Collecting Memories

We have almost reached the half way point of 2010 and what a year it has been! Even though we don't have any school age kids, the Toler household has felt the change of seasons, too! It is SUMMERTIME! The days are longer, the nights shorter, and the steam was literally coming out of the ground this evening after the rain shower! We decided to kick off the summer season this past weekend with a quick trip to Charlotte. We couldn't leave for the whole weekend with t-ball and church, but I wanted to give Kris a change of scenary (life between the recliner and the couch has not been too exciting for him)! I made hotel reservations for Sunday night. I spent a few nights searching the web trying to find "Things to Do" in Charlotte, but then I realized that we really didn't need "Things to Do". Why couldn't we just go and take it easy? What a novel concept.

So, Sunday after church, I loaded the van, and we hit the road. It was less than a 2hour drive, the kids slept all the way there, and the weather was great. Once we checked into the hotel, the kids and I changed into our swim gear and we hit the pool. Kris kicked back and found some baseball on TV! I was so relaxed (I guess) that I even forgot my camera, so I have to describe Kieran's swimming setup. He had on Spiderman swim trunks, Spiderman flippers (on hands and feet), Spiderman goggles, and Spiderman floaties (water wings). The only thing missing was his ability to climb walls and shoot webs! Once Elyse (and mommy) got use to the cold water, we all had a great time swimming around and watching the airplanes fly over from the nearby airport. After our swim, we went to dinner at our favorite P.F. Chang's China Bistro. The kids ate and ate after their fun swim. On our way back, we stopped at Walmart to get a kid's golf set since there was a small putting green at the hotel. We came back, put Elyse to bed, and then Kieran and I played 5 holes of "golf" at 10:00 pm! That's what summer is all about, right?

Monday morning, we woke up, ate breakfast at Kieran's favorite "breakfast buffet", and then changed back into our swim suits to hit the pool one more time. We had a good swim and stepped out of the pool just as the rain started to pour! After we checked out, we ate lunch at a very authentic Irish Pub that Kris and I discovered a year or so ago. The food was great and everyone who worked there could pronounce Kieran's name correcty! It poured the rest of the afternoon, but that was okay because we had nothing planned and decided to head back to Columbia.

Tuesday, Kieran turned to me and said, "Mommy, do you remember when we went to the hotel, went swimming in the pool, and played golf?" "Yes," I said. "Can we do that again? It was fun."

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28