Baptism and Beach

We spent the last weekend of January down in Charleston to visit family and most importantly to celebrate our niece, Madison's, baptism. We hit the road on Friday night after dinner and thought that the boys would fall asleep pretty quickly. We put on a movie (gotta love the DVD in the minivan!) and waited for the baby snores. Didn't happen. They were quiet, but did not sleep. They watched movies and were glued to the DVD player. They did probably fall asleep around 9:30 or 10, which is way past their bedtime. We were staying with Fifi and Jerry, who have rented a condo on Folly for a big part of the winter, and when we arrived at the condo around 11:30 PM, the boys woke right up and were ready to party! We were trying to keep them calm and quiet so they'd go right back to bed, but they were running around and full of excitement! They must have been tired though because after we got all of their pack n plays set up and put them down, they didn't take long to fall asleep.

The next morning, we got up and got our first glimpse of the beach. It was beautiful out there. We opened the curtains and everyone got to look outside and take in the beauty.

Thomas, Stokes and William looking at the ocean

We wanted to do breakfast out on Folly, so we walked a few streets over to go to the Lost Dog Cafe.
I love being able to walk places!

We had the option to wait for a table inside, or be seated outside immediately. I knew the little guys wouldn't be patient enough to sit still for all that long, and the weather was so nice and mild, so we opted to sit outside. It was great!

Stokes, looking like Mr. Serious

Sweet Ryan

William loved the biscuits

Walking back from breakfast

After we got back, we decided it was time to get out on the beach so we went for a walk.

I was helping Ryan walk on the sand

Stokes and William running around and playing

Thomas with Ryan

Stokes

William

Ryan

Fifi, William, Thomas, Stokes

Thomas and RyRy

Ryan with Mama

Playing with the sand

Handsome boy

Under the pier

Enthralled with the sand

Family pic!

The boys had so much fun on the beach. We gave them a little freedom to wander since there weren't very many other people. We just made sure they weren't bee-lining it for the water. It was really nice out, but not quite warm enough to go swimming! Still though, so too shabby for January!!!

The little guys wanted to play in the sand and would just lie down and made sand angels. They would pick up handfuls and throw it, sometimes even on themselves. We had quite a time trying to get all (or at least most) of the sand off their clothes when it was time to go in for lunch and naps. They loved playing with the sand so much that it was hard to get pictures of them - they just wanted to play! They also ate a few handfuls. Gross. You'd think that they'd try some, realize that it didn't taste good and stop, but nope. They just kept on going.

Around 4 we went over to Tara and Matt's house for a little happy hour get together. We couldn't wait to get over there to see everyone! All of the cousins got to play together and the grown ups got to catch up and chat. I love seeing my kids play with their cousins - sweetest thing ever!

Debbie, Thomas, Ryan, Madison and Tara

Ryan and Madison

William and Taylor

Madison and Ryan

The scene with the kids, Fifi and Tara

Cousins L to R: Madison, Taylor, William, Ryan
Stokes, Anna and Leece

MaSha with Ryan and Madras

After we left Tara's, we headed back over to Fifi's, ate a quick bite of dinner and got ourselves to bed! After a late night on Friday and a full day on Saturday, I was whooped!

Sunday was the big day: Madison's baptism! We had to be downtown at the church before the service started at 9 am, so it was a busy, busy morning! We needed to be packed, loaded, dressed/ready and in the car by 8:15 am. We were going over to Tara's for brunch after the service and needed to leave straight from her house to get on the road to head home. I'm telling you - it was a lot to get done in a short amount of time. I realize it doesn't sound very difficult, but it was like a whirlwind with no downtime to get it all done. The good thing is that we were pulling out of the parking lot at Fifi's right at 8:15, so my mission was accomplished. We realized within 5 minutes of leaving that we had left sippy cups in the fridge, but by then, we weren't even about to go back and be late for church!  Total frustration when you think you have everything done and you're on time and then you have that realization. Bummer.

View of Folly Beach at 8 am Sunday morning

The church was beautiful and everyone looked great! I got a few pictures before the service started.

Baptismal font

Beautiful altar

Tara putting finishing touches on
Madison' special outfit

Sweet baby booties that were used by Thomas's Mama Lou
in 1922 and have been passed down. SO SWEET!

Aunt Ashley is always a big help!

Madison and Tara

Two beauties!

Sweet Madison on her
Baptism Day

The Halverstadts after the service

Family

After the service was over, Tara hosted everyone back at her house for a brunch. The food was so delicious!

Siblings: Tara, Thomas and Ashley
Good looking bunch, huh?!?!

Tulips!
The table was set so beautifully

Sweet kiddos

MaSha with Madison and Stokes

Petit fours

Yummy brunch

Madison with her Papa Rick

The "big" kids sat at the perfectly sized kids table!

Tara and her friend Amanda with their babies

We hit the road shortly after brunch was over and had a lot of stuff to catch up on when we got back home. I was so glad that we were able to go down to Charleston to be there for Madison's baptism. It was a very special day for all of us!