Fun at Kiawah

Greg, Shyloe, Taiten and Greyson arrived late Monday afternoon. On Monday night, all 4 kids attempted to sleep on the pull out couch in their room.  I think Ryan ended up on the floor and Taiten and Greyson eventually ended up in their parents room.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, we spent time riding bikes, checking out the Sanctuary, going to the park, doing art projects and time at the nature center.

South Carolina Aquarium

Monday was pretty chilly, so we decided to venture into Charleston to check out the South Carolina Aquarium.   The first thing we did was go to the 4D movie - Planet Earth.  This was our first 4D movie.  It combines 3-D imagery, interactive seating and waves of special effects such as gusts of wind, splashes of water and movement under your feet.  We then had a fun time exploring the different areas of the aquarium. They even had an outdoor area that was pretty neat. And, a new Madagascar exhibit with lemurs. After our visit to the aquarium, we ventured into the market area of Charleston and visited a barn with horses, had yogurt and did a little shopping. Such a cute area of town.

Kiawah here we come!

We had a 7:15am flight so left the house very early. We flew Southwest and had a quick stop in Houston before making our way to Charleston. Avery and Ryan were great travelers and the pilot even let them check out the cockpit during our stopover. We arrived in Charleston to pouring rain, which was no fun. Since we got in early we had time to stop at Costco and the grocery store to get our groceries for the week. Grams and Gramps arrived a few hours before us and were excited for our arrival!

Grady's Birthday

Andy took Avery and Ryan to Little Monkey Bizness for Grady's 4th birthday party while I was at the salon.   Avery and Ryan had lots of classmates to play wtih and had a great time burning lots of energy.  

Raleigh

Raleigh unexpectedly passed away today.  She went to the vet for a deep ear cleaning as she had a stubborn ear infection and had to be put under.  She came out of the anthesia fine and Andy got a call from the vet that all was good. An hour later, they took her out to go to the bathroom and she had a seizure and went into cardiac arrest. They tried to revive her without success.  Andy and I were devastated. Raleigh was such a great family dog and we fell in love with her from the moment we met her.  We named her Raleigh after where we got married in 2006.  We found a breeder in the spring of 2006 and met her right before we closed on our house.  We brought her home at 8 weeks in early August and we didn't even have grass yet.  She made herself at home from the beginning and she was our baby for 3 years before Avery and Ryan arrived.  As we were nesting in late 2008/early 2009 for the arrival of the babies, we could tell Raleigh sensed something was going on.  She was a great big sister to Avery and Ryan but also not happy that they seemed to take a lot of our attention.  She tried to combat that by stealing pacifiers, baby toys, food, etc.  She also thought anytime we had a visitor that they had come to see her and wouldn't leave their side.  We will miss her dearly and we were so fortunate to have her as our dog for 6 1/2 years.

Go Broncos!

We had the Carlson's over to watch the Broncos vs the Carolina Panthers. It was great to catch up as we both have had a busy fall. We had pizza and sloppy joe's for lunch and enjoyed brownies for dessert. The kids had fun playing on every level of the house and got along great! And, the Broncos won!

Trick or Treat

It was hard for Avery and Ryan to get home from the party and wait a bit before we could Trick or Treat!  Andy got set up on the front porch with his busted ankle to hand out candy and I took the kids around.  They did lots of walking and finally said they were ready to head home.  They had fun sorting through all their candy and handing out candy to our visitors!