365 Days in a Year: a wonderful week at Hilton Head

I don't even know where to begin when I think about the wonderful week we had away at the beach. So many memories that I will cherish forever. Even though we are all home together all summer, it was so refreshing to have a change of pace for a week and focus on fun and rest! (Can they really go hand in hand? ;) ) We usually spent the mornings at the beach then we would come back for naps and rest time (reading time for Will and I!). The afternoons we would go on a bike ride and then we did different things every evening!

Beach Fun

We most certainly have two beach bums for kids! The boys loved the water, the sand, the sun! Liam had no problems being sandy from head to toe, he didn't mind eating it either.
He was the destructor of all kinds of sand castles as if he was the giant sitting on the castle and letting it squash to the ground.

When we would go to the water to wash off he would lay in the shallow water for ages and stare at the water coming in and out. Out deeper he was not afraid of a little wave coming up to him. He was a little fish in the water.

Each day Alex warmed up a little more to the water and the waves. Once he learned how to "swim" (tread water with his puddle jumper on) he enjoyed swimming back and forth to Will and I!

It took FOREVER to coax him into the water though because he loved to play in the sand.

Towards the end of the week he would run to the water from our spot on the sand to get water. Along the way he would get so distracted looking at other people and what they were doing. On the way back he would do the same, then have to take a minute to locate us again, then he would wave, and keep coming towards us.

The water was perfect for little kids. Lots of shallow, calm water that made it easy to play and float without being crushed by a wave. I had never seen so many sea creatures that were alive!

On one beach walk, we saw about 4 starfish walking back to the water, crabs walking, sea snails, and we saw and felt numerous sand dollars with our feet in and out of the water!

What fun! The one bad part of the beach was when I was stung by a jelly fish, but in the end I was thankful it was me that was stung and not one of the boys!

By the end of the week Will and I were experts at setting up and taking down our canopy and cleaning up the toys! We were about 2 miles from the beach so we ended up driving every day because of all the stuff we had.

Bike Rides

I had heard from people that Hilton Head was a great place to ride bikes, so we decided to rent some and a kiddie cart while we were there. I am so glad we did! Every day we spent time on the bikes.

Most of the time we just went for rides around the plantation, but we did venture on a longer ride one time to a park and riding to Coligny Plaza for ice cream and treats was fun too!

On our bike rides we would see turtles and alligators swimming in the ponds and herons (I think, or maybe egrets...) standing on the edge of the water.

We would ride under huge trees and see the spanish moss hanging down. Alex's "whoopie" as we flew down a hill or Liam's "ahahahah" over the bumps were precious sounds letting us know that the boys loved it too. Liam even fell asleep on the rides a couple of times, his head resting against Alex's shoulder. It was so sweet.

Evening Excursions

After our early dinners (Liam has to eat by 6 or he gets super fussy!) we enjoyed heading back out to do something fun. Tuesday it was walking along the marina and seeing fireworks at Shelter Cove.

Wednesday we enjoyed a bike ride to the beach and then a nice walk down the beach.

Thursday we went up the Harbourtown light house and enjoyed Greg Russell under the Liberty Oak Tree.

The boys loved being out and about and enjoyed all the new experiences.

Alex just came up to my lap and asked in a pitiful voice if we could go back to the beach and to our other home! :) It was the first time we had spent a whole week at the beach since before he was 1. I am so thankful for the wonderful memories we now have together.