Spring Break in Charleston

At 3 pm on Sunday, Drew completed the worst semester ever to put it nicely. After screaming, we got in the car and drove half way to Charleston and spent the night. The next morning, we got up and headed on into town. This week turned out to be quite the adventure. I have posted lots of pictures and will tell the story along the way.

When we got there, our room was not ready so we walked around for the afternoon. Then, we went back to our "hotel" which was an historic inn that we had been so excited about finding- well long story short, they tried to double charge us and did not uphold the package we had found on the internet. Drew was very nice as she handed us her phone book and said she hoped we found something. So, off we went with luggage in tow. The visitor center was extremly helpful and put us at the Ansonborough Inn- an old refurbished cotton warehouse. Our room was 2 1/2 stories- the kitchenette area, the master area was a few stairs above that and then a loft for the girls. Our girls went nuts- especially Kalie. The room was less expensive and so much better- God handed us a blessing and we were so excited! So, if you ever go to Charleston, DO NOT stay at the Fulton Lane Inn (there are 5 inns in this grouping and I can't recommend any of them because of what happened.) I can highly recommend the Ansonborough and assured them that we would let everyone know of the excellent service and accomodations they provided. Here are the girls having a picnic under the stairs in our room! We rode the carriage. Karlee had been so excited about seeing the horses. You can tell in this photo that she is not "secure" about being here yet. This was our first vacation since all of the therapy started with Karlee. We had done several things to help prepare her for this. Before we left, she said she was excited about going and asked- now we will all stay a family right? And I said yes! And she said- and no one is going to come and take me some place else? So, this was hard for her and over all she did well. When I asked her why she didn't smile in this picture, she replied, "I still have a little mad in my heart..." That's her version of insecurity.



We celebrated with ice cream of course several times.

Kalie took this picture and it is one of my favorites of Drew and me.
Kate's one year gotcha day celebration (more on this in next post)- we had Thai food. Kate wanted noodles and this was the closest we could find!

This was taken at a house that one of my great x5 grandgather's lived in. It was really cool seeing this.

Kalie is sitting in the pew booth where George Washington sat at church when he visited Charleston. This was St. Michael's Episcapal Church and absolutely gorgeous!
Karlee loves frogs so we had to get her picture!
Our family at Fort Sumpter. This was at one of the cannon holes.
This picture is hilarious to me and my sisters because when we went to New York, we had a moment with shower caps (I promised to not give details) so I had to take this picture of our girls! They thought these were too funny!

Kate's favorite thing in the world is to be NAKED!!! she gets so excited and says Neh neh!!!!
Yes, after the semester we have had and even though we are on vacation, we still have moments of temporary insanity....
We took these at a Plantation. I loved these wild flowers. Okay- all you Patrick Swayze fans- this was the oak lined avenue and plantation where North and South was filmed years ago. Patrick Swayze rode on this actual road! ha! Drew and I are being silly sharing a kiss.
We went to the beach for a little while but it was too cold to stay long!On our way home, we stopped at Stone Mountain and rode to the top. Kalie got to help "drive" the tram.We are at the top- this view was fabulous!Drew acting like he was going to fly off.We ended our week with Drew attending a conference in Birmingham. We met some friends (the Dethero's) who were also coming through Birmingham on their way home from vacation, for dinner and had a great time! It was a fun week. I always think it takes a couple of days to just slow down enough to really relax and realize you are away- is anyone else like that? Karlee ended up doing well and we all had a great time together.