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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