Feet in the sand, wind blowing through my hair…

…but fortunately we did not spot an alligator cruising around in the surf while we were at the Isle of Palms last week.

(Did you see this story on the news? Crazy alligator!)

Go here to see the pictures of the alligator.

Anyway, Matt, Ashleigh, and I just spent a wonderful week down at Isle of Palms, along with our good friends from seminary, Nathaniel and Carolyn, and Ginger and Kris. Ginger’s parents so kindly allowed us to stay at their beach house, which was only a block and a half from the beautiful Atlantic Ocean. The weather was GORGEOUS the whole time we were there, so we were able to spend a lot of time at the beach.

(Someone’s ready for the beach!)

We arrived around dinner time on Monday, got unpacked, and ate a delicious dinner of fish tacos prepared by the L-K’s.  We took a short walk on the beach and then crashed in the living room to watch The Other Guys (Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg).

We spent most of the next day on the beach. We borrowed my parents’ canopy and set that up on the beach. It provided a wonderful amount of shade from the blazing sun. Ashleigh was a bit fussy because she missed her morning nap, so we made her a nice, soft pallet on the sand so she could lay down and try to sleep. As she tried to cry herself to sleep, we got  a few “looks” from passerbyers who thought we were torturing our dear child (P.S. This is the first time that I’ve gotten annoyed at people glaring at a crying baby. One lady who was riding her bike on the beach actually stopped and stared at us until I picked up Ashleigh. Ugh)

Anyway, she finally fell asleep and woke up nice and refreshed about 45 minutes later. Since the tide was coming in, we took her to the edge of the waves and plopped her feet in the water. She was a bit hesitant at first, but then once she figured out that the water wasn’t going to hurt her, she LOVED it! She was talking and giggling and just have a grand time in the water.

That afternoon, Ashleigh and I took a wonderful nap to rest up from our day on the beach.

That evening, Matt and I cooked shrimp and grits for everyone, and then we took a long walk around the main street in Isle of Palms and ate some yummy Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. Then we watched The Fighter (another Mark Wahlberg movie).

On Wednesday, the men went to play disc golf, and Carolyn and Ginger went to get a massage. I opted out on getting a massage because I had gotten sunburned on my back, and it was a bit sore. So Ashleigh and I went shopping instead! That afternoon/evening, we relaxed around the house, Ashleigh napped, and then we walked to the Windjammer for a drink before dinner. Then, the Anderstarz made black bean burgers. Yum! We had game night and played many games of Bananagrams.

On Thursday, we went to the beach in the morning and then headed to downtown Charleston. We had a great time walking around and exploring. We ate some yummy gelato for a snack, and ate dinner at Fleet Landing. So good! (Nathaniel brought his camera, so hopefully I can get some pictures from his at some point… hint hint!)

On Friday, we cleaned up the beach house and then said goodbye to Carolyn and Nathaniel. Nathaniel was just called to be a pastor in Wilbraham, Massachusetts. We will miss our crazy upstairs neighbors tremendously! After our goodbyes, we went down to the beach to try to get some cute beach photos of Ashleigh.

(Ashleigh “helping” us pack)

Thank you, Ginger and Kris, for inviting us to spend a week with you! It was fabulous!