We drive. We eat. We try on shoes.

So the trip to SC to get Leah was good. Abbie and I loaded up two cars with all of Leah's stuff and drove down to Charlotte, NC, to pick her up at the airport. Why didn't we take a photo of the jam-packed car, you ask? Because we are lame.

Of course her plane was 30 minutes late because we hadn't seen her all summer long and the Charlotte airport was (no kidding) 85 degrees inside. But she finally got there, and we crammed her duffle (Teen Missions lingo for a sea bag that's black. A sea bag is Navy lingo for a really huge, heavy-weight canvas bag that has grommets at the top so you can tie it shut. No wheels and it contains your entire life for a summer.) into one of the cars and left for Greenville and Bob Jones University. She had to check in that night and start her job as a GA the next day.

Did we even take a decent picture of Leah? No. The only one I have was taken with my cell phone.

Abbie really isn't that much shorter than Leah. I think she was wilting from the heat.

I offered Leah anything she wanted to eat for dinner before we got on the road to Greenville. Know what she chose?

Kentucky Fried Chicken. She was a little sick of Chinese food.

Anyway, we got her moved into her dorm, and Abbie and I went to stay with Ben's brother Jared and his wife Rana and their two kids, who live just a few miles away.

Thursday morning we hung out with Rana and the kids. They took us to this cool park, the name of which I have completely forgotten, but a river runs through it. (Doesn't that sound like the name of a movie?)

Here's the bridge over the river

and the river from the bridge

There are nifty places to sit and shoot (or enjoy) the breeze

Ducks to feed

And this cool spot that has fountains for kids to play in on a hot day.

This guy had been riding a bike and couldn't take the heat anymore.

Rana took us to lunch in a great outdoor cafe where we had awesome ham/turkey/bacon/lettuce/cheese wraps with my new favorite: chipotle mayo. You should try it. It will make your mouth happy.

We spent the afternoon in Barnes & Noble trying to get a wireless signal so I could do some work, but all we got was a comfy chair to nap in. I guess that's not such a bad trade-off.

We picked Leah up at 5 and went to get a burrito at Chipotle (are you sensing a theme here?), where Leah ordered hers without rice. Abbie and I think that's just plain wrong, because the rice at Chipotle is the best ever, but Leah informed us that she had eaten rice 67 times this summer and didn't ever want to eat it again.

Then we went to the mall and tried on shoes, because that's how we bond.

I hope someday Abbie actually wears shoes like this. I love them.

Friday we drove home and now it's back to the grind. I'm still trying to catch up on my sleep, and of course, work went berserk while I was gone, so I have projects backed up to kingdom come.

But at least we got to spend a little time with Leah and help get her moved in, and that was worth it.

Be thankful ~

Karen