Beach Break 2014

Catching up on our summer vacation pictures and then I think I'll be up to date except for a few August happenings like back to school and bdays.  This year all 5 of us were able to take 2 weeks for the beach.  The kids and I did that last year but this year Jacob got to enjoy an extended trip too.  

First up was our week at Litchfield with Jacob's family.  The cousins play so well together, appropriately teamed up with their closest in age, allowing us parents a little more time to chat and relax.  This year we took them to Myrtle Waves rather than the rides at Broadway at the Beach and it was a big hit - except for the big, purple slide.  My eldest might have been traumatized by it and so was Aunt Lauren.

Our second week was at my parent's house at Hilton Head.  We enjoyed having some of my aunts and cousins down.  Lots of new adventures since this was our first summer trip there as a family.

 We stopped and had dinner at Shem Creek on the way to HHI from Litchfield so that we could meet up with Ryan, Matt and their kiddos.  We enjoyed a nice dinner, talking in the rain and then they were able to come down to HHI for a night later in the week.  I love catching up with my buddy.

 One day there were a ton of dead jellyfish on the shore so we started collecting them in a pile and called them our "prisoners" and built a fort around them.  Corban found this one and said that it was Master Yoda.  You know you see it too.  The mind of a 4 year old.

 See that gray bucket?  That's the target for these grown men  boys who are jellyfish slinging.

 Tripp and Corban showing off their new ink.

 Playing outside of Salty Dog.

 Aunt Sandy (dad's sister) with Timber and Sage.

 We took the kids to Harbour Town for their first Greg Russell concert.  Hopefully they will get to enjoy him for many more years.

 Dakota and George.

I'm outta here folks!

Hawaiian Adventure - Day 7 - Jan 2

As I mentioned on another day's post, Jacob and I were able to hike the Napali Coast.  This particular trail is considered one of the greatest hikes in the world (I think, I could be exaggerating).  It's 11 miles in one direction and most people camp at the beach and return the next day.  We figured we would knock out the whole thing in one day, despite being told we couldn't do it.  Heck, I didn't just train for a marathon (that was cancelled) for nothing.  It was absolutely breathtaking (literally and figuratively!) and I'm so glad we were able to have this day to ourselves.  On our honeymoon, we toured the Napali Coast by boat and I was seasick the entire time (romantic, I know) so even though the hike was more strenuous, at least my lunch stayed down.

 11 miles in, enjoying a picnic lunch.  That is until the couple showed up and took their clothes off and started fishing naked.  We decided not to stick around too long to see what else they had planned.

Hawaiian Adventure - Day 6 - Jan 1

The first day of 2014 was a fun day of exploring.  We took a trip to the North Shore, visiting Princeville and Hanalei (think Puff the Magic Dragon - if you know what that song is about, you can figure out what type of town it is).  It was a full day but we got to see some amazing sites.

 They let anyone drive in these parts.

 We really wanted to go to this lighthouse but since it was a national holiday it was closed.  When Jacob and I came here in 2004 for our honeymoon I was almost attacked by a ne'ne' (Hawaiian goose) and it has sort of been a joke since then.  We'll just have to imagine the geese were still temperamental since we couldn't go see them.

 Where do you hide your hooters??

 I was busy feeding Sage and Jacob was boogie boarding.  I couldn't get a good picture but the waves were awesome here since we were as far north as you get.