~ ocean ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Earlier this month, 

we camped at Huntington Beach State Park 

in South Carolina.

The very first morning,

I took Liv and Lela to watch 

the Sun rise over the Atlantic.

We had a full day on the beach,

and with plenty of natural, marine-safe sunblock,

no one was burned.

Laurel enjoyed the more shallow spots.

Lela had the greatest time!

 I promise that,

even though not represented in these pictures,

we did have Olivia with us.  

I got some cute ones of her 

that I'll share later.

I felt like I was doing good to get these up.

~carrie~

~ life with twins ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had to laugh when I saw 

these sequence of pictures 

from our third day in Virginia.

It pretty much sums up 

what life can be like 

with two 3 1/2 year olds.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Here, you can see Olivia strategically placing 

the bowl of potpourri in Laurel's lap.

Laurel positions her legs just so.

~ "Hmmm, Laurel, you hold this bowl of Gran's potpourri." ~

Now, they coordinate their movements so that,

to the untrained eye (or gullible parent),

it looks like the bowl tips right over.

Don't believe me? 

Look at the excitement on their faces!

~ "How did THAT happen Olivia?" ~

Now, each twin reaps the reward

of picking through the pile for treasured bits.

~ "We are so clever! ~ 

I love these girls!  

Having twins is a lot of fun!

~carrie~

~ so many pictures... ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...so little time!

Here's pictures from our second day in Virginia,

the "epic nature walk" I referenced in my last post.

We first adorned Kitty's grave with flowers.

Kitty passed away just before our visit.

She was the sweet beloved cat of my dad and sister.

RIP Kitty! 

We walked along the edge of the woodline 

until we came out into the pasture.

Gran is a florist and knows the common and scientific names of nearly all flora.

However, in the rare event she doesn't, we call it Roadsidius.

Our new pup loved the free range

and had the "zoomies" all day!

We then crossed the creek toward the large rocks.

Funny, those rocks seemed larger when I was a kid.

There weren't quite so many groundhog holes then, though!

Gran calls this her "special big rock" because when she was a girl

she came to this spot with her Daddy, our Papa,

to put barbed wired along the creek

Laurel inspects a piece of barbed wire,

buried deeply in this beautiful tree,

placed there by her grandmother and great-grandfather.

This lovely old tree has been a horse for three generations!

Giddap!

Our last spot was to the Ice Cream Rock.

This large exposed rock in the pasture 

boasts three colors - strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.

Gran tells the girls about a story when she and her sister

got in trouble for venturing to the Ice Cream Rock without permission.

What a great and beautiful day!

The girls have recounted those memories often since then.

Please come back for more pictures!

We have had so many amazing adventures lately,

and I cannot wait to share them with you.

~carrie~