So this is the New Year

And I don't feel any different ;) Happy New Year 2017 -- may God watch over us all!

One last Santa Baby shot before the South Carolinian New Year's shenanigans...

While we jumped in the car at the late hour of 5:45am (was meant to be 3:30!) and spent the next 14 hours in Vincent Van Geaux, Geaux, Geaux, Peter was preparing dinner for us!

This fantastic coach passenger made excellent use of sitting next to Nana. 

And this little passenger looks adorable and happy ... and while that was true for much of the time, the last 4 hours in the dark were, well, a bit too much. We all slept awesome after Uncle Pete's pulled pork dinner!

But the 3 men in the house got up early, early to catch dinner for the next day's meal! Nana, Paul, Ada, Jack, and I spent their fishing time gathering pecans in Pete's backyard as well as sticks for the next fire, and we took a nice walk, too. 

Once the men returned and cleaned the boat and fish, we all went into Charleston proper for a lovely walk around. We caught sunset on "the Battery" at the end of the penninsula, walked around the upscale residential part of town, and even stopped in at a café before heading home to eat the day's catch - what a great way to end the year! Oh, at the café, which was mid/late-afternoonish, after we'd all drunk our coffees and teas and hot chocolates, Paul calls out, "Wait! Where's our food!" Nana and I laughed so hard, I think he may have felt a little silly, but we explained it was just a drink-stop, etc. Anyway, made it into a "joke" and then he felt less laughed-at, poor kid. 

Paul's very into "Take a picture of us!" right now - so sweet.

Sunday, New Year's Day, wasn't so much eventful as relaxing. We started the day at Mass, had naps, generally caught up, and had dinner, a fire, and some fireworks in the street. Then Monday, Peter was back to being Dr. Braud, and the rest of us entertained ourselves at Folly Beach - gorgeous day! Also Dylan's first glimpse of the Atlantic.

Lunch. 

Peter was pleasantly surprised by the day being treated as the holiday observed, and he got off early! We had a big meal at his regular bar hang-out, and then caught a few moments on his boat - the kids' first! Paul even drove the boat, something he's very proud to tell others. I rode with Peter and Dad back to the boat launch while Mom drove home with Dylan and the kids from the dock, and a ride at sunset like that felt like 15 minutes of vacation. Couldn't hear much over the wind, and the boat's being low to the water, as fishing boats are, felt wonderful! Also, worth noting, when I first saw the picture of us on the left, there, I reminded myself of Mom when we were the young kids on family's boats on lakes, partly because of the short hair she always had when we were small, and partly because of that Saints sweatshirt of hers I have on, which has survived well over the last decades. 

Then it was packing time and early to bed. We packed up so quickly, we had a few moments just to sit around Peter's table, a family favorite, and talk. The 3am alarm arrived with rolls of thunder, and we were off in the rain, on time this time, and had a smooth journey til we hit NOLA around 4pm. Save the motion sickness Paul, uh, expressed, at about 8am ... kid's got my genes, poor thing.

These last few days have been spent at home, halfway trying to unpack and get re-organized, halfway just enjoying being home and put for a while. We've been to the library a couple of times, enjoyed king cake for the Epiphany, and had a cold family weekend together. We did manage to celebrate the New Year with the horns and hats Nana had bought but left in New Orleans. So this is for you, Nana!

And I have to close out with this sweetheart of a chubba-bubba: