Beach Trip 2022

We were at the beach last week, and boy, was it memorable! Bowing to the kids' requests (demands?) we went back to Sea Pines at Hilton Head, which they very much consider "our" beach. I have to admit, it's hard to beat: every time we go to a different beach, we all compare it to Sea Pines and it falls short. Sea Pines is just our happy place -- we are so familiar with it; we know all our favorite restaurants and play areas; we know where we like to stay; we know where to go and how to live our best lives. Even better this year, we brought Amber, which made it all complete.

The day we arrived, it was thunderstorming, and the rainfall was so torrential we could barely see on the highway. Naturally, our condo wasn't ready. But by the time we drove down to the beach club, the rain was just a light drizzle, and we decided to begin our visit with a walk on the beach with Amber. It was a great beginning, because we were the only ones on the beach. After about 30 minutes, however, beachcombers and lifeguards started returning, and we learned that 1) dog aren't allowed on the beach between 10 am and 5 pm, and 2) our condo was finally ready. Hooray!

The rest of the week was wonderful. We made sand sculptures on the beach; the girls had a blast on our new boogie board; we played multiple rounds of mini golf (one of which Sweet Pea won straight up, much to MJ's consternation); and we took Amber for a walk on the beach every morning (before 10 am).

We even visited some ruins on the property: a former Antebellum plantation that was abandoned in the 1860s as the Union army approached, and was later occupied by Union forces.

We went crabbing, and CC won the prize for catching the most crab of everyone on the boat (four). Sweet Pea was in tears over not catching any, even though she was checking three crab poles, so I told her surely she held the record for catching the least amount of crab despite having the most poles.

We rode bikes and ate crab legs and played bocce and rode bikes on the beach and watched the sun rise. Sweet Pea and Little Man used his metal detector to find treasure (spoiler alert: it didn't work well, so they gave up after multiple false alarms).

The funniest thing that happened was when a seagull pooped on MJ! We both stared at it and said, "What the ... ?" and then realized what had happened and burst into laughter. He was a good sport.

Another funny thing that happened is when CC was jumping in the waves and a big waved ripped her bathing suit bottom off! Fortunately she found them floating a few feet away and managed to get dressed again before anyone noticed. When she told us afterwards, I couldn't stop laughing!

The kids found countless starfish, including a small but perfect specimen that I promptly named Frankie Five Fingers. (The kids refuse to acknowledge that name, and call it Apollo instead. I maintain that mine is a way better name.)

Another precious week of memories. I love our little family and the time we spend together.