hayslip: August 2012

Friday, August 17, 2012

Hilton Head Island

Every few years, Nate's family goes on a vacation together. This year we decided to try out Hilton Head Island, SC. It did not disappoint! We had been to Holden Beach, NC once with them a few years ago and HH blew it out of the water. There was just no comparison. It was more money, but well worth it, if you ask me. I was somewhat apprehensive about the 13 hour drive with Thatcher. We stopped and stayed at a friend's house on the way down, but drove straight thru on the way home. He did amazing, considering there was one 7 hour stretch we didn't get out the car due to traffic.
Hilton Head was such a beautiful island. It was very green and natural. They like to preserve the look of the beaches, so there is really no beach houses or hotels right on the beach. Our house was a five minute walk from the beach and had a swimming pool in the backyard. We spent at least some time at the beach every day, but there was also SO much to do. We spent one day in Savannah, GA and loved it. We also went to Tybee Island in GA to swim at their beach and see a lighthouse. We were able to take a dolphin cruise and saw multiple dolphins right by the boat! In fact, at the beach we swam at every day, we saw dolphins swimming within 20 yards of the beach. I could have swam right out to them!
This was our first real vacation with Thatcher, and we enjoyed every moment. Even though he is only 8 months, I love experiencing things thru his eyes! It is like doing things for the first time all over again.
Thatcher LOVED the ocean. He was not afraid of the waves and even rode on a bogey board. Of course, he also loved to eat the sand ;)
It was a great first family vacation and it just makes me look forward to introducing him to more exciting things!
Fair warning, I took almost 200 pictures. I had lots to capture and want to make this into a book someday!