Last summer, we used the boat's proximity for several quick "adults only" trips to the fun city, but we decided we needed to "orient" the girls to life at sea, and it was time to bring them along! Unfortunatley, Gary is going back down this week to take the boat up to NC so that Greg can do some fishing in a couple of weeks, so it was our last chance to "do Charleston" from our "floating accomodations"!
After a fairly quick trip down..some screaming, but some decent naps and lots of Elmo along the way...we made it to the boat around 4 on Friday, and the girls were rested and ready to play! They're at the age, right now, where few things allure them as much as climbing "structures" and eventful "walks", so a trip down the docks and onto "Little Loose" at City Marina did the trick! Mommy entertained while Daddy took care of a few things on the boat. We wondered around the docks, clowned around dancing and testing out the fishing gear on the boat, then we headed downtown for dinner. After dinner, we made a quick stop at The Candy Kitchen before heading back and "attempting to" settle in for the night. The girls LOVED sharing a chocolate covered pretzel with me, then Gary treated them to a caramel apple just before bed...which MAY have had something to do with their reluctance to go to sleep...just maybe...
In reality, there was just too much fun to be had, and there was such a high risk that they'd miss something, plus, this was the first real "sleepover" that the girls have had in the same bed since they were about 2 months old...so the attitude was "party down" way before "settle down". Gary and I spent our share of time in the bed trying to get them to relax, and Macy finally gave in, but Makayla took quite a while and put up quite a fight! Poor baby was exhausted and finally literally screamed herself to sleep...even with me lying right beside her! Despite the previous night's rumble, the next morning everyone woke up in good spirits and we went to our usual Marina Restaurant for breakfast.
The weather was PERFECT, and after wondering around on the docks for a while, as usual, I'm up for some quality exercise. I'm DRAGGING (literally) Gary with me and a big group of friends to run the Cooper River Bridge 10k in April, so we decided to give the bridge a shot. Let me tell you, that puppy is STEEP! As planned, we cut the distance in half and only attempted 3 miles (WITH stroller) which consisted of running straight up, then straight back down...what a WORKOUT! Stubborn me insisted on pushing the stroller the whole way, and I had to summon God for some extra oxygen at the top :), but we took a quick photo op and the run down was cake! I was so excited by the fact that we survived, but I'm still pretty intimidated by doing that (sans stroller, of course) and packing in 3 more miles in just a few short weeks. Gary's got every bar along the route mapped out, and I will not be at all surprised if I loose him during the race to find him at one of those. He's a good sport but is the first to admit his lack of love for running.
After our run, we stopped and had a PB&J picnic in the car for the girls, headed back to the boat for showers, and then planned to hit the aquarium or downtown...unfortunately, we ended up with some VERY TIRED little ladies, and our expectation of a quick nap in the car was not met, so we went to eat a late lunch and at the end of that, the girls kind of melted down...luckily it was already around 5, so we made a couple of quick stops and headed back to the boat. After another unsuccessful attempt at a quick nap, we finally packed up the car and headed to get the girls a quick bite of dinner...the poor things were asleep before we made it to Mickie D's, so they missed their first-ever chance at a Happy Meal (you know it was an "usual" circumstance if Mommy is willing to resort to that!). We came back to the boat, and after only a short protest, they were sleeping peacefully! Luckily, the chaos was fairly short-lived so Gary and I were able to grab take out and enjoy a movie and a couple of glasses of wine before we all caught a good night's sleep!
This morning has been fairly low key...we went for more breakfast...(Reading this it seems like ALL we've done is eat, which is about right, but we've had lots of nice walks around the boats and just enjoyed the beautiful weather and each other's company in between!) We were going to take the girls out on the beach on the way out, but the beach was still fogged in, so now we're headed home. We did manage to find a great little Chuck-E-Cheese-like place to grab lunch in Columbia, and the girls were happy to "stretch their legs" and practice their driving skills. We were happy that their food was a million times better than Chuck's.
We've had our moody moments, but over all, we've had PERFECT weather and just enjoyed a wonderful trip. The girls have been great sports and seem to grab onto at least a little bit of our love of the water and boats. We're looking forward to many water-bound adventures ahead!
