We Love Summer

Chris, looking bewildered.

Cal and John relaxing after the float down.

Beau and Pa Pa.

Beau loves his Pa Pa.

Herber Edward Mercer Jr., Herbert Edward Mercer III, Herbert Edward Mercer IV

About to get in the COLD river! Hope nobody acts babyish about the temperature (Edward, I'm looking in your direction...)

Edward facilitating Beau's first mini float down.

He's not ready to get out....

An old member of The River Rat Club, and a new member.

Beau at the aquarium. He learned the word fish, but it sounds like "shish!". So cute!

Here is Beau in front of the SC blackwater swamp display. He is already an expert in this area as evidenced by the river pictures above.

He enjoyed these crabs...he kept walking alongside the glass and pointing at them.

Here he is in some type of diving cage. That is one cute baby!

We watched the boats in the harbor come and go for a while. Beau is chill like that.

Not a real penguin...don't worry!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I know Beau has fans. We have been so busy! Perhaps the biggest news is that Beau has been walking! He is now a walking expert and today I even caught him breaking in to a run. We have really enjoyed Beau's new walking skills. It is crazy cute, and he is just a tad more independent while playing which means that I don't have to wait until he naps to get stuff done around the house. We love walking!

Like I said, we have been so busy this summer. Since I last posted, we have done LOTS of fun things. June 20th was the date of this year's Farm Fest hosted by Cal Stephens and his bride-to-be Vitre Ravenel at Ervindale Farm in Laurens, SC. Was this the 8th Farm Fest? It is hard to believe! It has gotten a bit tamer as we have all aged. It has gone from booze and trampolines to babies and remembrances of the trampoline days. And there is still booze. It is so wonderful to have all of our dear friends in one place. Life changes and people move away and get jobs, get married and start families but when we can all get together we realize that the people have not changed. They are still the same people that you had so much fun with in college, and when we are all together it is like going back in time. We love Farm Fest!

The very next day after Farm Fest brought the Emerging Public Leaders program. This is a week long leadership and civic engagement program for rising high school seniors that I coordinate at Furman. We had a great class this year! Coordinating the program required me to be away from Beau most of the week, which was really hard for me since Beau and I are used to spending almost all of our time together. Luckily, mom came down to watch Beau and this made me feel much better. Also, when she arrived Beau was taking a step or two at a time. When she left, he was walking across an entire room. So she really did get to see him learn to walk. And the program went splendidly. I had a great time getting to know all of our participants. I think they learned lots, and they will take their knowledge back to their communities and do a big project. They will do great things! I love EPL!

After EPL, we had a few days to play catch-up around the house. Beau and I went to the pool almost every day. He LOVES the pool. On the 3rd of July, Edward and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. We went on a bike ride in the park and went swimming. Uncharacteristically sporty of me, but fun. We put the baby to bed and cooked a nice dinner together. It was a great day. 5 years have gone so fast! Edward is truly an incredible husband. We are blessed. I love Edward!

On the 4th of July, we headed down to the river (Edisto River, where Edward's family has a house) for the 4th of July BBQ at the Denmark Country Club. Beau ate fistfuls of BBQ, hash, an endless array of vegetable casseroles, watermelon and even a cupcake. Cal, Vitre, John, Sallie and Chris came and had lunch with us and stayed for the annual float down. Peyton has a house next door and was there too! Beau took a dip in the river on the 5th and even enjoyed a mini-float down. We all enjoyed a few golf cart rides around to wave at the neighbors and see the sights. On Sunday, we headed to Charleston for Edward to do some work. Beau and I had dinner with Cal and Vitre, which was so fun. Beau and I went to the aquarium on Monday and hit King St. for some shopping. A very fun long weekend indeed! We love the 4th of July!

We are currently installed back in our house for a grand total of 4 days. Next up is the wedding of Tim Platts and Mary Beers. We are so happy for them!! We will be heading to Charleston for that on Saturday. After that, we will drive on to Edisto where we will be staying for a nice vacation! We are all really looking forward to relaxing at the beach! In fact, Beau and I are off to the farmer's market today to pick up some peanuts for Edward to boil. Gotta have boiled peanuts at the beach! We love the beach!

I hope everyone out there is having a great summer!! We love summer!