July 18,2011--Mooresville, North Carolina

This is Monday morning and we are at our son and his families home on Lake Norman in Mooresville, NC.
We drove back to this area from our vacation house on Saturday. Yesterday was a day of rest and recuperation for everyone. We went to Mass at 5:30 PM and then went out to dinner at a local lake cafe.

My mother has done very well on the vacation. She says she misses her video machine to work on her hearing aides so Walt and I have gotten a crash course on hearing aide care. She was very happy just watching the activity of the family during the week and we also took her out for a few meals and some shopping. She even made cinnamon rolls as a "bake off" against Krista. She had no pain while she was with us and her appitite was great. She was just so amazed how grown up our grandchildren have become. She was so happy to see how good Troy was during the week. He just rolled with the punches.

The meals were great---our son is a great chef but he had some rice left after his meal. When his son saw how much was left of the rice he said, "sell it on ebay."  He is such a humerous boy because on the last vacation he asked for a daiqueri which was non alcohol. When he tasted it his remark was that it was a "Drink of Happiness".

The weather was very hot with humidity that gave an index of 100 to 110 degrees, so they did not spend to much time at the beach but someone was always in the hot tub which connected to the pool.
They did a great job on crafts (duct tape art and painted faces). Then one evening we watched some of the slides which Mom had taken in the 60's and 70's. The one comment from the peanut gallery was that Grandma Bruns was "hot" when she was younger. Well, she said I always liked to wear high heels and "the higher the better". Two evenings the parents had contests against the next generation with the game of Beer Pong. They did not have to drink beer with the game but they did have a very good time. The poor family that had a room under the dining room could not slept because of the noise. I even went outdoors to see if you could hear the noise outdoors, but all was well for the neighbors.

Here are some pictures:

Molly's quilt which I made for her for her graduation from high school.

Three of our older grandsons

YUM---DESSERT

OUR BEAUTIFUL GRANDCHILDREN

OUR CHILDREN ACCORDING TO AGE L-R

Our youngest son is absent

Our (affectionally called) out-laws (our daughter and son in-laws)

Our grandchildren with their great grandmother

Max challenges Kate to some exercise

Mom and dad with Julia's 11 th  birthday cake

Nate's drink of sunshine

BEACH PHOTOS

OUR HOUSE FOR THE WEEK

FOLLOWING THE PIED PIPER TO THE BEACH

Troy's first visit to the beach

Circle of prayer at mealtime

We are at home at the present time. We arrived home last evening and today was a day of catching up with everything and putting things away. See you soon,  Marge

July 10, 2011--Charleston, SC

Sunday in Charleston! We started by going to Mass at the St. John the Baptist Catheral in downtown Charleston. It is a very old parish in the south with history before the Civil War. The mass was at 11:15 so we left the house about 45 minutes before Mass time. We finally got to the church just as Mass was starting thanks to Mom's handicap card so we could park right in front of the church.

These pictures of the beautiful church---

Before Mass --Aunt Trisha holding Master Troy

Stained glass window above the main altar

Troy's favorite thing--swaddled in his blanket and sleeping while being held by Mom

Main Altar

Spire of the catherdal

When we left Charleston we had to take this bridge to the island.

Aunt Krista is giving a short class on duck tape art

Fun in the pool--temp. in high 90's and very humid

Time for naps

You do not take a nap in a public area -- you are a target for an uncle to paint your toes pink.

The artists have finished their art project

Mom playing solitaire

Colleen's duct tape art--daughter of an art teacher--natural talent

Our daughter did art work on the faces of some of the older grandchildren

Painted faces from a dog to a fairy princess

End of day two.

July 10, 2011--Isles of Palms, South Carolina

We are in paradise--but, it is very hot and humid. On Thursday the 7th of July we left early (6:30 am) for Charlotte, N.C. We have my mom with us so we are making the trip to vacation in Isle of Palms a 3 day adventure. We traveled to our son and his family in Harrisburg, N.C. for Thursday and Friday night and then we traveled the rest of the trip to the Isle of Palms on Saturday.

Everyone arrived at the beach house safely except for some mechanical difficulties. We had an air conditioner fan go out and our daughter and her husband had some brake problems due to a mistake by a mechanic in there little hometown. We were all able to get the problems repaired in short time and were on our way very quickly except for the repair bills.  Super expensive.

Our house is a 11 bedroom plantation style home with 3 floors. We are about a 1 and a half block distance from the beach, so our trips to the beach will be by groups only. The main living room is on the third floor so we are up above the trees.

Here are a few pictures----

The bridge to the island

Our new grandson Troy-3 1/2 months old and 15 pounds

Part of the first dinner provided by one of our sons--all of our children take turns providing dinner.

Meal time at Alber's Family Vacation

The lineup on the porch after dinner.

Molly

Mixologist of the family

Cook

Assistant Cook

Card game for young and old

Beer Pong

Groupies for beer pong players

End of Day One Family Vacation