gave us his duck face.  Man, I sure lucked out by catching this BIG tuna.  And, love Tommy's expression in the background.  

 The beach week was great.  The kids were all well behaved and so were the adults. :)  

Also, my in-laws celebrated their 40 year anniversary while were at the beach.  Happy Anniversary!  

Thank you Thank you Thank you to PapaHub and Grandma on supplying the beach house and paying for all the Bi-Lo runs during the week.  We love you guys!  

Love

Taking a small break from Beach Posts....

I debated writing this.  But, the primary purpose of this blog has always been as a journal for my kids.  A place for them to see my heart. So, agree or disagree, here are a mom's words to her boys.

Boys,
Yesterday, June 26, 15, is a day that will go down in history. You guys are too young to fully grasp the magnitude of the Supreme Court decision yesterday.  Many people will try to tell you that it doesn't affect you, but it does.  Our nation took a stance to take God's plan of marriage and change it.  I will be honest with you here.  If it wasn't for my faith, my relationship with Jesus, my belief in the 100% truth of the Bible, then my human side might be persuaded to jump on the bandwagon of "equal" rights.

But, here is a truth that I want you all to understand.  We can't morph the Word of God to suit our desires.  We can't pick and choose which parts of the Bible suit our fancy.  You either follow the whole or none.  Thankfully, Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, took the place of some of the Old Testament commands but not all of them.  Our world is laced with sin.  "Big" sin, "little" sin= still sin.  But the Bible is so clear about sin- and despite our human desire- we must obey the Bible.

Many people have posted #lovewins.  But, I want you guys to know that love won a long time ago.  When Jesus paid the ultimate price to save you... Love won.  When Jesus came as baby with the knowledge that He would die separated from His Father.... Love won.  When Jesus rose from the grave... Love won.  Jesus is Love.  And we are commanded to show love.  Show love to each other, show love to others, show love to those that are different from you.  Jesus showed love to all types of people while still following the Bible.  It is just as much of a sin to not love others as it is to be in a impure relationship.  Don't throw stones but don't stay silent (speak in love).  Follow the example of Christ.  

I dont know what area of sin is going to tempt you as you get older.  But, be assured, that there will be area(s) that you will struggle with.  My prayer for you is that you seek the Word of God, seek wise council, and pray.  There will be times when you feel lonely, feel like the outcast, feel betrayed, feel weak, perhaps even feel unloved; however, know this... I will always love you.  But, more importantly, that you are loved by your Creator.  You have been paid for and through His blood are no longer a slave to sin.  

You are the next generation- the generation that will reap the choices of my generation.  "Seek first the kingdom of God."

And remember, all is grace.  God uses everything.... EVERYTHING... for His glory.

Stay strong my boys,
Mom

Just Beachin', The Beach House

Thank to my brother-in-law having a good connection, my in-laws were able to snag the beach house for a great deal!  My family had the 2 rooms downstairs and then Sandee and her family and Hub and Patsy had the upstairs.  It think it worked pretty well for everyone.

There is not much to do in Edisto besides the beach, thankfully the weather was perfect... like, not even a drizzle.

As usual, I took an absurd amount of pictures, it is so hard to pick which ones to post so here is a sampling of the ocean pictures.

In no particular order.

First day in the ocean

Papa Hub on duty.

These two were sand buddies with their watering cans sporting their Gymboree suits.

Chad and his boys

Papa Hub on kid duty again.

Chad and Bennett

Uncle Tommy fished everyday.  The kids "helped".  I dont even know how many sharks he caught- at least 6... some small and one that was probably 3 feet long (we ate him).

Shepherd holding one of the little fish.

Chad stayed on ocean duty most of the time.  

Drinking buddies ;)

Speaking of drinking, Joey took her morning nap and morning bottle on the beach in her chair.  so sweet

My precious crew

My artistic moment- me and Beezie

The robot

Sami

Mr Serious

Charlee

Do you ever take a picture and think that you are looking into the future?... that is how I feel about this one.  He looks about 12 yrs old to me here. So big!

Sweet baby Joey.  She was such a good baby.  Love her sweet little smile

Like father like son.

Aunt Sandee and Jo Jo.

Another artistic moment.  Bennett doing his part to get down to the beach.

The grown ups

Feet cleaning crew.  Love this picture.

Some beach volleyball or dodge ball.  Again, I say, like father, like son. haha

Dodge ball

Charlee in her own little world

My little men. 

Next post- Ft Sumter visit.

Just Beachin' Part 1

What can I say?  The beach was a blast this year.  Edisto Beach was the destination point this year.   We got to the beach last Saturday, the 13th and got home today (20th).

Here are the pictures from our picture session.  Unfortunately, I neglected to take my camera outside to acclimate to the heat so most of the beach pictures were super foggy, but the camera adjusted eventually.  We then came to the front of the house and got some pretty shots.

The whole group.

My crew.  This is one of the better family pics we have taken... Chad's mouth is slightly funky but this one is a keeper.   

Chad's sister, Sandee with her family

Talk about cute boys.  Mercy!

This was one of the foggy beach pictures.  I tried to salvage it but not much I could do about the disgruntled Sami face... it was just "too winny (windy)".

Papa Hub and Grandma with all 7 grands.  Kids from left to right, Hunter, Charlee, Bennett, Shepherd, Sami. Joey, and Ashton

Grandma with the kiddos.  Again, my lens was so foggy so this was the best I could do to save the picture.

The kids.  They had so much fun together.  Ashton, Charlee, and Shepherd are super close and this time, Bennett and Sami seem to really hit it off.   Love how Joey is playing with Hunter's face. 

The silly picture as their "reward" for being good for pictures.  They also got PapaHub to go and buy them some ice cream.  

Check back over the next couple days for more beach posts with more pictures!