December 2009

We were lucky to have many visitors in the month of December, beginning with an old Ottawa friend Jim Elliott who introduced us to Joan Anne. They made the pilgrimage to the COSCO store in Charleston from Beaufort, SC where they hibernate from Canadian winters. After a day of shopping they joined us for dinner in town and spent the night in the frog (family room over the garage) before heading back south. It was fun catching up and swapping tall stories from the foreign service.

Next came Cira Pereira with daughter Celina on the way back from Tampa. They brought the rain with them, and boy did it rain - over 5 inches. Rain notwithstanding, Donna's flight was on time and we had a nice visit despite David's efforts at cooking dinner. Cira and Celinas departure the next day was tentative given that 5 inches of rain translated into two feet of snow in the Washington area. It took them two full days of driving to get home.

The next week, Liam came back bringing his parents and stayed through the holidays. As you can see from the photos, he was the center of attention as he experienced his first Christmas. The weather treated us well and Stu, joined us for golf and we managed to fit in some biking and the gym whenever we felt guilty from overeating. I think Noelle & Stu enjoyed the occasional break from parenting and found time for shopping, a movie and lots of lazing about time. Donna and Dave enjoyed waking up with a little "elf" in the bed as Noelle passed Liam to us so that she could go back to bed and sleep in. We all wonder how Liam is going to adjust to life back in Toronto where he won't have a crowd of people to entertain him and no paparazzi photographing his every move!

It was a great December!

Thanksgiving 2009

David's Mom joined us for Thanksgiving. We were blessed with cool but sunny days, very convenient for shopping and wandering about town. It was a very nice visit.

Liam comes back for a visit

Liam brought Mom & Dad back to Charleston for a week in early October. We had a lot of fun.

Noelle and Stuart were able to get away and visit some of the plantations and spent one day in Savannah.

Stuart was also able to get in a couple of rounds of golf and one visit to the gym!

They will be back in December for a longer visit.

Millers visit

Nancy and Gary Miller dropped into Charleston for Labor day weekend and tried out our golf courses, our restaurants and our pool.

The weather was great, the alligators were friendly and we had a great time. Hope they come back!

4th of July visit to Charleston

We were fortunate to have Marc, Lesley, Kincaid and Cormac visit us for the holiday week and they were joined by Great Gramma who came up from florida to join the fun.

The weather cooperated as it has hot and sunny. We all visited the beach, hung out in the pool, and generally had a relaxing time.

I get the feeling that everyone had a lot of fun.

More of Liam in Charleston

As promised, we have published a few more photos of Liam's time visiting with us and David's Mom who came up from Florida to meet him. The pictures below speak to his day at the beach and the rest of the time just hangin' with the Ryans.

Don't know how he will adjust to life back in Toronto where he does not have all kinds of people to entertain him all day long.

Liam hits Charleston

Liam brought his parents, Noelle and Stuart, to visit us in Charleston at the end of May and stayed for a week. As you can see, he made quite a splash on the social scene with his spiffy wardrobe and ladykiller smile.

Later in the week, he will be joined by Great Gramma who will be travelling from Florida to meet him. The week ahead includes plans for the beach, pool and other exiting activities that I will document.

Noelle and Stu added to the goverment stimulous package and I would strongly recommend buying stock in Target or Costco as both are going to have a great quarter.

Cira's visit

Cira Pereira was on her way back from Florida with her daughter, Celina, who attends college in Tampa and spent mother's day with us in Charleston. Coming from Fortaleza in northern Brazil, it was difficult to impress her with SC beaches but it was nice to get out and go for a walk to work up and apetite before mother's day brunch at a popular beach spot.

Lots of touring, market shopping and, of course, eating was done.

Easter in Connecticut

We drove up to Darien Ct. for a quick visit to Lesley, Marc, Kincaid and now Cormac, over the easter weekend. This was our first introduction to Cormac.

It was a horrible drive on a Friday afternoon with several lengthy delays and heavy traffic all the way. Kincaid was in bed but Cormac was up to greet us when we arrived. What follows are some photos from the weekend.

Saturday it rained all day and Easter Sunday it was cold so our excursions included only a quick run to the park and some grocery shopping. Nonetheless it was a great visit and we just loved being around these two great kids! (...and their parents, of course).

The Ryan Family has grown!

After years of wondering if we would have to buy a dog to keep us company in our old age Noelle & Stuart and Lesley & Marc have stepped up to the challenge and given us grandchildren numbers 2 and 3. Liam was born in Toronto on March 1st while Cormac, brother to Kincaid, waited a little longer and was born in Connecticut March 19th. Of all the players, Donna and David were the most exhausted!

Donna visited Liam shortly after birth while David waited a week before going up to take a look. We are off to meet Cormac over Easter weekend. While it is hard to say in the first weeks, Liam definitely looks more like a Nodell than a Ryan, while Cormac may finally have some of the Ryan genes. Whomever they look like, we are thrilled and will start fielding enquiries from NHL scouts in a couple of years.

Colemans Visit

Good friends from Ottawa, John & Marg Coleman, visited us in Charleston in late January providing us an opportunity to be tourists in our own town. The weather was cool for most of the time that they were here, however, to visitors from Ottawa it was just fine! The first photo shows John and Marg getting ready to tuck into dinner in our kitchen.

The following photos include shots of downtown Charleston in the historic district including some of the grand old houses along the Battery. One dinner at one of the grand old restaurants downtown turned out to be a disappointment, but a final dinner at the beach on Superbowl sunday was a very pleasant surprise.

One of our visits included the aquarium which was very well done. In addition to all the displays inside of the building, we were lucky to have been visited by a pod of dolphins in the harbor out front that put on a show for us almost as if they had been part of the exhibit!

The Ryans had to go back to Washington during the week but the Colemans used our place as a base and visited every plantation and historic site within reach. I believe that a good time was had by all!

New Year's Day

It has been a while since we have posted anything on this site, so I took my new camera (a Christmas present) and went out for a walk on New Year's morning to see who else was out and about in the neighborhood. This little Fox Squirrel was only mildly interested in me.

It was cold (for Charleston anyway), so the alligators were nowhere to be seen, but these birdies were hungry and looking for a meal.

The scenery was also very nice as the shot below along the golf course demonstrates. Most of the grasses are dormant now except for the fairways and greens on the golf course. The other shot is along the creek that fronts the house.