Nanna in Savannah Part 2

So today we did actually go into Savannah. On the way we stopped and said hello to daddy and showed Nanna his tugboat.

We took the ferry across the river to avoid having to drive or park the giant truck. The ferry us always my favorite way to travel into Savvy :o)

As soon as we got to River Street the boys had to show Nanna their favorite play area...surprise, it's a tug boat!

Finally we were off through town on a walking tour to go to lunch. St. Patricks Day is a HUGE event in Savannah and the fire services were out practicing in the streets in anticipation for the weekend. The boys were THRILLED with all of the action!

The fire trucks finally left the area so I could get a nice photo in front of the Cotton Exchange.

Where do you take a British citizen to lunch in Savannah...to the Six Pence Pub of course! We enjoyed an amazing Ploughman's lunch with cider, just like we were back in the old country.

Can you tell that Spud was NOT interested in the camera or posing for photos during this adventure?
After lunch it was off to another Savvy favorite Leopolds for ice cream!

We had to stop and enjoy the squares on the mosey back. The azaleas are blooming so every square and all of the streets are awash in blooms and color. This is one of my favorite squares because of the size of the oak tree. Magnificent! The boys were worn out and NOT impressed with trees or flowers.

And then MORE fire trucks on River St which woke the little men out of their sugar coma. This time they were practicing with the long Tiller truck, which they parked and then tested the fire boat. SO exciting for the Mercer boys!!

And a trip to Savannah would not be complete without waving at a Moran tug and receiving a toot, toot whistle. It was a fun day and Nanna enjoyed her first trip to our new favorite city.

Nanna in Savannah Part 1

Nanna came to visit for 4 whole days!! Wooo HOOOO!!!
It was the first time she really got to hang out and get to know our new town and enjoy life in the low country. We really do live in such a beautiful place and her 2 day stop over in December did not allow her enough time to savor it all.

She arrived Sunday night to two boys excited to show off the new pool. (The pool will have its own blog post in the days to come.) Pnut absolutely adores his Nanna and I love how special their relationship is. She does indulge his every wish, which might have something to do with his adoration. They have long, deep conversations and he learns so many things from her...random but interesting things. I love to hear the details as he remembers them days later.

We did more than just go to Savannah with Nanna (I just like how that rhymes!) First thing on the agenda was to take her to our favorite sandbar and show her the May River and Hilton Head. The tide cooperated long enough for her to get a quick experience of the sand bar before it was covered with water. Oh darn, guess she will have to come back again for the full experience! :o)

MY turn to pose with Nanna!

Our sanbar is shrinking!

The tide came in so we had to go...off to Harbour Town and Hilton Head's sorry excuse for a "light house," and little fishing and the Broad Creek for lunch at Up The Creek Pub.

Saying HELLO to the locals as we enter the harbour.

Since we didn't catch anything we stopped at the Oyster Factory and picked up shrimp for dinner and enjoyed Frogmore Stew aka Lowcountry Boil for dinner. Mmmmmmmm!

Spring has Sprung

Our fascination with season change continues... if you recall the Mercer boys were concerned back in October as to "why are all of the trees dying?" and I had to explain to my little Florida natives that it is a season we call FALL. Now we are absolutely LOVING this other new season known as SPRING. Our neighborhood is awash in blooms !

This dogwood tree is amazing!

Our Son "Shorty"

The Mercer  Boys had their "well visits" today with Dr.Peltz at Palmetto Pediatrics. I should say they finally had their well visits... Spud is officially 2 years and 10 months old and today was his 2 year old check up. (We had a spell of 6 months during the fall of 2010 where the boys were in commercial day care and as a result we were at the doctor every week, no exaggeration, for one or the both of them. Since they have been home with Chelsea, Nanna and now ME we have been healthy, healthy, healthy and I have not seen a need to expose them to doctors unless absolutely necessary...until now. Spud will be 3 soon so I figured it was time.)

As I suspected...very healthy boys :o)

Pnut weighs 52.6 pounds which is in the 99% for his age. He is 45.5 inches tall which is in the 98% for his age. Dr. Peltz commented that he will probably be at least 6'3'' (SHOCKER!) and even though he weighs a TON he was obviously a very active kid so he was not concerned. He needed 4 shots and was SO brave...he did not shed one single tear! Totally cool and calm. The nurse and I were in awe. (I will mention though that MANY tears were shed taking the band aid off his leg later that night in the tub.)

Spud weighs 38.6 pounds which is in the 96% for his age. Dr. Peltz was impressed that he was totally potty trained and so verbal. (The nurse asked if he spoke 2 word sentences and had at least 20 words in his vocabulary...um, yes. I didn't mention that while we were going potty 5 minutes earlier he asked me "Are the paper towels automatic or do I have to pull a lever?")  This next part was a real shocker... He is 38 inches tall which is ONLY 81% for his age!? What??? So, Spud's official new nickname is SHORTY.

SHELLabration!!

In a crazy whirlwind weekend we headed south to Sanibel Florida for their Shellibration!! What we thought was going to be a festival of shells turned out to be 3 tents set up out side of a community center on the island of Sanibel. Not sure if it was worth the grueling 10 hour drive though parts of Florida I didn't know existed, dodging Canadians and mack trucks and answering the questions "Are we there yet? Where are we going again? Why are we going there?" from the back seat... but it was certainly memorable!

The beach was beautiful, the water BLUE and the sun warm.

For the record, the two little men that were slaves to our shell obsession were awesome travellers. And the entire weekend was worth it because it was the happiest I have seen Grammy in a loooooooong time.

 

Beach toy hauler and surf board... got to love a red wagon!

Our little camper in the RV park LOL!

An accidental photo as the seagulls swooped!

One bonus of the weekend was the stop in Orlando at IKEA on the way home. I found this awesome toy container/step shelf for the boys room for only $49. Perfect solution to their messy room!!

Edisto Escape in Style

My Mom's group at church is awesome. LOVE THEM! I am so very grateful that God led me to that church and has blessed my life with these authentic, fun, supportive women.

Sue, the Mom's group organizer, is a big believer in taking time to renew the spirit and organizes an annual weekend retreat for the Moms to get away and spend the weekend doing whatever it is that helps them return to their normal life refreshed and happy.  She rents a big house on the beach in Edisto and spends the entire weekend doing what she loves, scrap booking, without interruption from her 3 kids or family. I was thrilled to accept the invite when she offered since it sounded great to me.... except for the scrap booking part. As the weekend drew nearer and different people heard I was going they all made me a little nervous since they described Sue and her friends as "die hard" and "serious" about their scrap booking.

In the end there were 13 of us. 8 scrap bookers, 2 sewers, 1 working on a family tree and then Missy and I. Here was the house...GORGEOUS!!

It was beautifully decorated and amazing... until the crazy scrap bookers arrived and took over the living room with craft tables and more paper than I have ever seen in my entire life. The second floor, which had (past tense) an adorable sitting room was turned into the sewing factory sweat shop. Absolute crafting insanity!!! But SO much fun!!!

Missy's face says it ALL in this photo...we were a tad bit overwhelmed the first night since neither of us partake in scrap booking. (She did get bitten by the bug though!! Proof is in the photo!)

Here we are being goofy on the third day when the weather was warm enough to go outside and enjoy the deck.

I am a happy girl any time I am free to wander a beach and Edisto is my favorite beach in SC. I had my bike so I wandered the island collecting miscellaneous stuff like palm fronds and drift wood and shells... all the things that I can get crafty with. The house had a fabulous area where I was free to be creative.

I will admit that I did organize all of the boys photos into albums and I finally put photos in their baby books, so the weekend was actually productive. Can't wait till the next Edisto Girls weekend!!!

Oh, here's a random bit of info.. I loved this bathroom in the house...that's the Key West light house in the middle of the shower curtain. My hubby and I had our first "date" at the top of that light house and 2 summers later we got married at the top of that light house.