Harbor Island

Coming home from our annual week long vacation at the beach is always a bummer.  After months of anticipation, we had a perfectly relaxing week ocean front with Matt's parents and it was hard to leave the lazy days of pool, beach, sun, star gazing, exploring, biking, and spending uninterrupted time with my favorite kiddos.  Harbor Island was full of wildlife- we saw crabs, dolphins, frogs, nesting egrets, newly hatched baby sea turtles making their trek to sea (only John and Peggy were lucky enough to be walking the beach for this treat), a manta ray, jellyfish, and oh my goodness so, so many mosquitoes.  It rained some each day, but luckily it was bright and sunny more often than stormy.

The house we rented had an amazing location, ocean views on two sides, a giant screened porch facing the dunes, and less than ten steps from the entrance to the pool where we spent most of our time.

See-saw

Kate and Luke really came far this week with their swimming skills and overall comfort in the water after living in it for seven days straight.  It was great to see them gain confidence and come up for air on their own.

We went into Beaufort to a playground one afternoon, and Matt and I went back later in the week for a date (reason # 32 that vacations are more fun with grandparents).

The surprising hit of the trip was an abandoned fort, Fort Fremont Historical Park and Beach on St. Helena Island, these kids definitely take after their Daddy.  Admittedly, it was pretty cool and overgrown in a mysterious setting that made you want to explore.  There was even a secret path that led to a secluded beach.  The kids loved it so much that they begged to go back the next day with flashlights for the dark tunnels.  Thankfully, Matt and John were up for a repeat visit and Peggy and I sat on the beach for the afternoon.

Brave explorers

This was the first vacation since we had kids that really felt like a vacation.  They are finally reaching the ages where they don't need constant supervision, and there were many times when the adults were peacefully sitting on the porch while the kids were off somewhere in the house playing cards together.

Movie afternoon

Card sharks

We came home sandy and cranky and already daydreaming about next year's vacation.