One of this guy's cousins went swimming by our dock this morning.  I am glad my mom got to see him.  We have enjoyed bike rides, walks on the beach, sun bathing, body surfing, and delicious food.  Walter even helped me with some crafts last night. 

Home Away from Home

Here is where we will be staying at Kiawah this year.  We stayed in this same villa in 2006, but it has been redecorated since then.  As long as I can take my Crock-pot and Makita stick vacuum with me, I will feel right at home.  I think I am beginning to relax a but just looking at the pictures.

I am so excited to announce that a few of us Russells and my mom will be heading back to the beach for Labor Day weekend.

Homeward Bound

We are all a little sad that our vacation is over, but we are also looking forward to being home.  We have enjoyed the simplest of pleasures, but so many of them.  The sound of surf, the feel of soft sand between our toes, games of frisbee on the beach and football in the waves.  We have created and laughed and sung.  Mostly we have soaked up each other's company not knowing when the next time will be that we are all together.  Some of us headed down to the beach one last time this morning to watch the sun rise and feed the "chickens." I think a sign of a good vacation is the feeling that you wish you could stay a bit longer.

Last Day

I can't believe this is the last day.  We have had such a great time.  Today we will go down to the beach with  the Brays who are here to take Ethan Bray back to Greenville.  There have been some shenanigans, though. Someone cruelly replaced the Waffle Crisp in the Ethans' villa with Corn Chex.  They discovered this around midnight last night and raided our villa to rectify things.  It seems that nothing is safe anymore.

You are probably wondering about the facial hair competition,  Seth challenged his brothers not to shave for the week of vacation.  Seth has the best beard/mustache combo going on, but the Ethans have declared that Matthew's mustache makes him look "friendly."  You will just have to judge for yourselves.

Family Picture Day

Yesterday was yet another fun day on Kiawah Island. After eating breakfast, everyone (except for the Ethans) hopped on their bikes and went on a bike ride to one of the marsh lookout towers. It was a good ride, but a hot one! Wilson enjoyed riding in his bike trailer. So much in fact, that he fell asleep on the way back. After our bike ride Thomas, Julie, and Wilson headed over to Georgetown to have lunch with Julie's Aunts, Margaret and Roberta. 

   It was a little bit stormy yesterday, so we spent the late morning and early afternoon in the villa. It didn't rain at all, but there was a lot of thunder. Later in the afternoon we headed down to the beach and played some bocce. 

After some fun beach time we ate mom's delicious chicken casserole for dinner, then took some family pictures out on the deck. It was pretty fun trying to get Wilson to smile and sit still for the pictures. 

Over and out,

Faith

Craft Time

Yesterday after lunch we made placemats.  Here is Julie's.  Her design really captures some of the important aspects of our vacation.  Do you see the mouse in the corner?  That's right.  We have a mouse in the house.  He ate a tomatoe, a nibbled a hole in the sealed bag of coffee, and he broke into Wilson's penquin crackers.  That's OK.  It is the stuff vacation lore is made of.  Last night we hid all of the food in the cooler, the oven, and the microwave.  It seemed to work.

Do you see what appears to be a colorful ladder?  It is Matthew's redneck golf game.  It is great fun.  The brothers, Walt, and Faith like to play it.  There are pairs of balls connected with a string.  You toss the balls at the ladder in hopes of wrapping them around the rungs for varying amounts of points.  Wilson quickly figured this game out.  He walked over, picked up a pair of balls, and hung them on the rungs.  Many points!

There is also a gator.  There is a gator living beneath our dock.  He comes out when we come out.  The Ethans have named him Steve.

The wagon has also been a huge feature of this vacation.  Wilson loves his red wagon.  It is a serious business when he gets buckled in.  He holds on tightly with both hands.

Today we will laminate these keepsake placemats so that Wilson can use them at home in Nashville.