Hilton Head Family Vacation #1

We just returned from our vacation with Taylor's side of the family in Hilton Head. This was our second year going there and we love it...especially for the yummy restaurants all over!!! Taylor's sister and her boyfriend Mark were able to come as well which was great b/c we had a ton of help with the kids. "Help" included but was not limited to getting to run on the beach with Taylor a few times, a date night, and a night out with Kristin and Mark. This was also the first vacation in about 10 years that we haven't had to bring any diapers or sippy cups. We officially have older children and it makes me a little sad...but only a little:-)

Here's me and Kristin waiting for our table at another fantastic restaurant...The British Pub.
There's Mark and Ben hamming it up outside the place we ate at the last night. This place was extremely "island fancy". Let's just say that we didn't belong there especially when we didn't understand half of the words coming out of the waiter's mouth. Also, when 2 out of 3 of our children decided to release their bowels in the bathroom and there was only one toilet to use...it made for an extremely interesting night. W/out kids in tow, it might have been more enjoyable. I happened to spill sauce on my dress and before I knew it, there was a tide-to-go pen and towel dipped in seltzer water placed in front of me. How's that for service!!

We were able to see fireworks from afar one night. We tried the whole fireworks thing last year and ended up in traffic after the festivities for at least 2 hours. This year we opted for the view from across the street. It was a much better idea.
One thing that I would highly recommend is the kayaking. We had a blast and it was quite the workout. I now know why it is an olympic sport. Taylor's sister got stuck with Benny boy and their kayak ended up in the "martini" grass many times. Sam was sandwiched in between me and Taylor and was ready to be done until he discovered the small crab crawling around inside our kayak. Yikes!!!

The unfortunate thing about the whole trip was the rain. Evidentally we got the outskirts of Tropical Storm Faye and it wasn't pretty. Once the rain started in the afternoon on Wednesday, it really didn't stop until our last day there which was on Saturday. We pretty much had to take cover b/c this really wasn't the type of rain that you would even enjoy "singing" in. We tried to make the best of it, however.

We made our second trip to the Salty Dog to purchase a few t-shirts. That place is crazy. In order to buy the coveted shirts, one must walk a very windy set up steps only to walk into an extremely tiny room filled with many racks of colored t-shirts. Once you pick your favorite ones, you realize the price tag on your child's t-shirt is as much as you would spend on a nice pair of shoes. That's okay b/c it makes for a nice Kodak moment.

We spent a lot of time in the indoor pool. And we tried to fish between spurts of rain coming down...no fish were biting. I think Sam enjoyed playing with the large, nasty worms more than patiently waiting for the fish to bite.

Of course it was great to spend time with family and not have to worry about cleaning house or paying bills, but the highlight of the trip for me was eating out. I cook when we're home so it's a treat to be able to have someone else do that for a change. One of our favorite dishes was at a place called "Santa Fe". This was THE DISH to get there and I can't even begin to explain how good it was. This grouper was delish!! We must have liked it if we took a picture of it.

It was a great summer vacation!!

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Hooters, the donut shop

I've never been a huge fan of donuts...I'm definitely a brownie/sundae kind of gal. So when my good friend Juli introduced us to a new donut place I wasn't the least bit interested. She kept insisting that we go saying that she wished this place didn't exist. She told me all about their secret ingredient(potatoes) and how you can drive there on a Friday night and get the donuts right out of the oven...is it an oven or a fryer??? Not sure. Anyway, we eventually made our way to this "donut haven" as it is called. My kids could not wait and were salivating the whole way there. We ordered a dozen and took them home to find out how tasty they really were. Let me just say that when you pick one of these donuts up, it feels like you're holding a small hand weight. They are thick, moist, and literally melt in your mouth. I have honestly never eaten anything quite like them. So we were hooked at that point. The boys ask to go there 24/7 but we tell them that in order for mommy and daddy to not blow up like large cows, we must avoid the "donut haven"...and only go twice a month. But in our household, we have conversations about these donuts at least 3 times a day. If the boys aren't asking to go get them, they are at least thinking about them.
Thus a conversation with my 10 year old this past week while driving. We passed a Hooters restaurant. Everyone knows what Hooters is known for....WINGS, duh!! So Conner says, "Hey mommy, do they sell donuts at Hooters?" "Nope," I replied, laughing to myself. He continued, "Well, it just looks like a place that would sell donuts. I know it's a restaurant, but it's just a weird name for one, ya know?" Without hesitating I said, "Yep, it sure is a weird name." And that was the end of it. Eventually my child will know what Hooters really is, but for now his obsession likes purely and innocently with donuts. And that's the way I like it!!

The Red Dinosaur

Our family has a new member: a red dinosaur named "red dinosaur". He lives downstairs in the basement and is very happy there. He behaves quite well, considering the fact that I never hear him. He tells us when "funder"(thunder) is imminent. He sleeps on a monster bed and is strong enough to fight the bad guys. His diet consists of spiders, fruit snacks, popsicles, and rescue heroes. But Sam says the best thing about red dinosaur is that eventually, he will eat Conner and Ben.

Oh, the imaginations of little ones.