Visitors to Charleston

Last weekend my mom, my grandmother (my dad's mom) and my sister came to visit. 5 people and a dog in our little condo was quite crazy, but all Walker get-togethers are crazy so I think Sandor has just gotten used to it. They were on a week long visiting trip, first up to Brandy's house and then down to mine. Nikole had gone to Brandy's house when she and John got back from the west coast (since they are teachers and have the summer off, they got to extend their trip after Rainier). So my mom and Granny drove down to pick her up, helped my sister do some landscaping, and then headed down to my house for some hot and humid relaxation! Needless to say I thought it was rather cool outside for a Charleston July weekend and they were not in agreement. :)

The first night my mom, Sandor, Nikole and I took the Kaylinn pup to the beach. It was hilarious. Nikole and Kaylinn went swimming/running in the water. Nikole kept tripping over the sand and falling in the water and Kaylinn would look confused and unsure why this strange person was running around with her. But in the end she decided this strange person was in fact ok, and kept running around.

nearly full moon at the beach

Kaylinn LOVES digging holes!

The next day we got up and took a real beach trip - i.e. the umbrella and towels and Twizzlers! If you have never had Twizzlers after they sit in the sun and get warm and then have sand and salt in them from the ocean, I highly recommend it!

Nikole and mom

I like having my feet in sand

hanging out in the shade working on finishing Harry Potter

Granny looking for shells on the beach

As my family learned you do things in Charleston in the morning and then you head back indoors during the middle of the day. So we hung out at the house, my grandmother worked on a quilt and Kaylinn was quite happy to assist :)

Kaylinn was loving life with all the attention :)

The next morning we headed downtown and took at carriage ride around town. My mom and I had done this when I first moved to Charleston and knew that my grandmother would love it. Last time Nikole - who initiated the carriage ride - fell asleep during the middle of it. This time she stayed awake :) It was quite entertaining and I learned some more about Charleston that I didn't know. And we got the tour that went down to the battery, which is my favorite place that I wanted to show my grandmother (for those of you not from here - the city controls where the carriage rides go so that they are not all lined up in one spot, so you don't know which tour you are getting until you get it).

Church St - I love that church

Another carriage in front of us on Broad St.

the battery - we looked into getting married here, but you can only have 20 people at your wedding! I've got 20 people just in my dad's side of the family!

I didn't realize there were still houses with damage from Hugo!

love the cobblestone

We made it back to the house just in time to get out of the torrential downpour! I love rainy days hanging out at home though. My mom and I went out to the grocery store and got food to make for my two new mothers, so that took up most of the afternoon. And then after we dropped off the food and said hi to the two sweeties (who were both happily sleeping during the day so that they could stay awake a night and keep their parents in a state of sleep deprivation) we headed up to Summerville for Sandor's niece and nephew's birthday party. And go figure - more babies! This is our friends Evan and Benita's little girl Ava...

Michelle and the not so little anymore Tobias
Aniko opening presents - she had previously opened a present with dress up clothes which she insisted on trying on immediately, hence the ballerina outfit

Sean opening presents - Sean was much more into the opening of the presents than the seeing what they were :) - it's funny how twins are so different!

But the next day everyone had to head home. It was great fun while it lasted!