Balloons

The girls were invited to attend a two-week camp at the local hospice center over the summer for school-age kids who had lost a family member in the recent past.  They talked about losing Beckett and worked on coping strategies for when they were feeling extra down.  At the conclusion of the camp, all the families got together at the park for a balloon releasing ceremony.

We all wrote a message to Beckett on our ballons, had some snacks, and met some of the counselors with whom the girls had worked.



It was pretty emotional talking about it and sending our messages up into the sky, but we were glad that the girls were able to attend the camp.  We will always remember our little man, and will ever look forward to seeing him again.

Charleston

For our belated 10th anniversary, we dropped the kids off in Greenville, SC with the Smiths while we went down to Charleston.  We'd heard so many great things about the city (especially the food!) and were very excited to go.

Evaleigh wasn't so sure she liked the heat and humidity of coastal South Carolina in July.  She turned into a limp noodle anytime we were out for more than about an hour...

But was SUPER happy when we finally got back into the air conditioning of our (super nice) hotel room!

We took the ferry out around the harbor to see Fort Sumter and the other Civil War forts.  It was a lot of fun and good to learn/remember that history.  Again, Evaleigh was asleep pretty quick, even with the sea breeze.

The only thing Evaleigh loved more than the air conditioned room was the salt water pool they had on roof of the hotel.  Seriously, if you've never experienced a salt water pool, you're missing out.  Sooo much better than chlorine.

This is the view off the balcony of our room.  Looking down at the corner of historic Meeting St and historic Market St.  We walked pretty much everywhere, except when we took the carriage tour.  It seemed a little pricey until we were done.  Definitely worth the investment, especially since the horse got a little spooked and took off for a bit.

Seriously, who wouldn't want to live where your kid can take sailing lessons?!

We had a great time in Charleston.  More importantly, we've so thoroughly enjoyed our 10 short years together and are very much looking forward to many, many more.  No offense to the rest of you, but we're pretty much the perfect couple!  I love my beautiful wife and will forever be grateful that she settled for me!