Charleston

We began our day in Charleston at the Charleston Aquarium

 It is just the right size for the littles...

 and they all had fun seeing just what kind of wildlife surrounds us in the south!  EEK.

 The tidal pool was a huge hit with Maddox and Maryn....

 Maddox loved having the opportunity to pick up the starfish and sea goodies....

 Maryn was a little more skeptical but she did eventually close her eyes and touch the starfish!

 This little one was so excited the entire time in the aquarium....she yelled, "Bish! Bish!" at everything that remotely looked like a fish!

 Maddox wanted to take a lot of pictures to share with her class after Spring Break....

 and she was really the only one who wanted anything to do with actually looking at the camera....

 she cracks me up with her poses....she is the child in our family that has the most expression and says the most random, deep-though provoking things!

 I captured all of our crew with Daddy....

 and then the mermaid show began so we took off to see what that was all about....

 the girls danced and clapped and played high-five with the mermaid....such a cool thing to see for these three little girls yet it made their mama a bit nervous for that mermaid - under water for 20 minutes with only a tube to take breaths out of?!?!?  

 The views from the aquarium are filled with mermaids too!

 The aquarium trip was definitely a "older three, younger three" kind of deal....they all enjoyed it in different ways!

 And then we were off to the Market.....

 sweet treats and pralines for everyone!

 Waterfront Park

 This park is such a breath of fresh air....people are studying, groups are dancing, laughter and squeals are abundant as children run through the fountains....

 the sound of the flowing water, the cool breeze off of the river....

 the history that is off in the distance and just around every corner as well....it is breathtaking!

 This little bundle of joy savored every moment of her time at Waterfront Park.

 It would not be a complete trip to the park without a picture of mom and dad in front of the pineapple fountain where it all began so many years ago!

 Our live-wire and her partner in crime....

 I went to take a pic of something else and then decided our shadows were kind of cool....

 the girls acquired sweet water grass roses from a man on the dock.....they used them as their "power" and had a great afternoon of imaginary play as we walked around the city.

This little one was a pure joy to watch in Charleston.  She never complained of the walking, she played and played when given the opportunity, she was all smiles and jumping into new adventures without a bit of hesitation (except where touching live things underwater came into play!) and she was just fun to be with!  The height of her day came at dinner as she devoured lemons.  She was being so silly with these sour little additions to her meal.  

Our day was not a day of all fun.  To keep things real, there were moments of complaining, moments of frustration, moments of "can we do this?," and moments where I wanted to just run off with my older kiddos and leave the others behind with their dad....bigs to littles and trying to do family fun that all will enjoy can be a challenge at times for our group of eight.  But this little lemon photo is the one that I will cherish during this season in our lives....it is all things sweet, a few things sour, yet very endearing.