Atlanta Aquarium

When Carolyn couldn't go on her school field trip we promised her a trip to the Atlanta Aquarium as a substitute field trip.  I wish I could have taken pictures in the dolphin show here, which I think was the favorite part for all of us, but cameras weren't allowed. Here are some of the pictures that I did get that day.

Zoo & Cousins

Our next adventure was getting to spend some time with GG, all my aunts and even more cousins.  First up we headed to the zoo in Columbia.



The girls love the zoo here because of all the



animals that they get to feed.




Then we drove to North Augusta for my cousin Amelia's last dance recital before she heads to Clemson in the Fall.  The girls were hilarious during the show.  Trying to mimic the dances and they still talk about Amelia's recital.  I think we are going to look for some dance lessons for them here in Alabama.



Here is all my Family from the recital.  We all invaded Jane's house for the night and it was wonderful for the girls to spend time with everyone.  So thankful for such a great extended family!



Before we headed to the recital that night we tried to get a group shot of everyone with my mom.  This was the best one we got but



we did manage to get a little better one of just the kids and Dwight David and I.  This may or may not have had something to do with Brian being behind the camera doing his famous belly roll to make the kids laugh.

Charleston

Next up we headed toward the low country to visit MiMi and Tom Tom.
The girls were so excited to see Rudy again.  He did great with all the "love" he received from the girls.  Although we miss having him with us, we know he is a much happier puppy where he lives right now.
We had a great time, did some shopping, (of course) we did a lot of eating, spent quality time with MiMi and Tom Tom, and were able to visit with all our family and friends that live there.



We were also able to spend the most perfect day at Folly Beach.




I love this picture because back behind the girls to the right is Folly Beach Pier where Brian proposed to me in my lovely sweat pants about 10 years ago.



O how times have changed since we sat on this beach after he proposed with our two tall boys from Berts and planned out our lives together.  I love all our little beach bums that we have created!



I made the statement that this was Payson's first beach day and then I realized well I guess not really she has been to beaches in Spain and Greece (don't you feel sorry for the little world traveler).  What I meant was this was her first SC beach day, which is what Brian and I both associate with our childhood.



She had a ball, eating sand, playing in the wade pools low tide provided and getting carried around by her sisters.



No beach day would be complete without a naked baby,



some bocce ball,



a sand castle and



a sleeping Sidney.



Can't wait till we can get back to Charleston again!

Heath Springs

Our next stop was some time in Heath Springs with Pops and Janice.



We had great weather for fishing and



Miss Sidney caught her first fish.



Carolyn had so much fun that day that she and Brian woke up early the next morning and went back out in the boat to catch some more.



She caught her first Bass that morning and ate the whole thing by herself that night.  She couldn't believe that her daddy wanted her to kiss the Bass.  A tradition that surprisingly I had not heard of either.  I guess it is good luck to kiss the fish you catch.  Sidney didn't fish that morning but did love getting a spin around on the boat as long as she was right beside her Daddy.



This is how Payson felt about not getting to go out on the boat.  She thinks that she is as big as the older girls.



I love a behind the back picture!  Especially when my girls are being sweet.



We also got to do a little horseback riding.  Carolyn looks like such a skinny thing in this picture.



I love this picture of Sidney I took while Carolyn was having her turn on Archie.  I can't remember why Sid was sad.  I think it had something to do with where she sat in the saddle and I ended up telling Dad just to go without her.



I do remember that we were much happier once Carolyn returned and



they both headed out for a ride.  They gave Pops a good workout that day.



We had a great visit and Carolyn is already asking us when we can go fishing again.  My little tomboy has decided that she would like to catch a catfish next.

Arriving in ATL

We made it!  The 10 hour flight that I was dreading turned out to be not that bad.  Payson was better than I imagined her being and the older girls were so excited about the plane in general and seeing their cousins, that they were wonderful.  After landing in Atlanta, we traveled all over the state of South Carolina visiting family and filling our bellies with American food we had been missing.  We arrived on June the 9th in Montgomery and are currently staying in a three bedroom apartment on Maxwell Air Force Base.  We have been able to go inside our house we will be renting and I can not wait to move in. (Hopefully this time next week!!)

Here are some pictures from our first stop in Atlanta...
Our first full day in America we headed to the baseball field to watch Austin play in his last T-ball game.



We decided to take the girls to the American Girl store here for their birthdays.  Aunt Seana joined us for the fun since the boys don't really shop in this store.



They were thrilled and I will confess that I almost wanted to buy a doll for myself here.



Brian was a great Dad and came along for the fun as well.  Doesn't he look super excited.  I will admit that he listened better than I did on how to care for the dolls hair and had to give me tips after the fact.



Eating at the Bistro attached to the shop.  I was surprised how good the food was here and how cute the menu was.  Truly a little girls paradise.



Just a picture of Payson from that day.  I'm sure with three girls we will be back in this shop.



We also chopped the girls hair off while we were there.  We decided that a summer cut was in order since we were all adjusting (definitely not complaining) to the heat that the South had to offer.

Another group shot of the four from Austin's preschool graduation.  He cracks me up in these pictures.