The Hangout - more fun

A few shots of more fun at the Hangout.  We ended up back there for lunch a second day :-) The kids loved the bungee jump and by the end Savannah was doing flips! Savannah gave the limbo her best. Although Gage was very excited about the water balloon fight, he was -- as you can see -- very sad when his balloon fell and smashed :-(

The Hangout - what a find!!!

We stopped by the Hangout one day for lunch in Gulf Shores - it is a huge restaurant that has more space outside than inside, and lots of fun stuff.  There are hockey tables, a giant sand pile, an old taxi, and lots of cool stuff. At noon, a siren started blaring and bubbles started pouring out onto the patio for the kids the play in. A half out later -water balloon fight, and a half our later - limbo. It was a perfect excuse to park it in a few Adirondack chairs and have a few cocktails while the kiddos played :-)

the beach

For the first time in a long time, we took a week long family vacation to the beach in Gulf Shores, AL. We rented a condo sandwiched between the gulf and the lagoon, which had its own fishing dock and a pool, and was right across the street from the beach.  The kids had a blast!! They did this little happy dance when we got there :-)

another jeep

In classic Adam style, we saw this jeep on the side of the road, and after driving by four times, he stopped to knock on the people's door and ask about it. Turns out "it's free and it's broken". A little tool time and one grandpa electrical consultation later, and Gage has a cool new jeep that's no longer broken. Now....if he could just learn to steer we'd be in good shape!

big fun at a cowgirl birthday party

Savannah had two birthday parties to go to yesterday, one at a her gymnastics place and another cowgirl party at her friend's house.  Both were fun, but the cowgirl party involved feeding ducks, catching catfish, riding ponies, AND riding the a big horse. She was -- and this is understated -- VERY excited. She said she liked riding the big horse better because he wasn't as wiggly and she felt safer and sturdier up there.As a side bonus, it looks like Mommy made a few new friends! :-)

thanks big sister

Savannah was "helping" by making sure that her little brother was well-covered with sunblock. 

sweet friends

A visit to Clemson would not be complete without a playdate with Kelsie and her family.  After meeting her at school (where we got to say hi to Miss Susan her old teacher), we went to our favorite park - Ashley Dearing.  The kiddos played, swung, and acted like monkeys until they were thoroughly pooped out.

Spring Game at Clemson

 We didn't plan to hit the spring football game at Clemson because we figured the parking would be a nightmare, etc. But....we got a call to say that traffic was light, parking was plentiful, and we were invited to a great tailgate parting. So...we zipped right it!  The kids had a blast paying with these fun balloons and running around like nuts. We got a chance to catch up with some Clemson folks from the university, and even got to watch the game in the skybox.  Great surprise and fun!

 The only time we could find to visit our friends the Turners was to both stop at the Fly in & Drive in at the Pickens County airport.  Gage loved checking himself out in the chrome, we tried to get the Turner & Rapp broods all looking the same direction at the same time for a few pictures.. and this is the best we could get.  Loved the old planes, cars, helicopters, etc.  Unfortunately, our last minute there ended with a big digger where Savannah fell on the tarmac and ended up with skinned elbows, knees, hip, hands, etc. Luckily, we had enough bandaids to bandage her up!

 One of our favorites stops in Clemson to have a picnic lunch or just play for a little while is the old red caboose in the SC Botanical Gardens.  Right around the corner from Savannah's old school, the caboose is nestled inside the gardens, right near the wisteria trellis, and a short walk to the duck pond. The gardens are beautiful...the caboose is fun :-)

it's baby goat time~

 Springtime is baby goat time at Split Creek Goat Farm in Anderson, SC.  We made time to stop by and visit the babies. Last year we saw a few that were 1 day old (and we could not touch), but this year their babies were 2 weeks old and we could pet them all we wanted. A little brown goat took a liking to Savannah and kept climbing up to be near her, sticking her head out of the fence to nibble her finger - so cute. We pet the big pig, a lot of kitties, some huge doggies, chased some chickens (and managed NOT to get yelled at for throwing rocks at them like Gage did last year), played on the swings, and searched endlessly for eggs -- but never found any this year.  Such a great place....and great goat cheese :-)

 On a trip to Clemson last weekend, we were excited to see that the berries were ready at Hardy Berry Farm in Anderson, SC!  The first picture tells the whole story -- Gage ate a lot of strawberries, and Savannah (in the background) was focused on the task at hand...PICKING!  We picked a big bucket of berries that tasted delicious on top of cheesecake at Ron & Judy's house (our old neighbors that we stay with when we visit).

crawfish....yummy!

We were excited to try out Bones' Crawfish, which just opened a week ago nearby.  Savannah LOVED them (no surprise, given that she gobbles up lobster and shrimp like crazy) -- although we were surprised that she gobbled them up with a LOT of spice on them.  Gage insisted they were "lostahs" (lobster) and just wanted to play with the lobster crackers (yes, we know we don't need to crack crawfish, but thought the kiddos would have fun with them).