A Week on Hilton Head Island

The last week in September we flew out to South Carolina to spend a week on Hilton Head Island with some of Matt's family.  Our group included Matt's dad, Marc, and his wife, Beth, who planned the whole week for us.  They, of course, brought their little boys Benjamin and Daniel.  Matt's brothers Drew and Jake came, and we met Drew's fiancee, Swara, for the first time.  Beth's mom Betty came and her boyfriend Jim came, too.  We were a big group, but the accommodations were very comfortable.  We stayed at the Marriott Surfwatch Resort and had two suites between the 13 of us.  Each suite had three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a kitchen, and a living area.

Our family flew into Charleston on Saturday, and then we drove a rental car the hour and a half to the island.  Just as an awesome side note, we were able to get a luxury Cadillac for $11 a day.  I've never gotten a rental car for that cheap.  It was awesome.  Matt loved the heads-up display on the windshield.  When we got to the resort, we met everyone else at the restaurant on the beach.  Following a delicious dinner, we walked down to the beach.  Our girls were amazed by the ocean.  We hadn't been since Reagan was five months old.  So, Reagan obviously didn't remember ever seeing the ocean, and Kirsten remembered very little about it.

These are some pictures of our first evening on the beach:

The next day the girls and I spent four hours going back and forth between the beach and the ocean side pool.  We looked for shells and shark teeth and enjoyed drawing in the sand.  I even got to speak with a man from Germany, which was an exciting surprise for me.  Honestly, you never know where or when you'll get to use your German.  And to think, people told me it wasn't a useful language!

I've always wondered why anyone would swim in a pool when you could swim in the ocean and play on the beach, but when you have a really nice one available to you and you've got little kids who are afraid to swim in the ocean, the pool becomes a lot more appealing.  Furthermore, Kirsten got the swimming bug and practiced swimming for hours throughout the week.  Now she can swim across the entire length of the pool without floaties.  I am so proud of her!

That evening we met over at Marc and Beth's suite for pizza, and since Drew and Swara arrived that day, that was the first time the girls and I met Swara.  She's very nice, and we're excited that she's going to be part of the Ehle family.  I think Reagan was especially taken by her.

The four little ones showering Drew and Swara with love

 Monday morning was the only time it rained while we were there, which was fortunate.  We met out at the beach, but most of our group decided to go over to the indoor pool.  Matt and I stayed out in the rain for awhile and caught some waves in the ocean.  That was fun.  Then we joined everybody else at the pool.  It was pretty rainy after all.

In the afternoon it cleared up, and we went back out to the beach.  It was fun to make drip castles with the girls.

On Tuesday we played at the beach in the morning.  Matt and I convinced the girls to come out in the ocean with us by telling them that we had something to show them.  I was just going to show them how calm the water was, but once we got out there, a pod of dolphins obliged us and swam by.  We were all delighted to see dolphins so close to us.

In the afternoon, we went over to the Multi-purpose room to paint ceramics.  Kirsten painted a narwhal, and Reagan painted a seal.  Benjamin and Daniel painted, too.  The ceramics were fun souvenirs for the girls to get to bring home with them.
 

That evening there was a complimentary bratwurst roast.  So, we definitely availed ourselves of some brats.  We tried to play a game of horseshoes, but the mosquitoes started eating us alive.  So, we went inside.

On Wednesday morning we met up with everyone at the Coastal Discovery Museum where we got to hold alligators, snakes, chickens, and rabbits.  At one point, I picked up a snake to show the girls that holding a snake isn't scary, and suddenly, the man in charge of the event was putting an alligator in my hands and putting the snake on my head.  I must say that he pushed me out of my comfort zone.  I wouldn't have ever done that if someone had asked me if I wanted to, but I'm glad I did.  It was really neat--until the alligator peed on me.  That was kind of gross.

Kirsten and Reagan petting an alligator

You can see that I felt a bit uncomfortable

But I warmed up to them after a little bit

Then Matt joined me

Swara got a snake around her neck too

The little ones loved the bunnies.

I like this picture of Matt and his brothers.

 That evening, after an afternoon at the beach, Matt and I went on a date while Swara and Drew watched the girls.  We ate at a restaurant called the Skullcreek Boathouse.  We had some yummy seafood, and afterward we walked out on the pier.  The sunset was beautiful, and we got to see a really big alligator.

A beautiful sunset

An alligator much bigger and much wilder than the one I held in my arms earlier that day

After we got back to the hotel, Matt played board games with his brothers and dad while Swara and I went out to the stargazing event hosted by the hotel.  We got to look through some really nice telescopes and saw lots of neat stars.  I'd never had the opportunity to stargaze through a telescope before.

On Thursday morning we met up to go on a dolphin boat ride tour.  We saw several dolphins, including a mother and her calf.  Here are some pictures of everyone on the boat:

In the afternoon, the girls and I went out to the beach again, and I convinced both of them to come out into the water with me.  Reagan had come out with me a couple of times throughout the week, but Kirsten was not to be convinced after her first time.  However, on Thursday she came out with us, and she really enjoyed it.  I had them both wear their floaties, and we only went just past the breakers.  We stood/floated in a little circle, and at one point, we looked down to see a little five or six inch fish caught in the middle of us.  That fish didn't know what hit it once we noticed it because we started giggling and screaming like crazy.  The girls thought it was so neat!

After another afternoon on the beach, we went to Olive Garden for dinner.  The dinner was delicious, but I was exhausted that night and fell asleep while the girls were watching cartoons shortly after we got back to the hotel.  Then Papa (Matt's dad) came in and put the girls to bed.  They really lucked out because he read all of The Official My Little Pony Guide to them, and if that weren't enough, he read all of Oh, What a Busy Day! to them.  They are both rather long for kids' books.

I like this picture of our family.

 Friday morning we played on the beach, and I took a few more pictures.

Daddy and Reagan

Kirsten and Reagan

We played outside for about six hours that day, and then we went inside to clean up and pack before we traveled home the next day.

It was a wonderful week.  I had so much fun.