Sunday, June 24, 2012

edisto, chicago, jamaica and in between

We have been (and still are) really busy so I'll get right to it!

Since we were about to go to Chicago and Jamaica, we took it easy Memorial Day weekend.  We bought some kayaks and went out to our land.  


Brad on the river.  It is so pretty and peaceful out there!


The common area where we will build a dock.  


All of the land along the river is in the flood plain so even if we bought a river-front lot, we couldn't have built on the water.  So, we spent less money and still get to enjoy the river!


Our 2nd anniversary was Tuesday, June 5.  Brad bought me the exact same card this year as he did for our 2nd dating anniversary.  Of course, he had no idea but I thought it looked familiar.  Too funny!


We had guests sign bottles of wine at our wedding that represented each anniversary.  This year's bottle was much better than last year's!

We actually went to dinner for Blake's birthday on our anniversary.  It was really nice to get together with the Leveretts, Collins', Matsons and others.  


That next weekend, we went to Edisto with Jay, Beth and the Griffins.  Friday night on the beach.


Jay's dog, Duke.  Such a sweet guy!


Jay's family's house.  It was so nice to get away for a weekend and do nothing.   


This guy in front of us caught a stingray and several baby sharks.  


This picture is too small to see but there were several pods of dolphins out in front of us for a while.  Mandy is pointing them out to Brantley and Lauren Kate.  


Lauren Kate riding Honey, their lab.  Not sure Banjo would let anyone do that to her.  :)


On Sunday, I took Brad over to Secession to play with Trey and Eric.  


It was really pretty out there and reminded me of The Ocean Course at Kiawah.


I was going to stay in Beaufort to hang out with Michele and Mary Beth but ended up heading back to see The Avengers and enjoy some Rhinehart's with the McKinneys.  

Two weekends ago, we went to Chicago for Adi's graduation from U of C's MBA program.  These pictures are all out of order...


Corey surprised Adi at dinner at Dinotto.


Adi receiving his diploma.


With High Honors - top 5%!!!


Corey and Tony being silly at Stanley's Saturday after dinner.  This place was really fun.  Great lunch, fun late-night bar and a Bloody Mary bar for brunch.  


Adi and Megan got us a driver from the airport on Friday.  That was nice!


Toasting with the champagne Corey ordered for the table.  This was before he surprised Adi by walking in the door.  


The younguns all had late flights on Sunday so we enjoyed brunch on the river at Chicago Cut.


On Saturday before graduation, we took an architectural tour by boat.  Here is a shot of the city from Lake Michigan.  


The Sheraton on the river.  I stayed there years ago while in town for Starwood's yearly sales meeting.


Friday after dinner, we went to the house of one of Adi's classmates.  Their roof has a great view of the city, along with a bar, hot tub, grill, tables, chairs and sofas.  The weather was amazing!


During Sunday brunch, we watched them weld the bridge and then hose it down with river water to cool it off.  That was pretty neat!


Group picture after graduation.  Sela, Damir, Corey, Liz, Aunt Ellie, Uncle Ron, Megan, Adi, me and Brad, Tony and Bill and Debbie.  


Group at Rhapsody for Saturday dinner.  


Our boat for the river tour.  


See David James Van der Beek??  His cousin is James, Dawson from Dawson's Creek.  Ha!

After leaving Chicago, we traveled to Jamaica for our anniversary trip!


Brad loves his blue drinks!


Heliconia everywhere.  I love this stuff.


The bathroom of our 'treehouse.'


White sand, blue water.  


One of the treehouses.  I loved all the greenery; it was like being in a rainforest. 


Brad and I at dinner at the Lotus Leaf.


Lush


Lobby


Swim-up pool bar


Bedroom of our suite.  We actually ended up getting an upgrade to a two-bedroom suite because the AC in our first room leaked.  


I would definitely recommend this place.  We did get a little tired of the hustlers on the beach so we ended up spending more time at the pool towards the end of the week.  They weren't horrible but it did cut into my relaxation time.  :)

That's it for now.  Heading to Edisto again this weekend and then the lake for the 4th!!!