Charleston - Part 3

Our last afternoon/evening in Charleston we spent walking all over the city.  We started at Battery Park (where we took all of the pictures to follow), rode the trolley to the market, walked up and down the market twice, headed over to some shops on King Street, and then back to Hyman's Seafood Restaurant for dinner.  Caroline and I had a wonderful dinner of cajun tilapia and sweet potatoes, while Luke and Anna Kate enjoyed some fried fish and shrimp with hush puppies!  I just love all the restaurants in Charleston...so much good food!  The previous night we ate at Jestine's Kitchen (which was featured in Southern Living) and it was great.  Thanks, Lesley, for the recommendation!  Oh, and did I mention that we found a cupcake shop that had cupcakes that I could actually eat (no dairy or egg)?!?  Yes, we went twice in two days. 

Ok, now for some pictures of our afternoon!

Mommy and her girls

Sweet swinging sisters

Our little family

Anna Kate was too busy running around to pose for any more pictures, but we caught a few sweet ones of Liney Bear 

And one more family shot (it was a little breezy!)

We had such a wonderful time that we are already talking about when we can take some time off to go again next year.  Anyone want to join us?

Charleston - Part 2

After a good nap Tuesday afternoon, we headed out to the hotel pool.  The pool was great, but the best part was that it overlooked a bridge and a marina on the Ashley River where dozens of boats were docked...so pretty!   Here are the girls enjoying swim time with Daddy!

We had a little bit of drizzly rain throughout our stay, but Wednesday morning was absolutely beautiful.  Sunny, but not too hot, and perfect for a day at the beach!  We headed over to Isle of Palms (about 20 min drive) and had a wonderful morning. 

Anna Kate headed straight for the water to collect the ocean in her bucket!

Caroline wanted to taste a little bit of sand...

The girls were entertained for a LONG time just sitting at the water's edge.  Anna Kate kept shouting, "Here comes the ocean!" each time a wave would come.

After a while she wanted to go out in the deep water with Daddy.

Caroline and I came back up to play with toys. 

She was pretty content for a while, but as soon as I laid down on the towel, this is what happened.  She LOVES giving slobbery kisses!

Sometimes I feel like taking two babies out to the beach is a bit of a chore...swimsuits, sunscreen, sand everywhere, etc...but it was so worth it.  Seeing the vastness of the ocean, and teaching my children that the God who created it all is even bigger and more powerful than its crashing waves, is priceless.

Family Vacation to Charleston - Part 1

After a great long weekend in Norfolk, we headed to Charleston, SC, for a few days of vacation with just our little family of four.  Normally when we get a little bit of time off, we go visit family, or go on vacation with family, but we thought it would be fun to just have a little special time with each other.  Luke got a great deal on a room at the Courtyard Marriot on the Ashley River just a few blocks from downtown Charleston and we had a fantastic time!

The drive from Norfolk to Charleston should take about 7 hours, but with two little ones and a couple of traffic jams, it was more like 8 1/2, but the girls did great!  Anna Kate has started asking "Are we there?" on car trips every few minutes, so I made a chart with a box for every half hour of the trip (thank you Pinterest).  Every half hour we would color a smiley face in the box.  I think it worked pretty well!

 

They did a pretty good job sleeping during at least part of the drive (if you look closely, you can see Caroline asleep in the baby mirror!)

 

We arrived just in time to have dinner at Luke's favorite South Carolina Barbecue restaurant, Sticky Fingers, and then head to the hotel for bedtime.  Speaking of which, the girls did GREAT sleeping and napping all four of us in the same hotel room (well, until the last night when Caroline may or may not have kept our whole floor awake...)! 

Bright and early Tuesday morning we got up and spent the morning at the South Carolina Aquarium.  We had never been before, but had been told that the girls would love it.  We were not disappointed!  Here are some pictures of our time.

Anna Kate the octopus

"Inside" the lemur exhibit!

Paying close attention to the presentation about the wildlife in Madagascar!

Driving on a safari through Africa

 

Look at those fishies!

 

How bout that crocodile?!?

 

Anna Kate's wingspan is not quite as big as Liberty the Bald Eagle's!

 

After her nap on Daddy in the Ergo, Caroline got in on the action!

You may not be able to tell in this picture, but this tank is over two stories tall! 

Luke thought it would be a good idea to pay a few extra dollars to take the girls to see the 4-D IMAX movie about dolphins.  I wasn't so sure, but we decided to try it anyway.  All went well until we walked in the dark theater.  Caroline did NOT like it, but settled down as the movie started...until the audience got sprayed with water 30 seconds into the film!  She and I spent the rest of the movie walking around outside!  Luke said that Anna Kate was pretty nervous, but was fine if she sat on his lap.  And she LOVED the bubbles that were blown on them during the movie!  So, all in all, the IMAX was at least a 50% success!

Now, in the interest of full disclosure here, while Anna Kate did enjoy all the fish and wildlife, her absolute favorite part of the aquarium was the escalator.  Apparently our small town little girl doesn't get out much...haha!  But seriously, we had a great time and we can't wait to go back again sometime soon!

Burgin Family Time!

What a busy, but wonderful past 2 weeks it has been!  These past couple weeks have been filled with lots of family time, celebrations, road trips, and a little rest and relaxation somewhere in there! 
Two weeks ago, Mom, Dad and Andrew arrived to spend a few days with us here in Camden.  The girls had a great time reading, snuggling, tickling, swinging, walking, and doing all the things that little girls love to do with Grandmas and Grandpas and super fun uncles. 

 

After a couple days we packed up the cars and all headed up to Norfolk, Virginia to celebrate my oldest brother Stephen's PhD graduation.  We couldn't all be there at the University of Florida for his big day, so we decided to celebrate up at their new home instead!  Here is Dr. Stephen with Rachael and Leah (and baby due in January!) on his graduation day.

And here they are on the campus of Old Dominion University where he is now a professor of science education.

We had a great few days of having the WHOLE family together, which when you live so far apart is always an extremely special time.  Here are some snapshots of our weekend.

Aunt Sarah loves to snuggle little girls since she spends most of her time with two very active little boys!

Grandma got in on the snuggles too!

Caroline was not interested in bedtime one evening, so she got to come downstairs for some playtime with Grandpa!

Anna Kate loved Leah's super fun backyard on a hot Saturday afternoon!

Wesley and Anna Kate walking along Virginia Beach.  

And these two...10 weeks apart and best buddies!

Grandma and Grandpa Burgin with their 5 (soon to be 7!) grandchildren!

We love you all so much and were so thankful to get to spend time with all of you.  We're excited to see most of you at Thanksgiving!

10 months old!

Caroline Hope, you are 10 months old today!  Double digits...how can that possibly be?!?  It's hard to believe you're getting so close to the big ONE!  I have to admit, though, I'm having fun brainstorming ideas for your first birthday party...I hope you like purple =)  But back to today, you are growing and changing in so many ways.  Here are just a few:

~ You now have four (almost six) teeth!  Really, this month could be called the month of teething.  Your top two teeth have come in (with the Burgin space in between) and your top eye teeth look to be close behind.  You are chewing on absolutely everything and needing just a little extra comfort lately.
~ You are getting very brave with standing up and trying to move around on your feet.  You have just started to try to cruise around at furniture.
~ You are also trying really hard to climb things (big toys, furniture, stairs).  We're going to have to really watch you!
~ You have started to use some of your toys in the correct ways.  For example, if we say, "Hello, who is it?" you will hold a toy phone up to your ear.  You also give baby dolls hugs and kisses and pat them on the back.
~ You are still very much a Mommy's girl.  You love to interact with other people, but always burrow your whole body into my shoulder or chest if they give any indication of wanting to hold you.
~ You love to play games with your big sister.  Just the other day, you kept dropping your paci off the side of the porch swing and Anna Kate would retrieve it and you just laughed and laughed!
~ You sure talk a lot, but we can't quite make out words yet.  You have definitely said "dada" and "mama", but not very consistently yet.
~ You still don't sleep.
~ Ok, well, you do take s couple of good naps during the day, and many of your nights have been better lately.  Better as in, you are easy to get back to sleep when you wake up, instead of being awake for long periods of time in the middle of the night!
~ You are growing so fast that it's hard to keep the right size clothes in your dresser!  I just switched out all your clothes for 18 month outfits!
~ You still nurse 6-8 times a day (and then more in the middle of the night), but you are also doing really well eating just about anything we give you.  You eat all kinds of fruits, vegetables, meats, and beans.  We are doing a lot more finger foods than spoon feeding.  You have more fun that way and I think it makes you feel like a big girl!
~ Although you have your moments of just needing Mommy or Daddy to hold you, you really entertain yourself very well.  You love all the toys in the playroom, or the books in the living room, and will sit for long little stretches just talking and playing.
~ Much to your Mommy's dismay, you will NOT keep a hairbow in.  Well, I think you would keep a hairbow in if you had enough hair, but you don't have quite enough yet.  So we can only do hairbows on headbands and you REFUSE to wear those!
~ Speaking of hair, did I mention last month that it's coming in curly?!?  Well it definitely is curly now!
~ You really love to play and interact with other babies and children.  Your favorite of course is your big sister, but you also really love all of your cousins as well as your best baby friend, Heidi.

Sweet baby Caroline, you just keep getting more and more lovable every day and we are so glad that you joined our family ten months ago!  We love you more than words can say!

Here are your pictures!

One month

Two months

Three months

Four months

Five months

Six months

Seven months

Eight months

Nine months

Ten months!