Boating and Lake-Swimming

Papa Joe took Mr. Morgan, Hamilton, and me out on his boat while Grandma Judy stayed with Collier. We had such fun watching Hamilton as he donned his first lifejacket, swam in his first lake, and called out, "Bee bo-oh," every time a boat of any size passed us. I guess they were all "big boats" to him. Joe was our capable captain and tour guide.

I attempted to make Hamilton wear a hat, and Papa Joe offered this too-big one. 

Notice my death-grip on Hamilton's arm as I'm applying his sunscreen.

After exploring several coves, we found a spot for swimming. The chilly water was refreshing, and it made Hamilton squeal a bit.

We enouraged Hamilton to kick his legs, so we could begin teaching him to swim. So the whole time he was in the lake he kept saying, "Kih-kih-kih." And he loved for Mr. Morgan to kick-kick-kick his legs to make the water churn.

Papa Joe's House

While it took Hamilton until Grandma Judy's second day with us last month to begin saying her name, we'd been with Papa Joe just a few hours before he was saying, "Puh Joe." Today Hamilton's added his familiar, indefinite article to form "Uh-PUH Joe," which we hear with gusto every time Papa Joe walks into the room. (Since Hamilton continues to advance with his speech, noticeable nearly daily, "Joo" has been replaced by "Joo-dee" most of the time now for Grandma Judy.)

Hamilton has spent lots of time with Papa Joe feeding his three, big dogs. They've also spent lots of time walking around the yard and extensive sidewalks while Hamilton pulls the wagon.

On our dog walk this morning, Mr. Morgan took Hamilton for a fun ride in the wagon on the steep hills in the neighborhood. Hamilton was giddy with delight.

This afternoon Joe put clean water in the little pool, so Hamilton enjoyed an impromptu swimming time.

Billboard

 

A few days ago I saw a billboard in Charleston advertising Southwest's nonstop service to Nashville starting in March. This news is exciting for us because Papa Joe and Grandma Judy live just two hours from Nashville! With a nonstop flight, we'd cut our travel time to visit them by more than half. We haven't traveled to Tennessee in nearly a year because traveling with a cranky-in-the-car-after-two-hours toddler made no sense. But a ten-minute ride to Charleston's small airport, a two-hour flight to Nashville, and a two-hour car ride to Paris seems much less daunting.

Great Christmas Gift

Uncle Travis gave our family a one-year membership to the Aquarium; and our pass includes any two guests, making it great for visiting family. We went this morning with Grandma Judy and Papa Joe. The last time Hamilton and I visited, he wasn't yet able to walk. This visit he enjoyed exploring the exhibits and seeing all the animals up close. He played on this ship replica for several minutes while Claire explored the touch tank.

Claire took lots of pictures of the animals with her camera.

We snapped a family shot in front of the Cooper River Bridge; it's too bad I can't keep my eyes open.

Hamilton enjoyed playing hide-and-seek using the octopus cut-out because he was able to climb up wooden steps to see through the hole in the octopus.

The giant tank with big fish enthralled Hamilton for a while.

Claire continued to take many pictures during the day, so maybe our budding artist will try her hand at photography.

Holiday Festival of Lights

Last night we drove to James Island to see the Christmas lights at the county park. We saw a few light displays on the way into the park, and we stopped in Santa's Village to see the other festive attractions. We rode the carousel first, about which Claire was super excited. Hamilton was a little uneasy at first, especially since the horse we chose moved up and down as it went around. I held onto him tightly so he'd feel safe, and he seemed to like it by the end.

Hamilton's favorite light display was the big firetruck to which he could stand close. There were even buttons controlling the lights where Hamilton could make the "water" come out of the firehose

The highlight of our time in Santa's Village was the 10-minute train ride through many of the light displays. Claire sat in the back of our train car with Grandma Judy and Papa Joe.

Hamilton sat between Mr. Morgan and me, and he kept saying "whoo-whoo" the whole train ride.

The "engine" of our train, which pulled golf-cart-like cars, didn't have a train whistle, but the driver did ring a bell that sounded authentic. Hamilton enjoyed the "a-choo" ride despite the cold.

More Christmas Celebrating

Papa Joe and Grandma Judy arrived this evening, so we had a big dinner and opened presents afterward. It's such a long drive from Paris, Tenn., and we're so thankful they did the driving this Christmas. Mr. Morgan often talks about learning to fly a helicopter, buying one, and flying it to Paris when we want to visit. Joe and Judy have an empty field next to their house that would be a perfect landing spot. Somehow I don't think a helicopter will ever be in our budget.

Claire and Hamilton were both excited to open more gifts from Grandma Judy and Papa Joe. In a short time we made a big mess on the floor that Mr. Morgan so diligently vacuumed and mopped today.

Claire gave Grandma Judy some potholders with her art printed on them. Every year Claire's school has a fundraiser where we can order different items with Claire's best piece of artwork printed on them. The art-inspired items make good gifts for grandmothers, and Claire is always so proud of her artwork.

The Welches are here for several days, and we have many fun things planned. I'll post pictures of our other family events in the days to come. Next time I'll make sure to get Papa Joe in a picture or two.