Hilton Head Island

This week Justin and I had the opportunity to go to Hilton Head Island for a few days. It was kind of an anniversary/been working on dissertation all summer and need a break trip. We really enjoyed our time together. One evening we went to see a movie, Inception, it was great! We explored the island, ate some great seafood and spent time relaxing on the beach.
This is the trolley that took us around the Sea Pines part of the island. We really enjoyed going to Harbor Town and South Beach. There are lots of shops and restaurants there, including the famous, Salty Dog Cafe. We also saw the lighthouse, it wasn't that impressive in person, but it was cute. We watched some people parasail and jet ski in the Colibogue Sound.



Meanwhile, back in Lexington...Alina had a blast with Pauline and her kids during the day and stayed with Jason and Leslie at night.
Apparently, Pauline is trying to teach Alina Dutch. When we came to pick Alina up, she brought me the Dutch book to show me what she's been working on:)
Alina got to spend some great time with Riley. Usually, Riley is at school when Alina is at the Rogers, but this time they got to play together. They seem to really enjoy one another.

Bath time with Riley was apparently a lot of fun. Here they are trying to see who can be louder!
Thank you Pauline, Rogers' kids, Jason and Leslie for taking such good care of our little girl so we could enjoy some time together!

Playing House

Our friend, Riley, gave Alina a great play kitchen and dollhouse. She absolutely loves it! The kitchen is awesome. It has a telephone that rings, buttons on the oven and microwave that make noise. And it even has pots that you put on the stove and they sound like it is boiling or frying. Its pretty amazing, I'm having fun playing with it as well! The dollhouse has a ringing doorbell that Alina loves. She likes to put the baby in the bathtub and the daddy at the computer desk. Thank you so much Riley for passing down your toys to us!

Daddy also likes to play house:)

Pawley's Island

This week Alina and I went to Pawley's Island with Jessica's family. We had a great time of hanging out on the beach, playing and relaxing. Alina and Patrick are so much fun at this age and they really love to play with one another. I also had fun playing games with Jessica, Matt and Chris. We sure are loving the beach this summer!

Alina hanging out with Patrick's Uncle Chris

Enjoying the sun

Alina and Patrick loved the sand and the water. Jessica set up this baby pool and they loved it, especially Patrick

Jessica and Matt

Jessica, Patrick and Matt

Watching the rain from the balcony

Lake Days

We've had the opportunity to go to the lake several times this summer. Some of the days were rained out, but we still had a good time with friends. We did some swimming, some wakeboarding, skiing and lots of good eating.

Hanging out with Leslie, but Alina woke up kind of grumpy

Alina and Rose playing with the kitchen at the Mason's lake house

Irina, Justin and Lily came with us to the lake when they were in town, Justin got to do some wakeboarding

First boat ride with daddy

Alina is not a big fan of her life jacket, but its not an option:)

Ft. Worth Zoo

Alina and I went to the Fort Worth Zoo with Gigi and Papa (Justin's parents) yesterday. We met up with Aunt Kim (Justin's sister) and Uncle Ben, also his sister, Rebecca, her children Anna and Jack and Ben's parents Judy and Dale. It was hot, but not as hot as a Texas July 4th could have been. We all had fun looking at the animals and riding the carousel. Alina and I especially love "Texas Town." I must say, I prefer the Ft. Worth Zoo to Riverbanks (sorry SC pals, it just is better). Here are some pictures.

Uncle Ben and his new nephew, Jack, who is 3 weeks old. This was his first zoo outing.

Alina and Gigi in the Wells Fargo coach.

Aunt Kim with her two nieces, Anna (4) and Alina (18months)

On the carousel, Alina loved it!

Texas Town has a petting corral with goats, a pig, chickens and a baby longhorn.

We had to get our picture made by the kangaroo statue.

Aunt Kim took Alina to see the Parrot Paradise. They even got a seed stick to feed the birds. Alina loved it when the birds would fly around her!

Looking at the birds

Mommy's little princess:)

Seabrook Island

This past week we had a great time at the beach with my family. We rented a "villa" down at Seabrook Island near Charleston. Unfortunately, Justin could only come on the last day (my birthday) because he is working so hard on his dissertation. But we all had a lot of fun and were able to relax, have fun and spend time together!
At first Alina wasn't too sure about the water and the sand. But after a few short minutes of showing her how to put sand on her legs, she grew to love it. After the first day she would see her float and say "go, poo (pool) go." I was amazed at how much she learned this week!
On Tuesday, Irina and Justin, Mark, and I went to Charleston for a short trip. On our way we stopped at the Angel Oak. It is HUGE!!! It covers 17,000 square feet.

In Charleston, Irina and I love the cemeteries by the old churches. This is one of Irina's favorite to visit. While in Charleston, Jessica met up with us and we went to Hyman's for lunch. Then Jessica came to the beach with us.


We found a good place to eat, Red's Icehouse, by the Bohicket Marina, but we made the mistake of choosing to eat outside when it was very hot. We had a good time, despite the heat.

This was the sunset on my last day as a twenty-something. As hard as turning 30 was, this was a beautiful view!

We were so happy to have Justin come on Friday to play with us and enjoy my birthday!
Daddy and his little girl:)


We had such a wonderful time, I hope that we are able to do that again!