Thanksgiving Week in South Carolina

While Maeve and Aaron sailed off on their Bahama cruise good old Grandma Rose and Grandpa Bob provided 5 days of full time parenting.  Whew!  The girls did have school for two of the days so we got a little respite.   We watched some movies, went to see one movie "Hero 6," played some games, did some crafty stuff and went to the Edventure children's experience in downtown Columbia.  We spent the last day preparing Thanksgiving dinner and awaited the arrival of Maeve and Aaron.  

The main entrance of Edventure has this great piece.

Avery finally tried the fire pole

Kendall had no problem

For $2 we got to go into a wind generator that provided 70mph wind.  I was surprised that Avery wanted to try it.

The girls attack a mini-climbing wall

This slide was a big hit for all the kids

Kendall did both slides, as did Avery.  

The two characters 

The girls tried their hand at a puppet show, too.

Kendall brought some sweet bay magnolia leaves in and said, "We can make a turkey with these!"  So, we did.

A little dress up

The table is set

"Take the picture!  We're hungry!"

The gang's all here

Mepkin Abbey Creche Show

This is our third trip to Mepkin Abbey creche display near Moncks Corner, SC.  You can click on the Mepkin link above to get more info about the place.  Suffice to say that the location is beautiful with huge live oaks and remnants of the old plantation.  The abbey buildings have replaced the buildings.  We enjoy going there and seeing the art and taking in the location.

Below are some of the 70+ works of art featured this year.

The interesting thing about this is it is made of oyster shells and palm fronds

Check out the detail on these.  They are only an inch or so tall.

Maria, maybe this can be your next crochet project?

One of hundreds of huge live oaks.

This craving sits on an old oad stump and is carved out of one piece of the trunk.

November Birthday Fun

Well, we celebrated Maeve's birthday at a cabin in Barnwell State Park.  And, although we do not yet have a picture to post, we celebrated the birth of baby Houghten this weekend, too!  Congratulations to Mike and Erin!

Bob, Aarona and the girls arrived at the cabin the night before Maeve and Rose.  The ladies were celebrating Maeve's actual birth date by hosting a jewelry party.  Here is Kendall practicing cursive writing.

Avery enjoyed coloring

Not exactly hard core camping!

Flowers, a birthday cake and a colored picture await Maeve

Although we had the coolest weather of the season so far the girls enjoyed some bike riding at the park

The park is quite a nice little setting and the cabins are round.

"Let's race!"

No worries about alligators today since it is so cold

"Look at this big leaf?  What kind is it?"

The girls did a little leaf collecting on our hike

The pile wan't big but still fun to jump in

The girls did crafts

We got the campfire roaring

Marshmallows and s'mores!

Snug as a bug after a long day

We were so full that we waited until two days after Maeve's birthday to eat cake.  But, we also celebrated baby Houghten's actual birthday!

Lots of help blowing out the candles

November Stuff

Here's a little update of a couple November projects.  We hosted the latest supper club.  It's where several couples get together and share making ethnic themed food.  The host home is responsible for the main dish.  The theme we chose was Polish in honor of Rose.

The second set of pictures shows the project we've been working on.  We got a great deal on a shed at Lowe's that is discontinued.  We had to disassemble it then cart home and reassemble.  A base had to be built due to our uneven ground.  It's almost complete and will work well for us.

Blanched cabbage leaves for golumbki

Before the golumbki is folded

18 golumbkis sitting in a pan

The sauce is on and ready to bake.  Relaxing with a glass of wine

The appetizer made by Lisa.  Boiled eggs wrapped in ham with pickle garnish

Mary Alice (Lisa's Mom), Lisa and Catherine

After dinner we taught the southerners the game of euchre

The shed project is ready to begin and Booger inspects things

The base

The platform is ready

Assembly begins

"Are you sure we can put this on ourselves?"

We just need to add the doors