We've just returned from an 8 day journey that I would call Katy's first real vacation. We stopped at Brian's folks' house on the way down for a few nights, as I already posted, and then we headed over to Charleston, South Carolina to join my mom and Greg in a condo there that belongs to a friend of Greg's. We had a really nice time. Charleston is very charming and interesting, I would definitely recommend going if you get the chance. We only skimmed the surface of all that you could do there.
The first thing we did was take a horse carriage ride around the city where we learned lots of interesting history about Charleston: the beginning of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, the first Opera, the First Baptist Church, and some incredible residential homes on the waterfront that maintain their historic look. I thought Katy would be really excited about the carriage ride, but I think she was more nervous than anything. She ate a couple hundred Cheerios and made it through, though.
Some of you know that I was a little stressed about anticipating the long drive. Overall Katy did well, the DVD player definitely helped keep her entertained (thanks to Mark and Kelly for letting us borrow it). There were a few rough spots, but considering that we drove about 1600 miles by the time it was all said and done, that was to be expected with an 11 month old. Ironically, the most stressful part of the trip was something I didn't anticipate: apparently outside of her comfort zone Katy doesn't like to eat. She often refused her bottle and solid foods, and at the end of the week she had lost over a pound. That's more than 5% of her body weight! Now that we're back home, she is eating normally. Little stinker.
A woman at my church (who has 6 kids) says that she and her husband don't call a trip with the kids a "vacation", but just a "trip." I can relate after this week. I felt like it was actually more work than a regular week, because I was caring for Katy, but outside the comfort and routine of home. I came back more tired than when I left: but the objective really wasn't as much to rest as it was to get away, spend time with family, and have some fun doing some new and different things. We accomplished that for sure!
It was also really neat to take Katy to the beach. She had a blast with the sand and the waves. The weather was perfect (as it was all week). This only lasted about 30 minutes, though, and then she had had enough. It's a lot to take in for sure. So we had a brief but enjoyable first beach experience.
My mom and Greg got some good Katy time as well. Mom and I took her to the magnolia plantation, which was incredibly beautiful. They also had a petting zoo, which may have been the highlight of the trip for her. She just loves animals, and we had to keep her from pulling the beard of the billy goat: I know those animals are used to being tortured by kids, but that one kind of scared me!
This weekend we were able to visit Brian's family down in Kentucky. After a few weeks of winterish weather in Ohio, we left on the first decent day and headed south, where it's about 10 degrees warmer. So we went from highs in the low 50's to 85 the next day! It felt like a sudden summer vacation! We spent quite a bit of time outside, both playing in the yard and going to the park. We also experienced some of the small town adventures such as the root beer stand (the kind where you sit in the car and they serve chilli dogs - it's the busiest place in town, delicious!) and taking the Corvette to Wal-Mart with the top down (is that an oxymoron? it was a fun trip, though, where we reached unmentionable speeds ;) when we came out of the store, the guy who collects the carts in the parking lot was taking a picture of the car with his cell phone. it sure is pretty). 
