lunch break: ...kiawah

...a few months ago, my dad and I decided to surprise my mom with a trip for Thanksgiving. I knew it couldn't be a complete surprise, especially when she started asking me in August where we were going to get our turkey from (we don't cook Thanksgiving, we buy it).

I did some research and we settled on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. We rented a three-bedroom villa on the beach, hoping the weather would be nice enough for a few beach days and maybe a dip in the heated pool.

I don't have much to say about the first day other than it involved: lost power at the Baltimore airport; sitting on the tarmac for an hour before they figured out they could use humans to push the plane back; a mad dash through the Charlotte airport with two small children ("You can run faster, Charlie!); a scene at the gate that looked like something from the show Airport when they told me we had missed our connector; no luggage when we finally arrived in Charleston; and for the grand finale, Clara and I both stepped in dog poop on our way to dinner. And did I mention we didn't have our luggage or extra shoes?

Every time the plane landed, she only had one word, which she repeated, over and over. "Wow. Wow. Wowowowowowow."

Ken wasn't sure what his work schedule was going to be like so he ended up getting a non-stop flight and arrived what felt like eight days ahead of us and with a bag of clothing. We punished him by making him share his clothes with all of us for the first 24 hours and having him act as our driver for the next four days while we sat in the back and took selfies.

My visions of beach days and dips in the heated pool were quickly dashed with rainy, 50 degree weather. Let it be known, when you are nominating me for Mother of the Year, that I did, in fact, place myself in a heated pool (with 45 degree air above it) for the sake of my children. We all lasted five minutes and miraculously walked away without pneumonia.

We drove into Charleston one day and took a carriage ride tour of the city (great way to see a lot of stuff in just a small amount of time).

Charlie is clearly going to do great in American History some day.

There was a lot of relaxing. A lot of napping.

I loved the beaches there. So different from our Delaware beach with its quick drop-off into the ocean. It seemed like in Kiawah you could wade in...forever. I'd love to go back when it's warmer.