Just a quickie to say we are back from the IOP--Isle of Palms, and what a gorgeous, perfect place that is. It looked like our beach week weather was going to be iffy and wet, but it turned out to be gorgeous and sunny, and nothing evidences this more than the orange, pus-blister filled face of my poor little Rutty-Buddy, whose lips and nose were burnt to a crisp.

This is our third year going to the Renwick family reunion that has been at this same beach house since it was built in 1994. Prior to having our current house--an incredible 11 bedroom, 12 bath extravaganza that easily holds our 35+ people--the original 8 brothers and sisters from whom the current family is descended would stay in a house on the beach while the younger generations would stay in another house a block or two back. I think we all think of this particular house now as "ours," since we have so many fond memories there.

What makes the Isle of Palms so perfect is that it is only 20 minutes from Charleston, one of my favorite cities. Though most of our time is spent relaxing on the beach, picking creatures from the tide pool (we had an enormous live sea star on Sunday), getting knocked by the waves, and getting our dyed-pink hair undyed in the swimming pool, we always make some reason to go into Charleston for a day. This year our plan was to go on a ghost tour, but there was a snafu and the tour guide didn't show, had us down for the 9:30 p.m. tour, and we didn't get to do it. But I went on an earlier excursion to the city to buy some pralines at River Street Sweets, where they make them fresh and you take them home still warm and delicious, and I made a little journey through the market with a distant cousin, so I got my fix. We also had a very memorable dinner at Hyman's Seafood, which is consistently one of the top 10 seafood restaurants in the country, and definitely one of the best on the East Coast. We sat at a table that had once seated Tom Berenger, the original Batman, and ACDC. They also have yummy hand churned ice cream for after dinner.

But the best times were those spent with the people we've come to know that I never knew I was related to. I've learned so much about my family, and best of all, my cousin-less children now have people they can think of as cousins (even though they are children of cousins of mine, so I'm not sure what that makes them to my children). Ashley and Jack live in Florida and are 9 and 11, and Colin is 14 and lives about 45 minutes from Greenville, SC and Asheville, NC. We are planning to go visit them on a camping trip in the spring. Quinn is only 3 weeks older than Rutledge, and they had an super time together in the pool, playing Playmobil, and playing on the beach. We also met Hunter, 1, and Amber, 3, for the first time--Amber totally enjoyed playing with Frances, and Frances got to play big sister to a girl, something she never ceases to remind me is her calling in life.

Alas, the trip was all too short, and we are now back, and it feels like we're finally beginning the true fall and the true school year. The trip always comes right as we're trying to get into the swing of our new routine, but now we're home for a while (well, okay, until the next camping trip in less than two weeks...).