Edisto Beach & Lunar Eclipse

I am so far behind on this blog that I'm not even sure what to include and what to leave out.

In January, we decided to go camping for Martin Luther King weekend. We chose Edisto Beach where we had never been before. On the way, we decided to stop at the Angel Oak Tree. We had heard a lot about it, but never seen it. It did not dissapoint. It is estimated to be 400-500 years old.

The campground was beautiful and right next to the beach.

The kids went for a swim even though it was freezing cold!

We had s'mores by the fire.

Edisto was a charming town. It was very residential and not touristy. It had suffered a lot from a recent hurricane. There were many properties for sale.

We were supposed to stay two days, but it was freezing cold and poured rain. We stayed dry, but our bedding was wet so we decided to head home a day early. 

It was Tashi's first camping trip and his first time at the beach. He loved both, but wasn't a fan of the water.

We found amazing shells. Lots of whelk shells and some horseshoe crab shells.

When we got home, we were able to catch the lunar eclipse. It is pretty cool that we were able to see both a solar and a lunar eclipse in a short amount of time. The kids slept through it, but David and I watched it from the trampoline.

It was hard to focus the camera, so the pictures mostly came out blurry. They were still pretty cool.

Overall, it was an amazing weekend and we had a wonderful time.

Stemposium

A couple of weeks ago, a local high school had a "Stemposium" to showcase fun activities related to the STEM program. We decided to give it a try.

The kids built a skeleton out of cardboard.

My favorite part was one I didn't take a picture of - the chemistry demo. They watched how to make toothpaste and created artwork with shaving cream and food coloring. (We may do that one at home.) 

They floated boats made out of water bottles and aluminum cans.

Played four square (not sure what that has to do with STEM, but it was their favorite part).

They drove robots.

The following Monday, we cheered the Clemson Tigers on to the National Championship. Both of the kids have become Clemson fans and Baylie says she wants to go there. We'll see!

Happy New Year!!

We had such a fun, laid-back New Year's Eve. So laid back that I forgot to take pictures. We had ham, refried beans, Lion House rolls and funeral potatoes - YUM. Our friends, the Shurtleff's, came over to eat and celebrate with us.

We played some fun games and just enjoyed hanging out. We also ate chips, dip, crackers, and drank sparkling cider.

The Shurtleffs left at 9. Baylie and Jalen were determined to stay awake to ring in the New Year. They made it to 11:30. 

Even Tashi was pooped out.

This morning Baylie and David put together the jungle gym she got for Christmas. It's like the one Grammy & Granddad  have and Baylie has wanted one ever since we got our own house.

Jalen joined them later to finish the job.

 I love it when they work or play well together.

The finished product is terrific.

They are already having fun with it.

They wiped themselves out!