this is the south.

I've spent the last two weeks loving South Carolina and time with the fam. 

And yeah, people here talk about gators and coons and "the war of northern aggression" and we went to a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the state's secession, but really, the South is quite lovely.

Here's the story from my phone:

 Hello, Atlantic Ocean! A beautiful beach with more starfish than I have ever seen

 Andrew got baptized! We're all so proud of him, and even though he was a little nervous, he did great!

 Newly baptized boy in his fancy clothes.

 Christmas pie contest. Our team's entry was Elegant Chocolate Raspberry Pie. We won most festive, which is quite an accomplishment, seeing as I was the only one with a 2 year old and an 8 year old on my team.

 Andrew, Natalie and Graham all became junior rangers at Fort Sumter. They were so excited to find all the facts and answer their trivia questions, then put their name on the wall of fame.

 Natalie and I dressed in traditional southern clothes, complete with hoop skirts but not the corset. I think I really could have lived in the antebellum south, you know without the war and everything.

 Rainbow Row in downtown Charleston was as lovely as I imagined. My favorite is the yellow house, which is for sale. Serendipitous?

 The architecture of downtown is just so quaint. I would love to live in any of the houses!

And just because I don't have a picture of Spence, and because he looks so cute in his new Thomas PJs.