Hilton Head Vacation

I mentioned in an earlier post that we spent the better part of last week in Hilton Head visiting my family.  The main purpose of our visit was my cousin, Megan's, wedding on June 12.  We hadn't seen my extended family since last July when my sister got married, so needless to say, Logan had lots of exciting things to show them! I've included photos to highlight the trip - I actually did very well in the picture-taking department.  I came home with 93 pictures and 5 videos on my camera.  That's pretty good for us!  To see all of them, take a peek at my Facebook page.  

Our trip started on Monday, June 7th, when the three of us drove down to Cincinnati to my parents' house.  Airfare out of Cincinnati was about $200 cheaper per ticket than Detroit, so we decided to leave a day early and spend some time at their house first.  On Tuesday morning we left Cincinnati (and flew through Detroit, crazily enough) on Logan's 2nd plane trip in two years!  This kid's a traveler!

Here he is looking out the window at the airport with my mom.  He kept calling all the planes boats and we still can't figure out why.

We arrived at about 3:30 on Tuesday afternoon in Savannah, Georgia, which is about a 30-45 minute drive from Hilton Head.  It was really almost an entire day of traveling, and I was worn out!  We ate dinner at my grandparents' house.  They live in Bluffton, which is just over the bridge from Hilton Head Island, and then headed back to the hotel to do some unpacking and to make sure we got Logan to bed at a decent hour.  He had about a 20 minute nap on the second flight and was in rare form!  Though rare form for Logan when he's tired is extreme hyperactivity!  Entertaining for everyone else, but exhausting for us after a long day!

Here is Logan playing soccer with my cousins in my grandparents' backyard.  

On Wednesday morning, Todd went to the driving range with my dad and cousins, and my mom did some wedding errand-running with my aunt and cousin Megan, so Logan and I stayed and hung out with my grandparents for a bit.  When Todd was finished golfing, we grabbed some lunch and took Logan back to the hotel for a nap.  Todd ended up falling asleep with Logan, so I spent some time at the pool with my dad and cousin Christopher.  We decided to go out to dinner that night.

Here is Logan sporting a towel after his bath.

Trying some corn on the cob, which he LOVED and had a blast eating!  I was actually surprised at how well he was able to get the kernels off the cob.

A family photo on the dock after dinner.

After dinner we decided to make a quick stop at the outlet mall with my mom and dad.  I was hoping the Gap had maternity clothes (I remember them having them when we were there two years ago because I bought a sweater and a pair of jeans), but no luck.  Todd got a golf glove and ball marker from a golf outlet store, a Nike golf shirt from the Nike store, and Logan got the most (of course)!  He got a pair of orange play shorts, some white long sleeved onesies for the fall, a larger size of the monkey outfit I bought for both boys because I don't think the 18 month size we originally bought will fit in two more months, and I bought both boys matching crab swimsuits for next summer.  They'll work great for the Fourth of July weekend because they're all blue and red.  I'm not super into matching outfits, but some things are just too cute that I can't decide who to buy for!

Thursday was a busy day.  We decided to hit the beach for a little while that morning, and with so many people to organize, it was a bit hectic trying to get everything ready.  We ate breakfast at my grandparents' house, and then headed for the shore with my mom and dad.  My aunt and cousins were planning to meet us later.

This is a photo of Logan and I next to a tree that my grandparents had planted in their yard in Logan's honor when he was born.  What I didn't know was that the original tree had died (yikes!) and so this was its replacement.  Oh well, it's still a nice gesture!

Logan LOVED the beach.  I wondered if the sand might bother him because he's not really the biggest fan of getting dirty, but he didn't seem to mind.  The ocean was a little chilly, but not bad once you got used to it.  Logan was scared of the waves at first, and reluctant to venture past his ankles without someone holding him. We worked hard on coaxing him in and trying to get him to walk holding our hands rather than us carrying him.  I'm really big on teaching my kids water safety and not fear of the water, so we wanted him to be as independent as possible.

My dad only stuck around for a little while, and then he left to pick up my sister and her husband at the airport.  She had finals that week and they were only able to fly in on Thursday.  We did (a much more expensive) dinner out again that night and headed back to the hotel kind of early because Logan decided to skip a nap that day.  We were, again, reaching hyperactive territory!  Funny story, though - Logan needed his diaper changed at the restaurant, so I took him, the changing pad, a diaper, and the wipes to the bathroom.  The arrangement of the changing table in this bathroom was completely ridiculous, but I had no choice.  It was sandwiched between the side of one stall and the front of two other stalls.  When I pulled it out to change him on it, it completely blocked one of the stall doors!  Luckily the bathroom wasn't crowded when we went in, so I wasn't locking someone in the stall.  I changed Logan's diaper as quickly as I could, but this was difficult because with my big belly I couldn't fit next to the changing table.  I had to do all the changing from the end of the table, which proved to be incredibly difficult with a wriggling, hyper almost-two year-old.  By the time I finished there was a line of about eight people waiting to use the bathroom, so I put Logan down and gathered up all of our supplies.  As soon as I let him down, someone opened the door to the bathroom and my little monster darted out.  I quickly grabbed everything, including the dirty diaper I hadn't thrown away yet, and began chasing my little boy through the entire bar area of this restaurant.  He was laughing and squealing the entire time, but I didn't find it very funny (until now)!  Here are some extended family pictures from dinner that night.

Megan and Buddy - the couple of honor for the weekend

My sister, Jenn, and her husband, Sam

Our family

My grandparents.  They will be married 60 years this August, and they still act like newlyweds.  I love them!

My parents

The Ostermans - my aunt, Diane, and cousins Christopher, Alex, and Megan.  My uncle, Randy, had to work until Friday so he wasn't able to join us just yet.

By Friday morning, the rest of my extended family had arrived.  We ate breakfast at my grandparents' house again and then headed back to the beach.  Logan did much better the second day.  He even ventured into the water up to his neck - all by himself!  Well, with someone standing right next to him, just in case.  But we can definitely tell he is comfortable in the water, much to my relief, and he even seems to know his limits about as well as a kid his age can.

Here he is digging in the sand with Todd.

The hairstyle of the day.  The salt from the water acted like hairspray, and even after we went back to the hotel and he took a nap, it still looked like this!

Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner for my cousin Megan's wedding.  It was at a very nice park about 30 minutes inland from where we were staying.  It was cookout-style, which I LOVED.  We had hamburgers and hot dogs, potato salad, fruit, raw vegetables, baked beans, pickles, and possible a few more things I can't quite remember.  It was my kind of dinner!  In the back of the clubhouse where we had the dinner was a pond with a bridge and a gazebo leading to hiking trails.  Logan and Todd really enjoyed feeding the fish and turtles that were in the pond.  They even saw a catfish that was probably bigger than Logan!

This is our little family on the bridge - you can kind of see the pond in the back.

Saturday was wedding day, but the wedding wasn't until 5:00 so we had some time to kill earlier in the day.  We had wanted to take Logan putt-putting while we were on the trip, so we headed out after a breakfast at the hotel and were joined afterwards by my parents and sister with her hubby.

Here's Todd showing Logan how to hold the club.  Though Logan would much rather just grab your ball off the green and drop it in the hole with his hands, we still managed to have a great time!  I even managed 3 holes in one (and I MUST add that my husband, the golfer, only had one)!

After golf, we headed down to the Sea Pines resort to do some sight-seeing.  We stopped at Harbour Town to see the lighthouse and then South Beach, where we ate lunch at the Salty Dog Cafe.  Then we headed back to the hotel for a nap and showers before the wedding.  

Megan looked gorgeous!

Lighting the unity candle

Cutting the cake

Here, Logan actually decided to take a break from dancing to eat some cake.  We let him do it all by himself and he did great!  He even attempted to use a fork and kept the frosting mess to his face - notice no bib!

Logan was an absolute hit at the reception.  He even had three substantially older girls fighting over who was going to dance with him at one point!  He tried the electric slide, and I have a hilarious video of him dancing to another song, but unfortunately it comes out really dark when it's not on my camera :(  Not sure what to do about that because I'm dying to share it with people!  We left the reception around 9:30 and headed back to the hotel for bed.  

Sunday was departure day, and even though I hate ending vacations, I was exhausted and ready to go home. We had breakfast in the hotel that morning and finished up packing, then headed for the airport.  My sister and her husband were on our first flight to Atlanta, but didn't get to sit anywhere near us.  It was nice being able to have them at the airport with us though.  They had a longer layover than us, so we ate lunch with them in the Atlanta airport, and then headed back to Cincinnati while they stayed and waited for their flight to Columbus.  We got into Cincinnati around 3:30, then headed back to my parents' house.  When we left for the trip, Todd and I were debating whether we should come back home on Sunday night or stay another night with my parents and come back on Monday morning.  Todd decided he didn't want to have to make that drive and then work Monday night, and I was exhausted, so we gathered up the few things we had left at my parents' house and headed home.  I thought Logan might fall asleep in the car, but he was either too excited still or it was too light out.  So instead we played.  

Here is Elmo on Logan's head.

I think we ended up getting home around 8:00.  It was a great week, but too short of a visit with many of my relatives.  They all live so far away (South Carolina and New Jersey) that it's hard to find time to see everyone very often.  Unfortunately we have no big occasions planned for next year, so who knows when anyone will have the opportunity to see Logan and the new baby again!  My dad mentioned planning a family vacation to the Outer Banks next year, but my mom and I suggested we push it until two years from now.  Then I'll have one little boy that's almost four and another one who will be Logan's age now.  If I'm exhausted after a vacation with one, what's it going to be like with two?!