Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Arrrgh!!!  Talk Like a Pirate Day was so much fun!  I truly have a wonderful and creative next door neighbor who is very thoughtful to have invited us over to her home for such an occasion as this!

One of my sons dressed up.  He loves to do that.  He was a pirate for the morning.  Arggh!  He acted the part very well and we all played along. 

The banter was quite hilarious!
"Come ye aboard and have some cake and tea!"  It's a Pirate Tea Party!

Our son carried some pirates spoils in a quilted box..... golden doubloons, jewels and a fur pelt.
"Watch ye jewelry, matey, I hear he likes the shiny objects!"
I was dressed up as well, a tourist on board a cruise ship captured by the great Pirate Joseph who somehow was bringing me on deck for cake and tea!

We laughed quite a bit.  Joseph had some fake teeth that were gnarly and quite fitting for a pirate.
"Pirates don't like to brush their teeth see.... and little boys don't either. Ah ho ho ho ho!"
And of course I had to say this a number of times about the teeth that Joseph had taken out so he could actually talk.  "How many times have I told ye not ter leave yer teeth on the table!?"  More chuckles.....

Our neighbor read one of her daughter's favorite bathtime stories about a mommy who made bath time fun for her children by making it into a pirate story with her little ones playing the roles of little pirates.  It was precious!  More smiles.... Frances has great story telling skills!  I was ready for another story!

We had chocolate cake and tea!  Pirates and tea!  Who would have thought?  Pirates don't always have the best of manners ye see!  He kept asking for more "brandy", and he must have thought brandy was tea!  Argghh!

And that hook!  Oh blow me down!  It was a dangerous sight to see at the table with our cake and tea!

I loved the banter back and forth between everyone.  It's so fun to pretend.  Little Teresa took it all in and enjoyed her cake and tea too!

Then me matey, she found the spy glass and I swear she saw more enemy pirate ships a comin' our way.  It was making Pirate Joseph a bit restless at the table see!  And  ye don't want ter have a pirate restless at ye table!  He might slam his hook down, make everyone jump and spill the tea!!

The best part of all of this fun was that my neighbor, Frances allowed us to share in the making of a new memory with her Grandma and her children.  She used to have tea parties with her Grandma as a child and her Grandma shared the story about what they used to do.  It was precious.  I loved listening to those sweet memories.  And to see the grandmother at this table sharing a tea party with her granddaughter and great grand daughter was very special.  Thank you Frances for including us.  Your Grandma has a great smile and laugh!  I know from whom you get your great smile!

The dread Pirate Joseph and his first mate!  Arggggh!  There be that hook again!  Careful there pirate, ye might scratch ye own head with the point of ye own hook see!  Ye first mate may be smilin' now, but I don't think he be realizin' that she be right behind him! 

Oh dear!  The first mate Frances has had enough of the hook and has snuck up on the dread pirate.  Argggh! 

Thank you Frances for the memory and making a little boy's day.  He said to me,  "Mommy I wish Talk like a Pirate Day could have lasted all day."  He was totally sincere.

Wipin' that chocolate off his face with his hand, just like a pirate would do!   Good thing it not be the hand with the hook!  Arggggh! 

If the Trees Could Speak

 Battery Park

Charleston, South Carolina's Battery Park, is at the the point of the city which faces Charleston Harbor and where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers come together.  It became a public park in 1837.  You can see Fort Sumter and Castle Pinckney out in the distance as well as Sullivan's Island.  It is another of our favorite spots in Charleston.  We love to walk the high Battery and look at the water.

What is it about being on the water?  I don't know, but all of us seem to enjoy it, especially my husband and I.

Along the water Bay street is lined with Antebellum homes that have withstood the test of time and most recently Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

The park is also referred to as "White Point Gardens" named for the bleached sea oyster shells that were piled there.  Fort Broughton during the Revolutionary War period, and Fort Wilkins during the War of 1812 made their homes at this spot.  You can still see the oyster shells to this day in the pathways of the park.  What a piece of history to tread on!

The canons were placed at the Battery in response to the War of 1812 to defend Charleston Harbor.  Our sons love to climb on them and have their pictures taken.

What I love so much about this park is its uniqueness.  Not just in the fact that it has cannons, canon balls and rifles for the civil war enthusiast, or for kids who just like military things, like my sons, but it is the trees that just capture my attention every time I'm there.  I just can't stop staring at them.  The curly branches like none I've ever seen.

Their age.  I have to ask myself what would these trees say if they could speak?

What a tale they could tell! A honeymoon or marriage proposal might be included among the tales.  My husband and I would actually fit into one of the two of those particular stories!  And now, all of our visits since then....  Historically there are plenty of tales to be passed down.  A horse drawn carriage or guided walking tour is the best way to find out about the rich history of this area.  I highly recommend the carriage tour.  If you are going to experience Charleston and hear some of it's history, it's worth it to do this just one time!

Enjoy some photos from Battery Park, a "must see" if you ever go to Charleston, South Carolina.

Charleston

I believe we are creating a new family tradition when it comes to vacation spots.  I remember mine as a child.  These were places I frequented every single year for as long as I can remember.  It was usually a South Carolina Beach at Thanksgiving, which later changed to other times of the year, always Lake Junaluska in the mountains of North Carolina for the 4th of July and my brother's birthday, and Arlington, Virginia and the District of Columbia to see my great aunt in August. Truly happy memories were made in all of these places for me, my brother and my parents.

It seems Michael, the boys and I have started a new place of memories.  We don't own a house here, but we are finding ourselves going back to a particular spot each year.  If we keep this up, I may want to start going  more than just once a year.

Charleston, South Carolina.  There is much  to love about this historic city.  I could lose myself walking down cobblestone or cracked sidewalks surrounded by history.  Just sitting in Waterfront Park....give me a book and the view of the water with grassy reeds and I'm good.  This is where my husband and I spent our honeymoon.  It is a place my husband and I have been going for almost 20 years now.  Wow, that long?  Time flies.  It is a place I never tire of going.

I think our boys are starting to get attached to it down there....
Enjoy my favorite spot in Charleston.

Waterfront Park

A long pier with wooden swings for four takes you down to the water's edge where you have a spectacular view of ships, birds, Fort Sumter way in the background and of course Charleston Harbor. Warm breezes of September and October is what we like best.

Gravel pathways lined with Palmetto trees...

 The Pineapple fountain....

The shaded side of the park just beyond the fountain.

A park bench for one, for three!

Nature Study Discoveries September 9

Ocean discoveries this weekend on the South Carolina coastline....

My husband loves the ocean.  He has instilled that love in our sons who are 10 and 7.  I cannot get this man out of the water when we are at the ocean.  Swimming in the ocean is something he loves to do.  He also enjoys diving for sea creatures while chest deep in the water.  He will search for sand dollars, shells and other things.  On Friday he found a starfish.  Our youngest calls it  a " sea star".  I like that name.  My husband was so happy to have found this live one. We kept him in a bucket with salt water for a little while and then took him back out to sea.  The boys liked its little "suction cups" and how it attached itself to their hands.

A very cool find....

Not long after my husband made this discovery, he came back with something else.  A Channeled Whelk shell.  No live animal in it this time, just the shell, but it is not very often we find a whelk fully in tact.  These are typical whelks found in South Carolina.

There was an abundance of dried grasses and reeds on the beach this year, almost creating a little barrier to the tide when it comes in.  Since this part of the beach is actually one side of a barrier island, there are copious amounts of grasses growing on the inter coastal waterway on the opposite side.  I'm wondering if these grasses have washed up on shore due to the turbulent weather activity this year.  I'm not sure, but I did notice grasses washing up while we were there.  It's another good teachable moment about weather, hurricanes and how they affect sea life and our beaches.

My last discovery for the beach.....  It's not really "nature study" so to speak, but it is related to the reeds which are a part of the beach right now.   At one point this particular afternoon, I looked out towards the water and saw this.....  Is that what I think it is?  Did the tide just do that?  Did the Lord just do that for me?  Is that a cross I see made out of the those reeds?  Really??  I'm not trying to make something out of nothing here.  Truly I'm not.  It was there in plain view.  Thank you, Lord.  I'm grateful.  Another of those, "I love you too." moments.  No sooner had I walked up to take a picture of it and the tide washed the crossbar away.  It was just for that brief moment I saw the cross in the sand.

I love when little things like this happen. I love these little reminders from God who shows me He is so much bigger than me, is in control and has created so much beauty for our eyes to behold.

Whether it be the image of my husband with a secure hold on our youngest son in the thick of those unpredictable waves telling me, "I've got a grip on you too, do not worry so much about the turbulance of life."....

.... to a sea star, a simple sea shell or the grassy reeds.

So much to appreciate right before our very eyes.

This has been a great 3 days.