So the McCarty/Becker Family rolled out of town on Saturday June 5th with the hopes of getting a little R&R on the shores of Hilton Head Island Beach. This is the first time we ventured to Hilton Head...we usually prefer the beaches a little farther north...Litchfield or Garden City...but since my mom became a Disney Vacation Club Member we decided to cash in her points for this year and stay at the Disney Resort at Hilton Head. If you remember, I checked it out a few weeks ago, so I assured my family it was nice and we would all enjoy our stay...and for the most part we did. Arch was scolded about the spot where he parked his boat when he first arrived, I got into a little disagreement with the front desk over a parking pass and I was denied entry into my parents condo to retrieve my camera bag, but other than that, our stay was great.
We arrived early to find our rooms were ready for us a little early...very pleasant surprise. We unloaded, applied SPF, suited up and headed to the closest pool.
You may notice Ruth Ann wearing new swimmies...I love the pink with white ruffle swimmies, but they just don't keep Ruth Ann out of the water enough for her (or her mother's) liking. Andrea told me about these at Walmart and they worked out great...they're a little bigger than the other pair we have so I think we'll use these this summer and maybe start to transition into the others by the end of the summer.
Ada and Ruth Ann really get along great...at times it was a love fest...
But we're still talking about toddlers...so there was the occasional disagreement...
Although I can not give Ada the credit of teaching Ruth Ann "No"...this word has been firmly in her vocabulary for some time now and may be the her most frequently used word...but I can give Ada the credit of introducing Ruth Ann to the word and concept of "Mine"...another word I would now like to see dropped from her limited vocabulary. Ruth Ann now says "No" and "Mine" so often and also usually in very close proximity to each other that I would consider this her 2nd 2 word utterance...great! I'm not sure how many of you read John Rosemond's books or even know who his is...he's great by the way and if you have children you should read his parenting books or if you have the chance to hear him speak go quickly. I went to hear him speak just a few weeks before Ruth Ann was born and he made this statement "2 year old children are the embodiment of all criminal and anti-social behavior." Ruth Ann's newest phrase screams anti-social!
Anyway, Disney does a great job catering to families with children and the pool area was definitely a kid friendly zone.
But we didn't spend all of our time at the pool...these girls also loved the beach. The resort is on the marsh so on our 2nd day we loaded up and headed across the street to the Beach House. There was plenty of beach to run around on and enjoy and when you need a break from the sand there was another pool at the beach where you could cool off, get some lunch or an adult beverage...no adult beverages this time, but maybe on the next trip.
I was a little concerned about how Ruth Ann was going to take to the beach. Last summer, she didn't love it so much and in the Spring she didn't love her sand box as much as I would have thought. She was a little slow making her way to the water's edge and she did turn around a few times but eventually she made it to the water and never looked back...she loved it!
Eventually it was time for lunch. On this day we decided to pack our lunches so we sat under the umbrella my mom rented and enjoyed our lunch...
Yummm...PB&J and juice box...life is good!
Before leaving for the beach I made 2 outfits for the girls to wear at the beach. My mom also purchased a few outfits, so not everything I made was worn or pictured. Here was one of the 2 beach inspired outfits...these pictures aren't great...it was kinda a late dinner and Ruth Ann was melting down...
I had seen the fishing lure appliques on one of the websites I enjoy and when I ran across this fabric with tiny fishing lures on it inspiration hit...I knew this was a beach outfit in the making...it was precious!
The next morning we decided to get up and just head straight to the beach. We opted out of packing lunches and decided to just eat pool side. Arch and Spencer joined us on this morning so we all had a lot of fun. One thing that is different about the beaches at HH versus Garden City or Litchfield is these big pools of water all along the beach. As the tide goes out it leaves behind little kiddy pools...they were just Ruth Ann's size...
But because this water doesn't have a fresh water source the water gets a little warm...and a little dirty, so Arch spent some time taking her down to the water's edge...
Eventually we were all ready to eat some lunch and cool off in the pool, so up to the Beach House we went...
Notice the waving...I have un-officially named Ruth Ann the greeter of Hilton Head Island...she waved to any and everyone who walked by her at the beach and pool. She also does this at Walmart, but usually she picks the strangest people with the fewest number of teeth to become acquainted with!
Spencer and Arch joined Ruth Ann in the pool and this picture makes me laugh...who's the worse parent...the one holding the child and letting her appear to be struggling to stay afloat or the parent taking a picture of it all?? She's perfectly fine by the way...
On our 3rd day Arch took the boat out to fish and Spencer stayed behind to join us on the beach...here's one of my favorite pictures from the week...
Our friends, The Clark Family, were also at Hilton Head the same week as our family, so we invited them down to our beach for the morning. Roper is still committed to the crawl, but that didn't stop him from enjoying the sand and sun...
Mason L-O-V-E-S the water and the beach...here he is lounging by the water...
You may have noticed Roper ended up with a little wet sand on his face...I think Ruth Ann noticed too and was trying to help her friend out...
Roper also wanted to check out Ruth Ann's cute suit...I'm okay with him touching her belly now, but it a few years Arch may have something to say about that...
Since I looked like the crazy picture taking mom the first few days on the beach (I switched off between camera and camcorder) I took a break the rest of the week. You can tell we had a great time though.
As I ran around after this little girl all week...
I couldn't help but think about what next summer will be like with a 6 month old and 2 year old. I'm not wishing any of this time away because I really love every minute of it...but I couldn't help but remember the days I use to spend on the beach when my biggest decision was what SPF to apply and what book I would read. Thankfully Arch spent most nap times with Ruth Ann so I got to spend some time by the pool reading...I guess I got to enjoy the best of both worlds!
