More adventures in SC

The days in South Carolina have been filled with fun and outings.  Saturday afternoon found us at the local skating rink for a few hours of skating.  There was even a practice corner for beginners, so Judah enjoyed that as it was his first time on skates.

We all got some exercise, had a few laughs and bumps along the way and enjoyed skating with our cousins!

I am loving the weather here and am enjoying the neighborhood where Debbie lives.  When I can, I get out for a quick walk and take in all the old homes and big trees in the area.  They are so very picturesque.
On a particularly sunny afternoon, we pulled out the Slip and Slide and the children were thrilled to splash in the water for a while.  Finishing off their playtime with a nice big freezie.

                                      

One of the things that Casey is consistent with when he visits South Carolina is to go to the famous Jockey Lot and look for whatever treasure he may find.  As I had never gone with him, I figured it was time to change that.  So we all headed off to the Jockey Lot one bright morning.

We enjoyed the cinnamon and sugar mini donuts and the famous roasted peanuts.  The roasters used for the peanuts are over one hundred years old.  Jeff tells me that is why they taste so good!

 Malaya found the rabbits and Caleb found a unique method of transportation among the stalls of interesting things to see and buy.  I purchased some honeyed pecans and were they ever good!  My treasure for the day however was an old cast iron frying pan for $2...and Casey found an old coffee tin.  Satisfied with our treasures and as much sun rays as we could handle, we decided to head home.

And of course what sister visit would be complete without a day of shopping!  So Debbie, the older girls and I, all headed to the mall to experience some consumerism.  It was fun to shop with them all and have some treats together...cake pops from Starbucks...yum!  Oh, and I found a shirt for Hannah, (although she didn't buy it).  It said, "I leave homework to the last day because I'll be older and therefore wiser."

So in the midst of laundry, cooking, sweeping, and whatever else taking care of  9 children and 4 adults takes, we are managing to get in lots of fun as well.

Our thoughts, are of course with those in Panama, whom we miss and also the friends and family that we have yet to see!

Lazy Days in South Carolina

We arrived in Anderson, South Carolina on June 3rd.  We had a great trip down doing schoolwork, a bit of shopping and enjoying the beautiful scenery.  We were all very excited to see my sister and her family.

Debbie, my sister,  and her husband Jeff have 5 children.  The cousins all match up in age to my kids except for her oldest son.  So when they are together they pair off with their matching cousin and we rarely see them!  Well, kind of...but they do have a great time with their buddies.

We have been enjoying chilling here and trying to take it easy with all the kids.  Debbie and Jeff had moved into an older home last year and have been fixing it up all year.  It looks great now, they have really worked hard and this new home gives them much more space for their family.

Debbie and I took the kids to the park one day, something that all the younger kids all enjoy.  It was fun to watch them race though the maze, climb on the monkey bars and play with the ducks.  We were also able to feed them, which the kids loved and the ducks appreciated.

Debbie's older girls were involved this year in softball.  We were able to be here for Rosie's last game of the season and one of Cece's last games.  It was fun to sit, chat, and watch Rosie play softball.  She has a real eye for the bad pitches and is the queen of walking!  Caleb, Elijah and Malaya had fun running around and cheering for Rosie as well.

That night was the perfect night to be catching fireflies I was informed.  So at once when we arrived home the kids found jars and a firefly huntin' they went!  Auntie Debbie was in there like a dirty shirt, teaching and helping them catch their booty!

I even managed to get a picture of them glowing!

              After that long day we tucked them in their beds and turned out the lights!

Our goodbye to Virginia

While staying with Paul and Michelle, we were able to send them on a date night.  They looked so good, I just had to get a picture.

That night was such a beautiful moon.  It was reflected so perfectly in the lake.  So I raced out to catch a picture of it and rushed out onto the green space by the lake.  Little did I know that it was riddled with tiny thorns....ouch!!!  Yes, I limped back slowly and picked out the many painful little thorns...next time I will pause to find my shoes.

As a last outing for everyone, Paul took us to Denmours.  An ice cream drive in where the first waffle cone was made in 1905.  It was pretty cool to see and even more delicious to eat!  The lime sherbet won out as the best and we all had great time.

Thanks Paul and Michelle for your wonderful hospitality.  We really enjoyed seeing your beautifully renovated home and family.  May God bless you all richly!

Sun and Sand at Virginia Beach

Our second stop was Virginia Beach where my brother lives.  My brother, Paul, had moved to a new house since our last visit and had fixed it up a lot over the last year.  It has been so nice to see it and what a great job he has done.   It is also a lovely location.  Our first morning here we were able to fish off the dock, much to Caleb's pleasure, as Paul lives on one of the inlets from the ocean.

We were also able to go canoeing on the water, see a osprey's nest and the fish jumping out of the water.  It has been so relaxing here.  He also has a small above ground pool and playset in his yard and the kids have been in and out of that constantly.

Also something as simple as walking to the park with bikes and kids had been very enjoyable as we are not able to do that at home.  My brother and his wife have two small girls, 4 and 7, and it has been so nice to see them again and have the cousins play together.

We were able to go to the beach with them as well.  It was so beautiful and sunny.  The kids played in the sand and splashed a little in the waves.   The ocean is still warming up on the east coast so the water was still a bit cool.   Paul and Hannah braved the waves and caught some good ones coming back in.  The kids flew kites with their uncle and built sandcastles.  They also enjoyed being buried and Caleb tried to dig a hole back to Panama I think.  I had to lift him out of it, he dug so deep!  Malaya played and played with her cousins and I know that they all had a special day together.

Another thing that we are doing here in Virginia, is picking up our R.V.  It is fun to get all settled in to our new home of six months.  Today the kids have started back into some schoolwork and life will begin to settle into a new rhythm for a while.  It has been thrilling and we look forward to what each new day will bring.

We miss you all in Panama and big hugs and Hi to all of you!

Arriving in Washington D.C.

On May 24th, our adventure began.  Friends from Boquete dropped us off at the bus station in David (thanks for doing that, we appreciated it a lot!).  We were all ready to get on the next bus leaving at 9:30pm when we realized that all the tickets were booked for both the 9:30 and 10:30 bus; the next available departure was at 11:30pm.  We knew that if we caught the 11:30 bus, we would miss our connecting flight in Panama City, both because of the 6 plus hour bus ride through the night, but also the morning traffic in the city.  So, Casey ran down the road a few blocks through the rain and found another bus company which was leaving at 10pm. 

 I had ten minutes to find a taxi with space for our 12 bags of luggage and race down to the other bus.  Fortunately we made the bus in the nick of time and settled down for our long, COLD ride.  Just a mental note, if you take that bus ride...bring a blanket!

We made it to the airport in time and enjoyed a long nap on the floor before heading onto the plane.  Our flight went smoothly and it was so fun to see the children's smiles of excitement as we took off.

We arrived in Washington, DC and were excited to explore. We enjoyed figuring out the metro system and exploring the many attractions DC has to offer.  The highlight for the children was the mineral exhibit in the Museum of Natural History.  They loved all the gems, colors and shapes.  Their favorite were the glow-in-the-dark stones!  In the animal exhibit all the animals were amazing, but my favorite was the one of the cheetah who had taken his prey (antelope) into a tree and was sitting there with it while a hyena lurked beneath the tree.  

We also experienced the Museum of American History, with interesting exhibits showcasing food, transportation, currency and homesteading. 

The Space and Air Museum was full of interesting facts and amazing sights.  We enjoyed seeing the missiles that were as high as the building, walking through a section of a spacecraft, seeing the first planes built and learning about navigation.  

Judah really enjoyed the hands on learning section.  Caleb and Malaya took part in a paper airplane contest which Malaya won.  She was even awarded a medal!
  

Next was the National Art Museum.  The highlight there for me was seeing Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, and Rembrant.  What a privilege!  Casey and Hannah toured this one more in depth than the children and I, but we were all awed by the art.

The Native American Museum was great as well.  They had a fun learning center there for the kids and they all enjoyed trying to sit in a kayak while it wiggled, crawling in a tepee, and doing a skateboard game.  They received a passport there and stamped it after each activity. 

The Botanical Gardens had a stunning display of orchids and was definitely my favorite.  It reminded me of a place that we would take visitors to see when I was a child in Fiji. 

We toured many of the different memorials which was incredible to see in person due to the   their size and architecture. We went to the Jefferson, Martin Luther King and Lincoln memorials. Also the beauty of all the parks and the lakes were refreshing.  We really appreciated seeing the manicured parks and green spaces that are somewhat lacking where we are from in Panama.   

Caleb turned 10 on the 28th and we celebrated with sushi and ice cream.  He enjoyed the adventures of the day as well.  Washington was really busy, lots of walking and lots of fun and we are thankful that we were able to see the many exhibits showcased in the nations capital.