Family Fun Days

Our lives feel like they are getting busier and busier, so we decided to make the first Saturday of the month Family Fun Day. All six of us together, doing something fun. So far we've had a picnic and park day, and a movie and pizza night. Simple, but it's something we've all started to look forward to every month!

Favorite things

Here is Jake doing a few of his current favorite things: standing, opening my drawers, and putting small things into bigger things. On a side note, he tried to get my camera right after this shot and took his first step to do so! We're still a ways away from walking, but it's a start! (Note: I wrote this post a month ago. Now he can walk across a room sometimes! He still mostly scoots, but he is getting more and more steady on his feet!)

Buds

We've had lots of moments this summer that I was hoping for when I have three kids aged two and younger: fun, happy play. On this day they all made all sorts of teaky statues and then played some sort of game with them. I love these three!

Hilton Head - The Drive and the Stopover

OK, last vacation thoughts. We drove to Hilton Head in one 16 1/2 hour day but on the way home we drove 7 1/2 hours to my brother Andrew's house in Virginia and then from there another 12 1/2 home. That's a lot of driving, so these two views became very familiar to me!

On the way there Jake was amazingly patient and content and the others were pretty good too, honestly there was less contention than on a normal day. On the way home for both days Jake was awful, either crying or sleeping basically the whole time. The other three were amazingly content and quiet; I think we wore them out so much that two days of vegging, even if it was in a car, was just what they needed! Jason was a machine, driving every minute of all those days! How I love my family and how grateful I am for a new set of wonderful memories and experiences with them!

Hilton Head - The House and The Area

We stayed in a nice, big house all together on the trip. The kids (and Jason) spent most of their time up in the game room playing pool or ping pong, watching movies, or just hanging out (and playing on devices!).  

Jake carved a spot for himself in everyone's hearts with his big grins and outstretched won't-you-hold-me arms.

We got to celebrate Jason's 38rd birthday with everyone while we were there. I bought a 3 candle and an 8 candle and left them out on the counter for a few days; every single person in the house joked that he looked good for an 83 year-old so we decided to put them on the cake that way and act like old people for the picture (apparently the kids didn't hear that so Jason and I just look goofy and the other kids are all smiling for once...sigh).

All the cousins had Salty Dog Cafe tee shirts (as did everyone else on the island, apparently the cafe has a GREAT marketing department) and so Grandma thought our kids needed some too and bought them some.

Aunt Janell planned out all the dinners for the crew as well as did most of the shopping for the food, so we mostly got to chip in some money and enjoy!

Good thing the house was big, we were quite a group! I was impressed with how well everyone got along in tight spaces, less sleep than normal, and different family styles.

People mostly get around on bikes on the island and there are trails everywhere. Biking around was one of Jason's favorite parts of the trip!

One morning on his jog Uncle Todd saw a real live alligator a few houses down sunning on the grass by a pond, so we all ran over and see it. I was equal parts fascinated and horrified, and was glad it was on the far side of the pond. He was HUGE! Eli and I went back a little later because he hadn't gone out with the first group and we saw it get up and slide back into the water...ugh! It was pretty amazing to see one out in the "wild" like that, though.

It sure was a pretty area. On his birthday Jason and I had a date riding our bikes and walking along the beach at sunset...I could get used to these views!

The trees were huge and lovely, full of Spanish moss and creating a canopy over the roads and trails.

These "Do not feed or harass the alligator" signs all over just begged to be edited and acted out!

Hilton Head - Fireworks

We tend to be out of town on the 4th of July, so we get to experience all sorts of different fireworks shows. This year we sat on a golf course and watched them being shot off of a barge in the ocean! We went early to get seats and what better way to pass time than take pictures? 

Jason and his siblings: 

 The adults (minus mom who volunteered to stay home with the sleeping baby):

 Me and my favorite person!

And three of my other most favorite people:

 I brought tons of glow sticks and over the course of a few hours they went from bracelets and necklaces to crowns, hula hoops, jump ropes, swords, handcuffs, and much more!

Hilton Head - Dolphin Cruise

We decided to go on a dolphin cruise one of the days we were in South Carolina. It was so fun to see the dolphins in their natural habitat and to see some of the beautiful marshland (and amazing houses and boats) in the area.

The captain let all the kids on board have a turn at the wheel. Here are some cute captains!

Once again, Jake was a good sport about missing a nap and took a quick snooze to tide him over.

Hilton Head - Harbor Town

If you ask the kids what their favorite part of the trip was, one of the first things they say is "Harbor Town!" Harbor Town is, not surprisingly, a little harbor area about a mile or two from our house with a lighthouse, shops, restaurants, concerts, and a playground, all of which we visited on our stay. We went there 3 or 4 times while we were there and enjoyed it each time.

Jason biked over with Ali and Logan and a bunch of the family one of the first nights we were there.

We went up to the top of the lighthouse and enjoyed the view- and the gift shop!- at the top.

We got ice cream one day, and in that heat it never tasted so good!

Every day of our vacation it was around 100 degrees and SO humid that it felt more like 115+ Can you see how red and sweaty Eli got the day we played at the playground while waiting for everyone to arrive at The Crazy Crab for dinner?

On our last night we all went out to dinner together at a seafood restaurant. When we walked in Ali said, "It does NOT smell good in here!" Ah, a girl after my own heart. I had chicken, my kids had pizza, everyone else had sea food:)

Jake is a really relaxed, happy baby most of the day. But at meal times he turns into a shrieking, grumpy, picky, unhappy person. So we spent most of the meal taking turns walking around outside with this grump. Good thing we had lots of willing hands!

Everyone liked their food, but none so much as Uncle Todd with his amazing platter of crab legs! 

Hilton Head - Pool

The house we stayed in had a pool in the back yard. It would have been nice if it were about twice as wide as it was, but the amazing thing about it was that starting at about 3pm it was entirely in the shade! Since we spent every morning out and about or at the beach, it was good to have some time out of the sun, especially since they swam for at least a couple of hours every afternoon! 

My kids were a little timid in the water for all of about 20 minutes the first day, and then spent the rest of the time jumping in and splashing around with great joy! By the last day, after a few "swim lessons" with mom, Eli was doggy paddling without his life vest like a pro! Logan and Eli loved making up dives with their cousin Will that were creative and brave!

Logan would have spent all day every day in the pool if we'd let him. He was always the first in and the last out, and then only because we told him he had to for dinner or bed!

Jake impressed us all with his fearlessness in the water! He would want up onto the raft and then would lunge off, not minding at all if you weren't quite there to catch him and he got totally submerged in the water! He would just blink a few times and then climb back on the raft to do it again!

The kids played sharks and minnows, a dive and catch game with the frisbee, a dolphin game, tag, and games with the rafts. It was a blast!

Hilton Head - The Beach

This summer we had an awesome vacation to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina. We were there with all of Jason's side of the family and had a blast. We rented an amazing house with a great pool, spent time at the beach, went on a dolphin sightseeing tour, went to the top of a lighthouse, rode around on bikes, and even saw a live alligator! So, here is the first of the vacation posts all about the beach!

Jake was a trooper the whole vacation, taking a cap nap in my arms if he needed one and otherwise having a great time whatever we were doing and enjoying all the attention he got from the extended family. He liked the waves.

All the kids loved trying to catch waves on the bogie board:

13 of the 14 Eldredge cousins...one was on his mission so of course wasn't here!

The cousins also had fun burying each other in the sand, Ali had a turn to be buried too!

The beach was so nice, it was never crowded and the water was nice and warm. The only downside was that there weren't very many shells and the ones we were able to find were very small, but overall it was a hit!