Surae turned 3 on October 27.  This was the day before we brought her home 2 years ago.  Hard to believe we have had our sweet, funny, independent little girl home for that long.  In the past 2 years, she has grown from a quiet, shy Surae to a little girl who bursts with humor and spunk.  We are so in love!  Happy Birthday Sweet Surae.

Michael’s cousin Tish recently got married in St. Simon’s Island which gave us a wonderful opportunity to visit Jekyll Island.  Jekyll is a barrier island off the coast of Georgia and is only about 7 miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide.  There are biking trails all around the island, so we spent a lot of time biking which was great.  You can bike along the ocean, marsh, and in the historic district.  We got there Thursday afternoon after about a 6 hour drive from Greenville.  The campground is fairly packed in and nothing too great, but nice enough for being able to stay right across from the beach.  There are live oaks throughout the campground and the bathrooms were some of the cleanest I have ever seen at a campground, so that’s always a bonus!

We spent Friday on the beach and biking around town.  The biking really was fantastic.  It would be great if every town had so many biking trails that get you everywhere you need to go without ever having to get in a car.  The beaches were really beautiful too.  We went to some sections that were covered in some of the biggest pieces of driftwood that I had ever seen. The kids loved climbing on them.

At night, we went to eat at Crabdaddy’s Seafood Grill with Michael’s parents.  It was absolutely delicious!

On Saturday, we biked again back into the historic district.  The historic district houses the Jekyll Island Club Hotel which was built in 1886.  It seriously feels like one has entered lifestyles of the rich and famous when you step foot in this area with old men and women dressed in white playing croquet on the manicured lawn.  Ridiculous!  It’s a gorgeous area though and you do get the sense that you have stepped back in time.

The historic district also houses the new Sea Turtle Center where they were having a Halloween Party.  It was lots of fun and we got to see all of the sea turtles that were being rehabilitated.

Saturday night, we went to the wedding in St. Simon’s Island.  The ceremony was held overlooking the ocean and it was really breathtaking- beautiful weather, gorgeous bride, so fun!  Graham and Surae had a blast at their first real wedding.  It was a great night.

We headed back home on Sunday with everyone exhausted from a busy few days.  We definitely plan on returning and experiencing even more of the region next time.

The Lewis family has been having a really, really busy month of October.   We’ve been squeezing in quite a bit of fall camping which has been so fun.  In mid October, we made our annual pilgrimage to the LEAF Festival in Black Mt, NC.  Boy, were we happy to have that pop-up!  It was a cold, cold weekend, but luckily fairly rain free.  We arrived on Thursday and were actually able to get electricity in the camping lot, so we had lights and heat all weekend.  The Weiser’s camped right next to us in their pop-up, so we had a great set up with both of our pop-ups and Halloween lights and decorations strung about the site.

Musical highlights of the weekend were the Secret B Sides in the barn.  They are out of Asheville and super funky.  They played Friday night and the barn tuned into a huge dance party.  It was so fun.  The Cowboy Junkies played Saturday night and that was incredible.  I spent many a night in college listening to the Cowboy Junkies, so this was a serious treat for me.  The lead singer’s voice was perfectly heart wrenching.  Great show!  And then on Sunday, Arrested Development played again.  They played at the last Fall LEAF and it was certainly my favorite at that fest and they did not disappoint.  Their energy is amazing and that was another huge dance party.  So fun!

Graham also sold at the Kid’s Village for the first time this year since he is now 5.  Michael came up with the idea for him to make record bowls which was a great idea since they are easy to make and we were able to get the records for free.  He sold them for $5 a piece to start and then marked them down to $3 on Sunday.  They were a big LEAF hit and he ended up making about $150!  He doesn’t really even have any concept of how much money he made, but he was able to buy several ice creams at the fest for he and Surae.

The kids both had a great time as always.  They both marched in the kid’s parade on Saturday which is always a blast.

LEAF has become part of our family tradition and one that everyone looks forward to and I am sure we will be back in the Spring!

Over Labor Day weekend, the family took a trip to Edisto State Park.  My dad and Michael’s brother’s family joined us, so we had a big group which was so fun!  This was our first time camping at Edisto, but it will not be our last.  We booked kind of late and ended up in the Live Oak area instead of the beach camping area.  I was worried about bugs, but they really weren’t bad at all.  The Live Oak area is really gorgeous and the shading helps so much with the midday heat.  The campsite bordered the marsh area and Graham loved getting in there looking for crabs and covering himself in pluff mud.  The camping area is also connected with all of the biking trails, so that was convenient.  The biking trails are wonderful and easy for kids to ride on.  The peace that overcomes you riding past live oaks and over marsh boardwalks is something to experience.  Even though I had a long week at work and was very stressed when I left town, riding my bike through those trails really helped to alleviate all of my worries!

When we arrived into town, we had lunch at McConkey’s Jungle Shack and it was delicious!!  Michael and I split a fish tacos and homemade fries and it was more than enough food.

http://www.goedisto.com/restaurants/mcconkeysjungleshack.html

Once at camp, Michael immediately set out fixing up the camp and hanging up our ever growing collection of party lights.  It is a sight to see at night!

The next day, everyone else arrived and we all hit the beach.  The kids love the beach and they had a great time swimming and building sand castles.  That night, we all feasted on seafood from Flower’s Market in Edisto.   We had lobster tails, scallops, and red snapper.  Yum!

On Saturday, we all decided to check out Botany Bay, a newly opened nature preserve in Edisto.

“The centuries-old farm is a vista of hardwoods and pine stands, crop fields, salt marshes, hummock islands and a maritime forest beach with its own “boneyard” — a ghost forest of dead trees in the frothy surf. The spread includes a three-mile motor tour trail past 19th-century brick and tabby structures, 20 more miles of trails for hiking, biking, birding and horseback riding, fishing ponds and a “throw” launch into Osceola Creek for paddle-powered boats.” http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2008/jul/18/almost_magical47916/

It is an amazing beach.  I don’t think I have ever seen so many shells in one spot and I love the trees coming out of the water.  So beautiful!

As always, Edisto was an amazing time.  The kids all had a great time together which was awesome!  I really do love the SC Coast and feel so lucky to be able to drive to such an incredible place  in just a few hours.  Can’t wait to go back.  Luckily, I have one more trip to Edisto and then a trip to the GA coast before winter.

Graham started 5K at Pelham Rd Elementary.  He’s had a great couple of weeks and seems to like it so far.  Keeping our fingers crossed that he has a good year.  He is already starting to read, so we are very excited!

A few weeks ago, the family took another camping trip to Table Rock.  The weather was great and the kids had a blast as always.  They love the new pop up and it sure makes camping easier and more comfortable.  Napping is no longer a battle as they can nap in total comfort in an air conditioned bed.  Graham is now riding a 2 wheeled bike and way too over confident on it.  It’s scary!  The boy who was too scared to go down small hills now wants to fly down them.  He met some other kids around the campground and biked around with them quite a bit.

Surae got a stroller for doing such a great job using the potty lately and she loves it.  She hasn’t replaced her pocket book, but now likes to let the pocket book ride in the stroller.  Too funny!

My dad and Roni came up on Friday night to camp with us too.  The kids were so excited to see them and Graham immediately asked if he could stay with them instead.  He is spoiled by his Pop Pop!!  Roni had a birthday coming up the next day, so we all celebrated together.  Michael made a super dinner!!

Surae was my little hiking buddy for the weekend.  We hiked some of the Table Rock trail and she kept up wonderfully.  She loves the outdoors!

It was a great weekend and another super pop up camping experience!

This past weekend, we set off for our first family trip in the pop-up to Oconee State Park.  We wanted to stay fairly close to home in case anything went awry and Oconee has so much to offer in terms of beauty.  The campground was really nice.  We booked late, so didn’t get the best spot, but it was still not bad at all.  There are some great spots overlooking the lake that we want to try for next time though.  The park has a great little swimming lake that the kids really enjoyed.  There are also lots of hiking trails accessed from the park including the Foothills Trail.  We did a hike around the lake that was very easy and really nice for the kids.  They love to hike, but still can’t go too far without getting tired.  Those legs are little!

As luck would have it, the 50th annual Hillbilly Day was also taking place in Mountain Rest.  What a trip!  I’ll just let the pictures tell that story.

We also visited Isaqueena Falls and Stumphouse Tunnel which are really close by.  Isaqueena is absolutely beautiful and the kids loved that hike.  Graham felt like a mountain climber.  Stumphouse scared Surae pretty badly.  She’s not a huge fan of dark tunnels I guess.  Plus, everyone in the tunnel was making ghost noises, so that didn’t help.

This was definitely a great first outing in the pop-up.  I forgot to take pictures of the actual pop-up, but I will next time.  It is surely a step up from tent camping and I am loving it!

The end of my vacation break was near, so for a last little getaway the kids and I took a camping trip with my dad.  I hadn’t tried out his new camper yet and was excited to see it in action.  We headed up to Jellystone Campground about 20 minutes outside of Gatlinburg.  Jellystone is a chain of kid friendly, Yogi Bear lovin campgrounds.

http://www.greatsmokeyjellystone.com/

The people who run this place were awesome- a retired cop from LA making a very big life change.  The kids loved the campground.  There was a pool, gameroom, access to a hiking trail, and nightly entertainment.   Each night they play movies in a little theatre and also have a stage for karaoke and bands.  There are also nightly hay rides around the campground where the camp staff enthusiastically leads the kids in Yogi Bear themed sing alongs.  It may all sound cheesy and it is, but the kids loved it, and we had fun too.  Both Graham and Surae really enjoyed the pool.  They didn’t want to get out.

We also took several little trips into Gatlinburg- to eat, walk around, take the sky lift, and  to check out the Ripley’s Aquarium.  We had been to the aquarium before, once in Gatlinburg and once at the beach and it is always impressive.  Of course, anywhere I can get my fill of leafy sea dragons is a huge bonus in my book.  Those little creatures are amazing!  All in all, it was a great trip.  Thanks dad for the camping trip!!

Graham is very into all things Super Hero at this point in his life, so he wanted to have a super hero party.  Graham and I made capes for all the kiddos and let everyone decorate their own mask.  Michael grilled up pizzas for everyone that were delish and of course, we had to bust a Batman pinata.  He had a great time and was so excited to have a birthday party.  He kept asking the next day if he looked bigger and how he had changed since turning 5.  I can’t believe he is about to start 5K in the fall.  What a big boy!!

A few weeks ago, the family went to Huntington Beach for our summer camping trip.  Huntington is really wonderful and we had such a great time hanging with the alligators, herons, and egrets.  The place is truly beautiful.  Graham loved swimming this year and really enjoyed getting in the waves.  Surae took some time to warm up to the water as she has to do with everything.  But, by the last day, she was loving it!  We mostly hung around the beach a lot and rode bikes around the campground.  One day, we went to Freestyle Music Park (was the old Hard Rock Music Park).  That was awesome.  The place was empty and we got on every ride with no wait at all which I love.  Another day, we went to Brookgreen Gardens which was my first trip there.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it was incredible.  We went on the Low Country Trail to the zoo section and heard about all of the history of the old rice plantations.  The trail itself is gorgeous, but the story of the slaves is so tragic.  The zoo section was really interesting too.  We were able to take a tour there and see all of the animals getting fed.  Who can resist little otters eating hard boiled eggs?  We looked at all of the sculptures last and I was really blown away.  A totally fantastic place.  It was a great beach trip and looks like our last one in tents for a while as we just bought our first pop-up camper.  Boys need their toys!  Looking forward to Huntington in a pop-up next year.  Have to admit that air conditioning for a mid-day nap seems mighty appealing!