Gone Fishin!!!!

After we all decided to wake up this morning and get moving we headed down to the lake for a picnic and some fishing. I am a city girl all the way around when it comes to fishing. I can't even tell you the last time I went fishing let alone held a pole in my hand. I don't even eat any type of sea food why would I wanna go fishing. But strangely enough I was looking forward to our outing. Maybe because of the company, the beautiful day out or just the simple fact that it was something different for me. After enjoying some nice yummy sandwiches we headed down to the water. The older two girls were saying how they were going to put their own worm on the hook and Adam didn't believe they would. So what do I do.....I told them I'd give them $5 bucks if they did it. Well yall let me tell you I'm $10 in debt to a 7 & 8 year old.  

Although none of us caught any fish it was still nice and relaxing to sit out in the sun and enjoy the day.   The current was pretty strong which kept bringing our lines back in, so I don't think that helped much. I  think I would have had a slight panic attack if I would have caught a fish so its probably a good thing.

Alisha was trying to cast her pole out into the lake and well she kinda missed hooking Crystal in the back. It wasn't hard enough were the hook went through her shirt or anything but there was a wormy on the end of it. EWH EWH!!!! 

Anna & Chy bug enjoying some fishin on this beautiful day!!!

Chy & I were fishing together for a bit and she was giving me some pointers on what to do.Seriously this kid is gonna be a pro when she gets older. Just like her daddy, loves getting out and getting dirty. Nothings gonna stop her. I've seriously missed spending time with her and watching her grow up. 

I hooked some moss in the water and Alisha was so kind to help me get it off. When it comes to fishing I'm a girly girl 100% and I think my fingers should not touch any of that gooey nasty stuff. You can say I'm a bit over the top and that's just fine by me. Don't worry Adam gave me plenty of crap for it. 

After us girls did our fair share of fishing we headed up to the park area. Crystal & I had loads of fun spinning the girls on the marry go round. I even had a little "swing out" with Alisha to see who could go the highest. Chy bug had so much fun on the swing and kept telling her momma to push her more it was to cute.  

I'm loving getting to know the older two and hanging out with them they are so stinkin cute. Full of spunk & bubbly personalities that put a smile on any ones face. I'm gonna be pretty bummed come Wednesday because that's when they go back to their mommas. 

Later this evening we grill some burgers and dogs while the kiddos jumped on the trampoline. Crystal & I stayed up well past midnight again talking. I hate that we live so far away now, sure we have the Internet and phone chats to keep in touch but its just not the same. I am definitely soaking up every ounce of time I have here. 

~DAY 171~

Walk on the Wild Side!

DAY 94 

Ok so it really wasn't a wild walk but it was a lovely peaceful one together. A co-worker of mine told me about another "board walk" type of park in the area, so we decided to go check it out today. K along with a couple other people I work with kept mentioning that it was next to the old prison here in Columbia. I was confused because when we drove up I was looking for the prison and couldn't find anything. There was a small water plant to the right of us as we started down the path but it looked nothing like a prison. We made our way a little further down and there on the left hand side stood a single brick wall that looked like it had been cut in half. You could tell it had been there a while with the trees and grass grown around it. We came to the conclusion that it was referred to as the Old Prison because well it wasn't there any more, it all made sense after that. 

We had to walk across this bridge to get to the path that followed along the canal. It reminded me of Kauai and some of the bridges we drove across when we were there. Only this wasn't wide enough for a car to across and it sure as heck wasn't as pretty as Kauai. 

"The view from the inside looking out", there's a old school house building that housed some of the water pump circulation system and we were able to walk through.

I'm pretty sure this was the back wall of the old prison, or at least a part of it. From the looks of it and the way it mimicked the other single standing wall it seemed to make sense. Looks like over the last few years it was just made into a retaining wall that runs off the canal.

Enjoying our last free,
 weekend b4 drills school starts.

The Conagree river that we walked over the Christmas break ran along the left side of the path as we walked along the canal trail. I was much prettier on the river side but still a beautiful walk and we really enjoyed our time out together.

Do you remember the gum ball tree ?!?!?! Well that's what we called them growing up, we always found them around my mamaws house. They sure do hurt like crazy if you happen to step on them with no shoes. A few times when we were out at Bellows beach (in HI) I stumbled across a couple with out my shoes on and that was no bueno. Trying to skip over them on my runs has become quite the challenge that I've managed to over come.

There are some really nice parks here in the area that we have started to enjoy so thats nice. I'm hoping we are able to spend more time out here over the next two year.

A small slice

DAY 87 

Today I managed to find a small slice of heaven here in the south. When we were on Christmas break week before last we drove past what looked like a park along the river. The day we had planned to go back and check it out it turned frigid cold out. Today after the hubbs got home we made our way out to what is called River Front Park. As soon as we started walking along the paved path that follows the river I was in love. There were tons of families there some with their pooches. Many people were riding bikes along the way and a few runners getting their work out in. I was a very calm, tree covered area that was simply beautiful. I kept telling the hubbs how much I loved it and how I couldn't wait to come back again.

Taking it in & enjoying our walk. 

The View from the end of the trail.

We headed to the left of the trail first which came to a end about half a mile in. There was giant bolders and picnic tables were you could sit down and relax or fish from if you wanted. We took a look around and headed back the direction we'd came from. Passing the park entrance we proceded further down the paved path. Passing by people of all ages running, biking and walking I was just loving it. I probably had the dorkiest smile on my face but to have finally found a area that we can come and enjoy together was awesome. So badly I wanted to bust out running right then but I didn't think that would go over really well in my Toms and blue jean capris. We walked about a mike & a half in the same direction before the sky started to look a little gloomy, we didn't want to get caught out there in a down pour. Come to find out after a little research on line the trail is a total of 2 1/2 miles one way. Which will make for a awesome 5 mile run. There's plenty on benches and picnic tables to stop and take a break along the way over looking the river as well as emergency call boxes in the event you ever needed it. I'm so excited because its right downtown only about a 10 maybe 15 minute drive from base. It completely shaded so I see many of my runs there to come in the future. It was a nice peaceful relaxing afternoon with my love, we both enjoyed it so much and just what we needed. We talked about bringing our pups back but since we saw so many other dogs there we figured for now it would be best not to. They LOVE other dogs and are super friendly but they get so excited when there around them. What can I say there dog, dogs lol.

Downtown off in the distance. 

Conagree River Bridge 

 I could stay for hours. 

A painting under one of the bridges!

Congaree National Park

DAY 70

Out on another Adventure

This morning we went decided to check out the 2ND of two National parks here in Columbia. It's pretty close to home so that's nice the only crummy part about it is they don't allow dogs on the board walks. We like taking the pups on outings like this when we go so them not being able to tag along was a bit of a bummer. Along the way there is was drizzling a bit so we knew things were going to be wet, I guess all in all it was good they couldn't come. Everything was wet and muddy so they would have been a mess trying to check everything out.

There are several different trails that lead you through the park, they mainly run along a creepy swamp. The bridges along some parts are almost right even with the swamp water, I was sure to watch my step real close so I didn't slip and fall. That would have been a complete disaster that I would never live down. Since it had rained right before we got there parts of the board walk was still really slippery. Every now and then I could feel my shoes slip a little and only once did I fall :( I was going down a slight hill and smack right on my knee, no worries though I managed to stay clean.

We walked about 5 miles total that led us around the 3 mile loop of Weston Lake & also around the 2 mile board walk loop. The views were nice from the ginormous trees to the watching the squire's run around. It was a bit muggy out today from the rain so that left us feeling sticky and sweaty. We had a great time it was nice to get out, walk around and explore a area we hadn't been to yet. Slowly we are finding our niche in the South I hope that we will continue to feel more at home here. Today definitely was something that we enjoy doing together, getting outside and going for a walk / hike. (some people consider the trails hiking but there aren't any hills or mountains to climb so to me its just walking)

We both agreed that we like Congaree Park over Sesquicentennial because it's much bigger more area to explore and a lot less crowded. Through out our whole two hours there we saw maybe 3 different families.

I'm looking forward to going back again soon and taking another trail to see more of the park. Although I'm not to sure how much we will make the visit during the summer months, I hear that they are pretty killer here.