From the moment the New Year hits, we start the count down for summer. Not because it means no school or even no homework, but it is then that we head to the states and get to see our families. We landed in Charleston after a very long two days of traveling. We love Charleston for so many reasons…. but certainly top on that list is because my sister and her family live there. Our families blend together for several weeks and while the households become much more busy for Jen and I, I wouldn’t trade the commotion for anything in the world...
Each summer we celebrate all of the events that we have missed. This year we are celebrating many birthdays, Christmas, 2 first communions and my sisters oldest (Jake) going off to Flagler college. This year Jennifer and I collaboratively have children between the ages of 6 & 19 years old. While we are all so VERY close, the two that are the most inseperable are Jordan (my oldest) and Logan (my sisters youngest).
This summer once again we rented a condo about 2 1/2 miles from my sister in Mt. Pleasant, SC. There is so much to do here, but where we gravitate the most is the beach… and my sisters backyard pool!
Once I get my U.S.A legs on… and I have had a good nights sleep, I pull our “Crusher” out of storage. This year, Chris made a special trip to Charleston in the spring and surprised me by putting a lock box in with a radio.
While the weather was primarily beautiful, I am not going to lie and say there were many times I had this car out and it was pouring rain and we all came home soaking wet with equally soaked grocery bags!!! It’s all fun times… until a storm hits!
It didn’t take the kids long to hit the Kangaroo for the summer “Roo Cup” special. For a mere 25 cents you can get all of your kids “jacked up” on pure sugar…
and like clock work… the sugar rush eventually plummets hard…
It is a toss up the moment we feel the MOST at home… when we pull the Crusher out of storage, when we go to the beach OR the first time we walk into the grocery store and can finally read all of the labels. I know for a fact, for the kids, it is when we land on the beach that everything just simply feels at home.
Charleston has the perfect beaches for skim boarding…. The tidal pools and low tide waves make it perfect for us… Even at 75, Jordan’s Pop Pop (Kristen’s Dad) got a lesson and hooked. Video supplied at request...
I cannot believe Jordan will be entering 5th grade this year!!
Garrett will be entering 3rd Grade...
And Ayden will be heading into 1st Grade...
I am so crazy lucky!!!!
This summer, Jordan opted to try a new sport. She went to tennis camp for two weeks so that she was able to play with her Pop Pop.
Lets just say … Pop Pop does a lot of running when he plays with the Carey girls….
Then we tire him even more spending the afternoon at the beach...
Dumpling Night!
Dumpling night… is the night that we celebrated Jordan & Garrett’s first holy communion AND Jake heading off to college. While living in China, Ayden has gotten proficient in making dumplings with both my great friend Charmain and our Ayi, Fang. We celebrated an Asian night and Ayden was teaching the family how to make dumplings… as well as some of the traditions we have learned while living in Asia.
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We finished up the night with Cake and sending off all of our dreams, wishes… etc in a Chinese lantern.
It was a huge success….
Until it floated high in the sky…. and over and ONTO the neighbors roof!!! (No pictures as we did not want to incriminate ourselves!)
It doesn’t take much for us to find things to celebrate… No doubt we all know how blessed we are...
And we plan to live life to the fullest…. each day we can!
It seems like the moment we land, we start counting down the days until Chris arrives…. Unfortunately, this year, just after he landed, Jordan got injured playing indoor soccer barefoot. Three days in the hospital, an amputated toe and two pins later, Summer deflated. Our most active child, was sidelined.
It didn’t however stop us from going to the beach…
We were able to find a doctor in China to help us pull out the pins in 6 weeks… and life moved on…
But the memories and pictures remind us of how lucky we are to have the family and friends we do…
the constant support we have and the love we always come home to.
Until next year….
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