The morning start out with pouring rain. By the time we ventured out of the house it was warm out. Trevor surprised us with Starbucks coffee to start the day.

We walked along the harbor and looked at all the colorful homes. We saw the famous pineapple fountain and meandered thru a park . I saw a lady with the most beautiful ornate cane and mentioned to her how beautiful it was. She was willing to trade it for Benton. Ummm NO! Ha.

The weather was a little muggy with rain waiting to come down. It held off til we were getting ready to go. We saw a house where George Washington had stayed or lived. I can’t remember. Some houses were in great shape. Others were falling apart. They have some crazy rule about when they can be torn down. Such ornate iron work and exquisite woodwork.

We ventured up some very narrow and steep stairs to a delightful lunch stop.

After lunch we headed off to the city market. There were stalls after stalls of craft items and of course the almighty t- shirts.

After the market we had dessert . Thank you Trevor for the delicious carrot cake. ( Brad you have to go there )

And then we headed home. Went along some back country road. Green . Green. Everywhere. Lush.

First things first. Trevor went to the barber. Then we took Winston to Big Red’s Bed n’ Biscuit. Winston loves it so much he ran in without a goodbye. Off to get the rental car so we could all ride together( one of the changes since Benton) Rented a van. Who knows it might be in the younger Cakes future. Very comfy and fit all of Benton’s stuff. He’s such a heavy packer. Ha.

The first stop was The Boone Plantation. A long dirt driveway with trees on each side greeted you upon entrance. Spectacular. Gorgeous, giant trees. Moss hanging from the branches. Horses behind a fenced pasture. And a beautiful home at the end. What beauty but this place housed such sorrow. The slaves lives were very hard. It impacted me even more seeing the enormous fields and feeling the heat. Oh how the humidity must have been brutal working long hours in the fields. We got out of the van and I immediately had to snuggle with Benton. He rewarded me with a blow out diaper fail. Yikes. Caught the problem before I required a change. The plantation was setting up for a wedding we wanted to crash. We walked around the slave quarters and the butterfly enclosure. We took a wagon ride around the entire plantation. A tour of the house also. Oh I forgot to mention some of the scenes from the movie “The Notebook”, were filmed there. After the plantation we checked into our Airbnb and then headed downtown Charleston for dinner. We went to the Hyman where many famous people have eaten. At each table they have brass plates with the name of whom sat there. Best hush puppies ever. Last, but not least we almost crashed the wedding party. The only way back out was through their cocktail hour centered on the lovely road( dirt) and gorgeous trees. That was interesting parting the sea of wedding goers.

Laundry, naps, tire rotations and all that Jazz. Oh and walks wIth Winston. Snuggles with Benton. Pedi gifted to me by Alyssa. Haircut ( boy do I need a color) but I’ll take what i can get. And of course somewhere in all of that we’ve been watching the Golden State Warriors. We finished off the day at Matthew’s downtown market and then dinner. Back home we packed for our Mother’s Day trip for the weekend to Charleston, S.C.

Jared, Brit, Ari and Beau headed home. It was so much fun to have our entire family together to celebrate the birth of Benton. We also celebrated Jared and Nicole’s bday.

Wow! What a place for the kids. From a life size cow you could pretend to mill, a grocery store, a restaurant,airplane, speed boat, fire truck , submarine, show stage, a car to changes the tires, a vet office with the animal cages, art room and more. All kid sized and approved. Needless to say the littles loved it. And we did too!After that we head over to Bad Daddy’s for the best burger I’ve ever had.

We finished up the night with a try at a family picture.

A darling little town. We are at a cute place called “Provisions. ” Famous for their Reubens. Park time for the littles and then we hit the ice cream store. A beautiful day. Of course thru all of this we’ve managed to watch the Warriors playoff games.

And baby makes three…

A walk in squirrel park with the “grands” playground time , of course. Just hanging out with the family. In the evening we went to friends of Trevor and Alyssa’s for a fiesta. Delicious. Tacos. Guacamole. Shredded and grilled chicken. Tri tip. Mexican rice pudding. Quesadillas . And of course the best Margarita I’ve ever had. Met some awesome people. They are so friendly here.

Today we all headed out to a really cool place. Loud thunder, great food and a river of rushing water. Muggy day. We enjoyed watching the kayakers go thru the water course. Rock climbers struggling to reach the top before their fall in the pool. Zip liners, bikes and dogs, beers and kids everywhere. We had a great time just hanging out. Family is the best!!!

We left Georgia and headed to North Carolina . Family reunited ! The drive was great minus one accident ahead of us. Just a 40 ft. boat that came off it’s trailer. Yikes! Jared and Britt and kids made it in.