RJ's Trip to Aunt Amy and Uncle Luke's

RJ and I left Sunny California on Wed June 11 for sunny South Carolina to visit with Aunt Amy, Uncle Luke, and Grammie Carola, who had also flown down. Lance joined us on Father's Day. We had a great time leading up to his birthday, and during this time introduced RJ to:

Water Sports - We went boating with Luke's Aunt & Uncle where I tried water skiing for the first time. I got up on the skis, but then promptly landed on my ass quite a few times and got a lovely bruise across my thighs somehow. I can't wait to try it again! RJ got to swim in the lake with me. Amy also bought a 3 ft pool for the yard, which RJ got to play in. He also got to "swim" in two different lakes in SC! He is a big fan of his floating lady bug for swimming and tolerated his life vest for boating.

Backyard Swinging on Swings and Hammocks. This was the much needed relaxation we were needing!











The Art of Bee Keeping. Luke and his father, John currently maintain two honey bee hives (that Luke built!). While taking me down to the apiary in a full tyvex suit, Amy unfortunately got stung between the eyes and on the side of her head and spent the day high on Benedryl. RJ did not get up close and personal with the bees as I really didn't want to find out that he was allergic to stings at such a young age nor when we were traveling if I could prevent it. The honey is real yummy and the bees are really cool when they're not stinging Amy.

Yurt Living. - Luke's parents have a Yurt erected on their property and use it as their personal fort in the forest. They eventually want to use it at part of a series of unconventional, alternative housing when their house sells. It's pretty cool. I want one!


Some famous animals at Hollywild, which is a zoo that takes care of retired animal "stars". - Pictured here is the lion who was the model for the animators Disney's The Lion King. This is notable because the CEO of DreamWorks Animation (Jeffrey Katzenberg), where Lance works, was the chair of film production for Disney back then.

Hiking. - We did a very very short little like in Table Rock State Park before taking a dip in the lake. RJ "hiked" in his backpack, and enjoyed bouncing around as I got some much needed exercise and communing with nature. Pictured here are RJ and I rehydrating from our matching Klean Kanteens!



Outdoor Live Music. There was an outdoor concert at an Ampitheater on the Reedy River in Greenville. We went and it was fun.

AND of course, RJ celebrated his first birthday in South Carolina, but that will be in its own separate post!

All in all, we had a terrific time and can't wait to come back! A great big thank you to Luke, Amy, Joanne, and John for their hospitality! We couldn't have asked for a better trip or a better first birthday for RJ!

As always, the pictures all link to the complete set of pictures - take a look, there are a bunch in this set compiled from three cameras (ours, Grammie Carola's, and Aunt Amy & Uncle Luke's). Coming soon will be some videos as well, but we have almost three hours of video to sift through, so it might take a while!