Early September

Last week, Mercer began wearing his "official" Montessori School uniform -- a shirt with the school's logo + khakis. (This was his idea to take a picture and pose here in the hall just outside of his room.) He has been so proud of this shirt -- so much so that one night when we went out to eat for dinner, he had to show the waiter his shirt. I don't think the guy had any clue what he was talking about "new shirt new shirt" but we thought it was funny. The week before, he was the same way about the new tennis shoes he's wearing in the photo. He said they're fast and would actually be upset if we tried to get him to wear a different pair. He has stopped and showed at least a dozen people those shoes.

Kids are funny that way. However, with the good comes the not-so-good. Mercer has become very whiney when he wants something. He gets frustrated easily and cries a lot if something goes wrong. We're hoping he grows out of this quickly!! We're working on it -- trying to explain that he shouldn't express himself like that. If he drops something.. go pick it up instead of cry about it. Wish us luck as there are ever-changing "tests" on our parenting approach!

On Sept 10, we headed to our friends house (Tana & Charles) in Augusta to stay the night. We visited them last year when we were en route to Edisto Island Beach. 2 years in a row... are we beginning a new tradition? Mercer enjoyed playing with their children -- especially their daughter Phoebe (age 8) and her best friend who also stayed the night. He followed those two girls around all night & did what they did -- including doing cartwheels across the back yard and splashing around in their pool.

The next day was the 10 year anniversary of the Sept 11 terrorist attack. We were travelling, so we did not get to participate in any memorial services, but it's been very heavy on our heads lately leading up to that date. We have been watching some heart-breaking testimonials that family members would lay out on t.v. The most memorable for us was a series done on the people who were on the 4th plane... where the passengers stormed the terrorists and managed to divert the plane from it's original destination such as hitting another US building or monument. Knowing that they were destined to crash and take down another building and additional lives, taking over the situation was - indeed - heroic. We went to church with our friends in Augusta that morning before we continued down the road and they talked about how much it has changed the world in which we live / the perception of the world. This is true; Mercer will not have as much freedom to explore & be a kid as Todd and I did when we were growing up. (This is part of the allure for our little vacation spot on Edisto. It's much safer than many other vacation destinations and it has a lot of room for exploration... natural exploration.)

We made it to Edisto Island and checked into the condo for the week. Mercer kept saying that his new friends (from Augusta) were coming over to swim in our pool. He was so apprehensive at first to play with them & after 1 day of hanging out... he wanted to then entertain them! We made it onto the beach for a little while that evening.

The following morning, I found the perfect spot in which to hang out early in the AM. From the side porch of the condo is a sliver of a view to the Bay Creek which lies at the mouth of the South Edisto River and the Atlantic Ocean. There have been a variety of birds hanging out in the marsh these past few mornings as well as a few fishers who trawl down the creek wanting to make an early catch. I've been sitting in this spot every morning before anyone else wakes up. Also - in the afternoon - I will sometimes go down to the Bay Creek Park beyond the white fence and sit on a park bench or even the fishing dock just barely visible from our porch view.

One day while Mercer was napping, I went down to the dock to read & a handful of boats passed by. There are no wake signs posted in this area, so they all putted along quietly. There was one boat I was certain had fish or crabs on it, as there were no less than 30 sea gulls squawking and flying in circles around the boat. It was quite a site to coming towards me... passing by at a snail's pace... then continuing on down the otherwise peaceful creek.

There will be another vacation post with lots of photos once we get home. But - for now - we're hanging out, enjoying the time together with our little family unit, and relaxing!