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!

FHE dessert

The kids are requesting fancy desserts when they are in charge of FHE dessert and since it is summer and we have the time I have been indulging them. This spiderweb cupcake pull away cake turned out fun!

Food Fun

Eli loves his snacks:

And Logan loves his stacks of pancakes:

Upside Down

Jake has done this upside down pose for a long time and I finally was quick enough to take a picture!

Hot Summer

The kids have been really enjoying going on long bike rides with their dad this summer, the only downside being that they come home super hot. Can you see how red and sweaty Eli is?

Ali and Logan tried cooling off with bags of ice on their heads! I don't know if it was effective, but it was cute!