Isle of Palms, Day 2

Okay, so on the first full day of our trip, Mom, Karen and I got up to see the sunrise. We made it just in time to see the sun slip up above the horizon. I had determined that I didn't want to miss anything, so I told Karen, "Get me up to see the sunrise with you!". Forgot the camera that morning, but I can tell you it was gorgeous. It is amazing to see that huge more-than-molten ball appear just as God ordained it to all those years ago when He breathed it in to existence. Never has it failed to rise, and it is only a created thing. If the created thing has never failed to do what it was created to do, how much more can we depend on the Creator to keep His promises to us?!

Then we decided what we would do that day over breakfast. We all knew we wanted to go down to the beach that morning.

Karen and Natalie playing ball...

The gorgeous neighborhood, "BeachSide", where we have the privilege to stay...

The fantastically convenient wagon the belongs to the house...

Straight down to the water, with a supervisor close at hand...

Such a good big brother...

Found a cute little friend, we kept it for a few minutes, but returned it to the water...

She was exhausted...I think the beach has that effect on most everyone...

So there was that.

Then Karen mentioned a *free* place we could go that was historical (for me) and educational. It was the Charles Pinckney National Historic Site.

http://www.nps.gov/chpi/index.htm It wasn't only historical and educational, but it was beautiful and a good way to spend the hottest hours of the day.

Going up to the entrance...

Natalie didn't find the movie about Charles Pinckney very interesting...

The beautiful Plantation house at Snee Farm...

I love this picture because you can see the remnants of a tree house ladder up towards the top of the tree. I wonder who put those there? Pinckney's children? Pinckney himself? Slave children?

One of the things I do miss after moving to the mountains...Huge, sprawling oak trees covered with Spanish moss...

This circle is to show where the well used to be. Archeologists have been working on this site and when they locate an outbuilding or whatever, they outline it with bricks, to help us visualize the Homestead.

Sisters getting in some good bonding time...

Nate and I found this memorial to a Pinckney...

Nate trying his hand at climbing a giant oak...

Lovely flower. It's a Camellia, I believe.

My crazy, oh so lovable aunt, Karen, got some moss terribly tangled around her ankle. She is struggling to remove it...; ) (she really just needed some moss for her planter at home)

I love these white azaleas! Do you see the slightest blush at the top of the blossom?

We found Lantern Waste! The wardrobe is just beyond those evergreens in the background!

...and to finish this blogging session, I'll leave you with a cutie-pie picture...

She has to pick a flower or two wherever she goes!