South Carolina Snapshots

The first part of our vacation (July 27-July 2) we were in South Carolina to visit Matt's family. Our time there included a baby shower for Matt's sister and our niece-to-be, Isabella; a birthday celebration for Matt; wild animals; and a great visit with Matt's best man, Tyson.

Isabella's nursery will be decorated with a ladybug theme, so guess what the theme of the shower was! :) Adorable ladybugs!

the cake

Matt's sister with a ladybug outfit we gave her


One morning, we went with Matt's parents to a kind of zoo/ranch place. We had a picnic lunch and the ranch had all sorts of animals and a wagon ride where the animals all come right up to you for food. I fed a giraffe, and Matt's mom almost lost a finger!

lily pads on the pond surrounding the lemur island

a blue and gold macaw

One evening, Tyson took us to a park his church owns as a ministry to the community. It was dark so my pictures aren't great, but it was BEAUTIFUL! Also, Tyson almost got attacked by an egret (he started it by pestering the mama bird)--fun times. :)

looking into a field


looking out over the river


We also got to celebrate Matt's birthday (July1) with his parents, sister, and his parents' dear friends Bob and Cindy.

Matt's yummy cake

In addition, we had a great lunch with Matt's sister one afternoon, got to see her house's remodeling progress (it looks great!!), all the baby gear she's acquired so far (so cute!), and enjoy a sweet time with his family. It was a wonderful first half of our annual "family tour." :) We can't wait to return early in September (or maybe the end of August???) to meet Isabella!