This Rocks!

THIS ROCKS!

A week on Hilton Head Island, SC is a great get away.  The cast of characters was Jim, Deanna, Greg, Alicia, Allen, and Reagan. We flew out of St. Louis on Saturday morning, had a layover in Atlanta, and then on to Savannah, where we rented a car for a relatively short drive to Hilton Head.  We originally thought about flying into Hilton Head.  That thought was very short lived, once we checked on the cost.  They are very proud of that little jaunt.

After checking out our condo/apartment, we headed down to the beach.  Allen immediately did a little writing in the sand.  This Rocks.  Then he summed it up with "I Love Summer Vacation!"  That about says it all.



I Love Summer Vacation!

It was a relaxing week away from everything.  The fine white sand was great for long strolls, or just sitting and gazing out over the water while listening to the roar of the waves. 



As I strolled along the beach at dusk, we were trying to get a "Footprints in the Sand" picture.  We failed. 

The sand was great for digging and buiding sand castles.  Allen happened onto this hole someone else dug. 



The Island has one winery. So of course we had to check it out. We all agreed that the wine was pretty darn good. 

We all thought the "locals" were somewhat snobbish.  They weren't very friendly and at times were downright rude.  It was like they resented the touristy presence, and yet their entire economy depends on tourism.  It was very confusing.

Hilton Head Island is known for its fabulous golf courses.  We even played a round of golf.   As far as we were concerned, it wasn't anything to write home about.  Maybe that is because it was put-put type golf?  It sure was fun.  I had forgotten how bad I am at that game.  Reagan started out slow, but by the time we were nearing the end, she was giving us all a run for our money - including Allen.  It is amazing how quickly kids figure these games out, while us grownups kind of plod along.

We toured Savannah, GA on the hottest day of the week.  In hindsight that was a mistake.  We all ended up a bit tired and cranky by the end of the day, and called it quits before we had done all of the sight seeing we had wanted to.

We were in awe of the architecture and beauty of The Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.  We were lucky enough to get there just as a tour of Girl Scouts was leaving (the Girl Scouts were founded in Savannah, did you know that?).  Just as we were leaving, another tour bus showed up. 

Did you know that Forrest Gump was filmed in Savannah?  The bench where Forrest sat telling the story of his life to anybody who would listen, sat right outside Chippewa Square (there are many squares in Savannah).  The bench has been moved to a museum.  What we found strange is that Savannah doesn't seem to capitalize on the Forrest Gump presence at all.

Since they didn't replace the bench with a replica for us to sit on, Greg and I positioned ourselves in about the right place.  I was trying to tell Greg that "Life is like a box of chocolate..."  But then he already knew that.  Another tourist actually had a freeze frame shot on his phone of Forrest sitting on the park bench.  That way he knew where to stand to have their picture taken.  We followed their lead and had ours taken there too.

 Because of the heat, we didn't see near what we thought we would. The beach was calling. 

We all promised each other that we wouldn't post a bunch of tasteless swim suit clad pictures of each other.  But I don't think Greg and Alicia will mind this family picture.  They look so happy.  I believe we were at Harbour Town when this one was taken.

Dolphin watching was on our agenda, and we did see a lot of Dolphins.  They were especially active when a small fishing type boat would happen by.  They know where there is food... they are smart like that.  They are also smart enough to not pose for pictures.  I'll spare you the black humps of a back, tail fin, or snoot sticking out of the water. 

It seemed that within a blink of an eye, the vacation was over.  The kids were troopers from start to finish.  It was so much fun to see their faces as they played in the sand or "rode the waves" on their boogie boards.  Now, where are we going next, kids?



Christmas in July

A week ago today we left the heat of Missouri - crossing over the State Line into the heat of Kansas and the refreshing coolness of the water park at Great Wolf Lodge Resort.  Merry Christmas everyone!

I couldn't help speculate how things have changed for us over the years as we sped across the state in our Honda CRV - our nice and roomy, less than a year old CRV.  There was a time when we barely limped to town and back home each day, all five us cramped in our little Dodge Omni.  More often than not we had lumber or some other building material strapped to the roof top. 

In the car with us was two of the grandkids, Dakota and  Austin.  Nostalgia took over when we about reached Independence.   It took me back to a trip we took to the Ozarks.  The kids had driven us close to insanity with their bickering as we topped a particularly scenic overlook.  Jim finally blew his top and told them the only thing he wanted to hear out of them was "Oooh, Ahhhh, Look!".    As Dakota and Austin jabbered away, I looked at Jim and asked, "Are we at the Oooh, Ahhh, Look! stage yet?"

Wow, as I am writing this, the skies have darkened and the thunder is rolling in.  I hope this is not another case of mother nature once again teasing us.  We will take any amount of rain she'll send our way.  Jim took his 4-wheeler down the road to have it worked on.  He is either going to be there a while, or he is going to get wet!  (I hope...)

Back to our trip.

It was a wonderful weekend.  Great Wolf Lodge (there are many around the nation) has a ginormeous water park and archade.  This one happens to be within walking distance (we drove) of Cabelas, Legends Shopping, great restaurants, and Nebraska Furniture.  There was something for everyone to do. 

After playing for hours in the park the first night, we ate Pizza in the hotel room.  Speaking of the hotel rooms, they were pretty cool, with two beds  and a bath down and a third bed and bath in a loft.  The eighteen of us fit in three rooms.     

(It's raining~!!!!  Yea!!!!)

The next morning was breakfast at I-Hop (kids ate free).  I'm not a big I-Hop fan.  It seems a bit pricey and the food is so-so.  But they did it right for us, putting us in a room by ourselves.  Was this for our privacy or did they sense a rowdy bunch and secreted us away to protect the other patrons?  Maybe a bit of both....

Breakfast at I-Hop.  Smile everyone!

Everyone split up after breakfast. 

Nebraska Furniture was my downfall.  This place is a vacation in itself... if you like shopping, which I usually don't.  In a few weeks they will be delivering a new couch, kitchen range, and a gorgeous braided rug  to us.  In our defense, we left without buying the 48 in. flat screen TV.  How's that for showing some constraint?

As luck would have it, the AC went out in the room where Greg and Alicia and their kids, and Jim and I were staying.  The repairman was in and out trying to fix it until 3 am.  Everyone else went to sleep while Greg kept watch.  The resort gave us 10% off of one night's cost of the room.... not near enough for the inconvenience, but better than nothing.

The best part of the weekend was that we were together and yet on our own.  Nobody's schedule depended on anyone elses.  The very fact that we were at a water park, though, guaranteed we would be spending time together as a family. 

As we were packing to go home, we remembered we hadn't taken a family photo.  Since I forgot my tri-pod, the camera is perched on a ledge.  The TV is a perfect back-drop for the picture, don't you think?  I know.... but it was the best we could do.

In two years we hope to plan another family vacation Christmas Present.  So far we have done a Branson Vacation, a Float Trip Vacation, and this one.  We used to go camping at Alley Springs every year, but my camping days are over.  Maybe our next vacation can be a rodeo, or concert, or..... who knows... but we'll come up with something!

I'll leave you with a video, for those who want to watch it!