vacation part VI

I know what you are thinkng...this vacation will never end!

Well we did eventually run out of time and money...but a few last shots.

Jake is king of the world...a group shot of the kids ... Carlee.....and the minnow bucket during "happy hour"...don't worry there's plenty for everyone.

vacation part V

Fort Sumpter...Jake and Carlee... and the Castle washes away

vacation part IV

Photos by Meagan Hipps;

Working on the Castle.....Brooke and Sarah ,
The old cemetary...this tomb freaked meagan out a bit.....Brooke in Charleston ,

vacation part III

Here is a random assortment of additional photos that were taken by Kim Hipps and her daughter Meagan.

First up is a photo of the hole Bobby dug and Abby was the first one in.

Later we put Harrison in and made him into a merman.

A group shot of the girls

Homeschool Vacation part II

On Tuesday we were back in Charleston on the USS Yorktown and later in the day we took the boat ride to Ft Sumpter- to my surprise my daughter Brooke loved it- the history part that is. Yes! I think part of it was seeing the four dolphins in the ocean on the ride over, but she also was very surprised when I point out that the crater holes in the walls still had the shells imbedded in them. I guess you never know exactly what will click in a childs head. This by the way this was my second time at Ft Sumpter so I gave some of the girls a guided tour and pointed out how a cannon is positioned, loaded, aimed and fired. Some of the cannons were missing different equipment so you had to look at 2-3 cannons to describe every detail. Most of the cannons were buried in sand after the Civil War when the fort was upgraded during the Spanish American War. It wasn't until decades later that many of the cannons were "discovered" once the fort became a tourist attraction.
By Thursday we were again at the state park which the kids loved- and I highly recommend. Earlier in the week Bobby had dug a huge hole and the kids all took turns being covered up to their necks in sand. Later on Thursday we got the kids to help build a huge sand castle and waited for the ocean to tear it down.
I did a little fishing but we had no luck- really didn't matter- we all had a great time together. People wonder with home schooling if the kids get enough interaction with other kids- all I can say is that these 8 kids got plenty of interaction- they all got along great. Plus when I think back on my childhood the best part wasn't being in school with 500 other kids- it was having a friend to hang out with- and most of those great memories I have were on those summer vacations when 3-5 families got together. I just know that this vacation is something Brooke will never forget.

homeschool vacation

Last week the homeschool group went to Myrtle Beach/Charleston for the week and we really had a great time. Saturday morning we kicked off the vacation by going to a free Southern Gospel show at the Civic Center in Myrtle Beach. I must confess that before Saturday I wasn't real big into Southern Gospel- but I must say it was a great show- really a blessing. Some of these people can flat out sing. I especially liked the Greens and Mark Bishop. I'd never even heard of Mark Bishop but went away a new fan (got a CD).

Sunday we spent the day in downtown Charleston at the old slave market, ate at Bubba Gumps then spent the remander of the day walking around town. We took the kids through an old cemetary and their big thrill is that behind the old cemetary was an alley that led to a courtyard where Blackbeard the pirate and his crew stayed while in Charleston. That is where this picture was taken. Aside from that, simply walking the town was awesome as well as seeing a replica of the CSS Hunley. On the way back to Myrtle Beach we hit the beach at the state park.