Hilton Head!

It gets so frustrating when I get behind on this blog. I know I'm missing out on a lot of fun stories by not getting it in writing as quickly as possible, but sometimes a girl just has to get some sleep. So here I am 3 months after the fact writing about our whirl-wind crazy fun vacation to Hilton Head. (I always try to date these when we went so years from now when I look back, I won't really remember that I was 3 months late except for this fun little excerpt.)

We left for Hilton Head the evening of Friday, June 8. That day is the day at work they call Impact Day. It's a day where everyone in my company all over the world, volunteers to do some sort of community service. I went out to the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snow. I went to the same place last year and really enjoyed it. There is something so different when you volunteer vs working for someone. They are so welcoming and grateful for what we were doing. The year before though I was able to work inside stuffing envelopes and wrapping Christmas lights for their big Christmas display. This year...we did ground maintenance and to say I was exhausted when I got home was an understatement. Rather than shower and crawl into bed when I got home...I showered and we climbed into the truck to start driving to South Carolina.

The girls were excited, Brian not so much for the drive, but happy that vacation time was here at last! We drove half way through Tennessee until we stopped for the night. The girls did not sleep in the truck, much like our trip to Disney last year, but did do better on the ride. They didn't sleep very much in the hotel either, but it always seems like they don't on the first night in a new place ever. The second day was pretty uneventful. Just a lot of driving. We stopped for some dinner and to let the kids play in a playland place at a restaurant. While they were playing, I was scrolling through my phone and saw Brian's cousin make a facebook post about being in Hilton Head. So I called them and confirmed they were going to be there the same week we would be there. Honestly, we couldn't have planned that out if we wanted to! So we were excited to see them. We rolled into Sea Pines around 10:00 at night and got our keys to our place.

The next morning we went exploring around the resort. Brian had never been and I had fun trying to remember where everything was located. Our bikes and trailers were dropped off for us to use for the week and we were ready to go.

Amelia on the stairs to our place. Gabriella was to busy checking things out.

Closer shot...and someone needs to close that door!

The girls getting ready for their first of MANY bike rides. They were working out their space for this shot. We took a few naps in here as well. We found that Gabriella would hold up Amelia's head while Brian and I biked around the resort or she slept a couple times as well.

One of our first stops after a LONG ride was at the Salty Dog Cafe. The girls ordered up some apple juice and got some stickers. We did a little window shopping around South Beach to keep in mind what we wanted for souvenirs.

Next stop...the beach. This beach had a long walkway. Amelia was just trying to keep up.

Wait for me guys!

Finally! The Beach!

The girls loved it

Amelia enjoying the water

Gabriella just really seemed like she was in her element.

We had a great time exploring the resort and just deciding what we wanted to do for the week. This was also the day I woke up sore beyond belief. I quick message from one of my co-workers telling me how sore she was reminded me of all the yard work I had done on Friday!

 The restaurant we went to for brunch served their drinks in mason jar glasses.

 Also we got to see quite a few alligators.  After the first couple of days, we quit stopping to take their pictures on our bike rides. 

 This guy was at the bike shop.