Oh-oh-oh Little Rock

In our quest for our future home, Christopher & I traveled to Little Rock, AR last week via a quick stop in Nashville to drop Joseph off at Papa & Nana's. While Christopher spent many hours in interviews and making his presentation, I scouted out the town. I was more impressed with Little Rock than I thought it would be. It is truly beautiful and unique. Unfortunately, I only took a couple of pictures. These are all downtown on the riverfront. . . . The Pedestrian Bridge and a great new playground.Our options are narrowed down to 2 cities. We will be making an "official" decision soon and will announce it as soon as everything is "signed on the dotted line."

In other (but the same) exciting news - Christopher is scheduled to defend his dissertation next Wednesday (22 July) afternoon.

Typical Friday Night for the Swearingens

Joseph with Geraldo. . . our favorite (and usual) waiter.

enjoying a night with friends. . . . Joseph looks like he's been into the sauce.

better one of Joseph but now it looks like the photographer has been in the sauce.

Joseph in a "look at the camera" headlock.

Christopher & Derek

Matt & Lauren. . . . . not sure what happened to the flash here.

Family Fun Weekend - Sunday

yes - over a week later I'm posting the rest of the pictures from our Family Fun Weekend. Here are a couple more pictures of the Tall Ships.

The big highlight of Family Fun Weekend - The Sunday Edition - was taking Joseph on his first sailing adventure.

We had tried to go on Saturday night but severe weather kept us home. Joseph was really excited about going.

Our friend Cam keeps his sailboat docked at the Cooper River Marina.

Joseph is suited up and ready to go!

Waiting. . .

We enjoyed a gorgeous Charleston sunset.

Joseph liked keeping an eye on the gauges.

Family Fun Weekend - Saturday

Walking to breakfast at the Farmers' Market.

The Farmers' Market in Marion Square.

Our favorite breakfast - crepes from Charleston Crepe Company.

Joseph patiently waiting . . . .

for his delicious breakfast.

Jump castle fun!!!

Crumbling up bark fun!!!!

The Coast Guard was all set for HarborFest. . .

The Tall Ships in port.

Joseph checks out a snake (shiver).

Pirate Village

Argghhhhh

Joseph loved the playground most of all.

Paratroopers

Enjoying the show with daddy.

Wait. . . those guys over there have ball. Think they will share?

Joseph kicks his first goal.

Back to the Tall Ships.

We were too hot and tired to walk back to our car. So we took a rickshaw.

Easily Joseph's favorite part of the day.

buckets

Joseph loves his buckets. Very useful at the beach. Very useful as a hat. But currently - they are very useful as duck carriers. It just so happens that 2 of Joseph's ducks are the same color as 2 of Joseph's buckets.Awesome - isn't it?! Don't you dare put the blue duck in the green bucket though. . . or visa versa. It just messes everything up and, depending on the mood, might instigate a major meltdown.Buckets are also a great accessory when we realize that we have one that exactly matches our church outfit.

Big Boy Bed

We were going to wait until we moved to transition Joseph to a big boy bed. Yes, he's almost 3 and still in his crib. But he's been fine there and he doesn't climb out. And we didn't know where we would store his crib. However, the house is already in complete "moving" disarray and we thought it might be too traumatic to move to a new house and a new bed at the same time AND I found this darling toddler bed on Craig's list that just happens to almost perfectly match our crib. So Joseph slept in his big boy bed last night and was a total champ.

Another Beach Day

like I said before - we're trying to get as many as these in before we move away from the beach. today we went to the Isle of Palms with Angela and her little Joe. the boys wore themselves out playing in the sand and water.

Anniversary

So our dear friend, Anna, came to stay with Joseph overnight Friday so Christopher & I could celebrate our anniversary in style. We booked a junior-suite at the Ansonborough Inn and made dinner reservations at Robert's of Charleston. We even splurged on pedicures to kick it all off. The only thing we didn't plan on, but which totally made our evening. . . . being seated by our friends, the Bartons, at dinner. What a great surprise and a treat to celebrate our anniversaries together. (And Erin's birthday and graduation. . . )

5 years ago today

First Day of School

Ready to go!

Breakfast at Chick-fil-A!

Climbing a tree as we wait for school to open

Heading in to class

backpack in tow

school has toys!!!