DH had a work trip in Kansas City, MO recently. He was lucky enough to be near Sweet Pea's godparents, who put him up and watched Sweet Pea while he worked. It was during the 100-degree heatwave. So, they did lots of things indoors like eat!
This BBQ place, located at a gas station, had a 1.5 hour line out the door and around the building. He said they made the best ribs he ever had. When he left, there was still a long line out the door!
He also tried their "air roasted coffee" place and brought me back a bag. I was happy to replace our store brand coffee for a while!
. . . or becoming one! Most of DH's hobbies benefit everyone in the family. Lately, he has been working with yeast. This is his 5th or 6th batch of beer. Fresh beer tastes so much better!
He is a quick learner with an excellent memory. So, I'm sure he'll lap me in kitchen skills in no time! Here are some donut holes he made with extra pizza dough one night.
There is this thing called "Detroit Style Pizza." It's a deep dish (like Chicago style) made with Wisconsin brick cheese in old factory trays. Of course, we had to try it. It is very tasty!
This one might bore anyone not a parent or grandparent. I just love these peaceful mornings in our family room. Lately, everyone is happy in the morning because we are not in a rush. The boys are kind to each other and encourage one another.
We are learning so much about people as we parent these little ones. It would be nice if we came already perfect parents, but such is life. One thing I've learned through swimming lesson is that our kids will not be exactly like us.
I was concerned after the first lesson when the Firstborn was afraid to get his face wet. He kept getting water in his nose. So he kept his face out of the water. (I still have to hold my nose while jumping off the diving board and prefer the side stroke to the other face-submerged swims. I think I just have weak lungs. But, of course, I don't want my kids to have my issues.)
On lesson two, both of the boys took such great steps forward that I could hardly believe them. They want a challenge and seem to really enjoy the pool. They are so happy when we get out in the sun and water. I'm hoping they get a sufficient supply of Vitamin D to carry them through the gray days.
These two aren't quite at the same level; but they try to play together. I'm so proud of both of them!
She was my biggest surprise so far. She HATES baths; but she will sit in pool water up to her chin. It gives her a thrill.
Here is the Eldest's progress on the second day of swimming lessons.
What a tremendous experience we had last week! Every morning we awoke to this breathtaking view. The island was surprisingly (to me) tropical-ish -- much different than other East Coast beaches we visited to the north. It was semi-private with lots of space for each set of vacationers, who were mostly families and retirees. There were very few scantily clad college kids with unsavory intentions. ;)
This is Boardwalk 27, which was the beach access closest to our condo -- about a 7 minute walk or 2 minute bike ride away. The sunrises were spectacular from here. It's hard to beat the ocean breeze and sea blues when looking for a place to relax!
The Engineer and I took a morning bike ride while the others slept and skyped one day.
We discovered a deer feeding in the foliage between the homes and the beach. There was so much wildlife to observe!
We had a couple of criteria necessary to make the vacation feel vacation-y:
1) Two bedrooms with a separate living space.It didn't have to be big -- just a place to talk while the kids slept. If no one sleeps (like in Nag's Head), it doesn't matter if we are in paradise. It isn't fun. We had great luck finding just the right size at the right price. We were able to rent a two-bedroom condo because Sweet Pea is less than two-years-old. The particular condo we found had beautiful updates and was priced less than similar units with no updates. It was also within walking distance to the ocean.
2) Enough local activity options to keep everyone engaged and happy. There were 30 miles of bike trails and 10 bike-able miles of beach to ride on during one's stay on Kiawah Island. Most of the trails were shaded with few pedestrians. There were also two expansiveparks within a short bike ride from our condo. Beachwalker Park was listed on Dr. Beach's 2016 Top 10 Beaches. There were many more activities than only those we chose (like golf). It would be hard to get bored at this place!
This was surprisingly easy for being 6-mos. pregnant. Riding northeast, the wind is at ones back the entire time. So relaxing!
Here DH is riding southwest along the Atlantic Ocean almost to the Kiawah River at Beachwalk Park.
There were many things I enjoyed about our vacation, but my favorite was biking northbound on the beach. DH took a video, which best captures the experience.
There was so much space to ride bikes at low-tide. There were so few pedestrians to bike around, that one could really just pedal and steer and let the wind carry himself. This part of the island was beyond the second gate and had elaborate waterfront homes and a few mini-mansions. What I liked most about it was the slow-pace and privacy. You can read about the Vanderhorst plantation if interested. With the exception of some golf course dining dress codes (no jeans, but khaki shorts welcome), people on the island were friendly and down-to-earth.
There was a heat advisory several days while we were there. The heat index rose to 109 degrees at its hottest. So, we enjoyed most of our beach time before 10am and after 3pm. DH was exceptionally diligent about sunscreen-ing the kids. No one got burned!
The Engineer could spend his entire time building sand castles.
The other two were much less patient.
After our first couple of days, we decided to spend $25 on inner tubes so we could ride the waves. They were a good investment.
The walk to and from the beach was beautiful in its own right.
Tennis Club Villas:
Sunset view from our condo.
We spent the dusk hours in the condo as that tends to be the time the alligators are most active. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about them. We had our trip booked before the unfortunate incident at Disney World, which I could see happening to any family, including ours. I am also grateful to them for the additional awareness the incident brought to us before going on this trip.
1.) Your chances of winning the lottery and being struck by lightening are greater than your chances of being seriously injured by an alligator. (Not true for crocodiles though!) Hopefully that study controls for people living in Alaska who have a zero-percent chance of being seriously injured by an alligator.
2.) Alligators like an easy meal. They generally don't chase humans. However, if they do, and you keep running in the opposite direction, they are likely to give up. (But don't run zig-zag.)
3.) Never feed alligators.
4.) Stay out of brackish and murky waters.
5.) Alligators are most active between dusk and dawn.
Regardless, we scared the boys with the attack story, which they took to heart. The alligator-sighting was a great opportunity to talk about appropriate caution because they were extra attentive. They did not venture near murky water.
According to frequent visitors, this particular alligator has been in this particular creek for years. He is the only one we saw outside of the two in the nature center. Other wildlife we saw included hawks, large and small crabs, turkeys, and a couple of strange looking birds I was unable to identify.
Small crabs at low tide.
Check out my webbed feet.
This crab was the size of an adult hand. There were many in the water, especially where the Kiawah River meets the Atlantic Ocean.
What beautiful eyes you have, my dear.
We took several family photos at sunrise, though I'm not happy with my pregnant belly pose. Here it is though, so the kids remember how much we love them.
We took as many as we could while the kids were cooperative.
These two just "get" each other. They crack me up.
Blues and blue jeans always seem to work well in portraits. I especially like these blues against the white sand.
We saw some cool animals at Night Heron Park's nature center. The Engineer looked at this alligator, pointed, and shouted, "Dinosaur!"
We spent some time at Night Heron's park, which was expansive.
I stood in the shade as much as possible circa noon.
Super hot outside if you can't tell by our red faces.
The kids migrated to shady areas as well.
We love South Carolina's beautiful palmettos.
We also took a trip in the morning when it was much cooler!
The boys put on a show.
The Eldest was incredibly helpful on our biking excursions.
He biked about 35 miles throughout the trip. We challenged him to push himself because he always rises to the occasion. He also sleeps better at night when he's had an active day. We cannot overestimate this child's energy-level.
He may possibly be out-done in energy by Sweet Pea one day. She woke up before 6:00am every day and stood in the corner of her crib shaking and saying "bottle" until someone got her one. She has always been extremely alert for her age. I mean, look at those eyes. She mixes intensity with dramatic ballet moves.
This crew was so much fun to bike ride with.
DH did the lion's share of the hauling; however, I took a turn while he completed some work one afternoon. It was more fun than work. That was the best thing about biking here. Everything was flat and beautiful. We exercised but didn't feel like we were exercising.
Telephoning.
This one took his orange car with him wherever he could.
We looked for shells and crabs on the western peninsula.
Atlantic Ocean/Kiawah River and Seabrook Island beyond DH.
This was my favorite non-beach bike ride. DH discovered this trail.
One of the places we biked to a lot was Freshfields Village -- 4.3 miles from our condo. There were a couple of markets closer to us, though they were pretty overpriced and didn't sell everything. I wanted to buy a mug, but could only find one for $30 on the Island. A souvenir shop at Freshfields had a nice mug for $7.95. This is one of the nicer outdoor shopping malls I've seen.
It looks like reclaimed farmland. All the stores are fresh and clean. Free concerts take place each Friday night on the center lawn.
Marriott owns the Andell Inn, which is at the southwestern-most point of Freshfields. We almost stayed there because they have suites with kitchens. However, it wasn't actually on Kiawah Island itself. So, we would have had trouble renting bikes and using their trails and their beaches if we'd stayed at Andell. The inn has a nice outdoor space, though, most of which is enclosed.
The area has so much going for it! Even the church life was vibrant, which is not normally true for beach towns in my experience. We went to Mass at Holy Spirit, the local Catholic Church, which was a 7-minute drive away on John's Island. Mass was packed at the first of two Masses on Sunday. They built a new, much bigger church, which was filled to capacity. Also, everyone sang loudly. The boys were impressed by the experience.
We also went to daily Mass a couple of times. The small chapel was used for that purpose. Every day they offer treats in the parish center after morning Mass. These were the friendliest church-goers I've met. Each of them loved our kids and said it was so nice to see us there.
We bought and prepared all of our own food in order to keep the cost of the trip lower. It worked well because we needed something to do to kill time during peak sunlight.
This one requested French toast, which was our first breakfast.
He was thrilled.
The kids seemed so happy to spend extra time with mom and dad in new place with very few interruptions. They were generally happy throughout the trip.
I mean, look at this huge smile!
We discovered Sweet Pea loves peaches.
One of the best things we brought along was our laptop. We used our Netflix account to play cartoons when we needed some quiet time. (The condo TV was too complicated.) Sweet Pea was high maintenance; and the home was not baby-proofed. So, we occasionally used the pack n play as well. DH had to work a little bit -- not too much. Here he is working while I fixed dinner and ran a load of laundry.
This living space was a huge win! Given how hot it happened to be, I was so happy that we had a clean, air-conditioned space in which to relax. Here is DH after the kids went to bed.
A couple of things we would do differently were we to go again:
1.) Leave Virginia at 4am on Saturday. We ran into a surprising amount of traffic when we left at 8am. The traffic added 3 hours to our trip. We opted for an early departure on the return, which saved us about 2 hours. Most of the traffic was in Virginia and North Carolina.
2.) Visit at a cooler time of year. We didn't have a choice this year.
3.) Bring roach traps. Yes, they were particularly bad because there wasn't a winter this year and there was sitting water for weeks after flooding. Everyone seemed to say it's "just South Carolina." Our condo was very clean; but every morning we still had a few baby roaches in the kitchen. And the occasional adult.
4.) Check out St. Christopher Camp on Seabrook Island for potentially lower prices. (Tip from someone we met at daily Mass.)
5.) Check out Seabrook Island rentals for better prices. (They don't have bike trails, but do have great beaches.)
One additional thing we really liked about the trip was that the rentals book from Saturday through Saturday instead of Sunday through Sunday. So, when we returned home, we had an extra day to regroup before going back to work.
I tried to plan this trip so there was something interesting for everyone. By and large, everyone had fun. Our next "big" trip will probably need to include mountains, however, and may be a couple of years off. Regardless, we were so grateful to be able to take this vacation. And, on a completely superficial note, I was thrilled to have a tan for the first time in six years!
Here's a little recap video that my phone made.
One week was the perfect amount of time. We were ready to return when we did; but the trip didn't seem too short. We watched the sunrise on I-95 on Saturday.
"It's a long way to Richmond rollin' north on 95..."
The nice thing about vacationing in a hot place is that we were completely thrilled to return to the 80-degree, Virginia weather!
Look at all these happy people! How did we get so lucky?!
