Morning bike ride, after lunch beach, evening pool, and repeat. With some drinks and great food thrown in there, too. On this particular day, the Monday of our week in Hilton Head, we took our long bike ride down past the preserve and stables to Harbour Town. They have a great shady playground there and it’s fun to check out the boats down past the lighthouse. Beautiful day and lots of beautiful smiles!
{tossing ‘em back.}
Our second day in Hilton Head was probably our grayest day, weather-wise, all week, but it was nothing like the weather we had last year (dark, windy, rough surf, water spouts). The sun might’ve not shone through too much, but the water was calm and we only had a slight breeze. We enjoyed a long morning at the beach, a sunny bike ride through the preserve, and then a very wet bike ride through a downpour to get home. The rain showers didn’t last long, though, and left plenty of afternoon/evening time in the pool. Such a fun and relaxing time—and I love Sea Pines, or really all of Hilton Head Island, because it’s so conducive to having an active vacation with walks to and from the beach, plenty of bike riding, and, of course, swimming, paddleball, and other games on the beach. I love everything about this week—spending time with Jonathan when he doesn’t have his laptop nearby, watching the cousins bond, hanging with my folks and Tracy and Ken, sharing recipes between my mom, sister, and I, taking time to play board games with the kids, and just that whole beach frame of mind, I guess.
We headed to Hilton Head Island for our 2nd annual Slaton family reunion over the week of 4th of July! We had such a fun time last year—and it’s always nice when we’re all on vacation—but this year was a celebration. We had booked the same house within a month of last year’s trip, so when my sister was in the hospital at the end of February, the week in HHI felt more like the albatross about our [collective] neck. Even later in the week, when we knew Tracy would survive her event, we didn’t think she’d be far enough along in her recovery to make it on our trip to HHI. But, Tracy is our Wonder Woman and it still astonishes me daily that she endured all that she did and is so completely intact now (and with a good humor about the whole thing).
It seemed like the weather was part of our celebration on the first day we arrived on Hilton Head Island. We all met at Hudson’s Seafood on the Docks, in the Skull Creek area of HHI, for some shrimp, oysters, and cocktails. We had a perfect spot on the patio with gorgeous views of Port Royal Sound and the kids enjoyed exploring the docks, finding oyster shells, and looking for crabs. It was a great way to kick-off another memorable week.
by guest blogger Jonathan
Each year we look forward to June when Ella and Jack participate on our neighborhood swim team, the Stone Creek Ranch Waves. For the parents, it’s a great time to enjoy the sun each evening, reconnect with neighbors we didn’t see over the winter, and watch our kids make new friends and teammates. For the kids, the 6-meet swim season is a wonderful opportunity to burn off some of that summer energy, become part of an incredibly supportive team, and maybe pick up a few race ribbons along the way.
Ella and Jack swam all strokes this year: butterfly, back, free, and breast. I was secretly afraid that this would be the year when the year-round swimmers would start to dominate the races and just being a strong swimmer wouldn’t be enough to place in a race. But Ella and Jack surprised me, both earning multiple ribbons at each meet. More importantly, they loved the daily practices and always asked to stay a little longer after their regular practice ended. Ella even qualified to compete at the All-Stars meet in the butterfly and 100M individual medley events (only two swimmers from each team in each event qualify), as well as the two relay events, this year.
My favorite part about the Waves is that is a family affair – all parents are required to volunteer their time. Trish takes pictures all season and pulls together a slide show that is shown at the end-of-season party. We both volunteer at most of the events either as timers, entering swim times into the computer, or pulling together the ribbon labels. Having everyone involved really makes us all feel like a part of the team, and I hope the kids continue to want to participate as they get older.
Highlights from Jack’s season:
Highlights from Ella’s season:
June brought the end of school and the beginning of a fun and busy summer.
the preschool friendship’s still going strong. #jackandjackson | ella had a great year in her girl scouts juniors troop. | field day fun. | 2014 SCR waves swim team. | lots of biking to and from the pool these days. | jack’s EOY party at school. | choco taco! #itsallaboutthefoodatswimmeets | the spoils from the first meet—they both did great! | jack’s soccer collage is up on the wall. | lovely evening for an al fresco dinner. | ella reading her acceptance speech for “best artist” of her class, as voted by her fellow students. | last sign change of the school year. | they asked me to meet them at the bus stop with water guns on the last day of school. | volunteering at a community garden. #summerofservice #sowmuchgood | i guess it’s too bright outside after hours of jumping at sky high. | catching fireflies. | ella rocked her 100M IM event. | superstar at tennis camp. | made it through another meet without cancelling. #thunderdelays | another nest on our front door. | we volunteered at bright blessings to work on putting together birthday presents for homeless children. #summerofservice | seeing shrek the musical at the a local theatre. | lovely day on the lake. #nofilter | we got the kids little kayaks so now we can all be on the lake together. | their favorite part was the swimming. | make it back to shore just in time to miss the storm. | love that he’ll sit on my lap still…even if his bum is wet. | ella’s raising money for the lunch project, a nonprofit that provides lunch to the 900 kids who attend a school in tanzania. #summerofservice | counting crows concert with college bestie lauren! | VBS week! | more fun at sky high. | last swim meet—ella. #wornoutfromskyhigh #latestartofftheblocks | last swim meet—jack. | thankful for another awesome swim team season! | lauren and her kids stayed with us for most of the week—as jack says, they’re “family from another family.” | love sharing VBS week with the kids. | HHI week! there was a time in february that i thought there was no chance this week would happen. #sothankful | love our stop at hudson’s. | calm water this year. #wehadwaterspoutslastyear | hard to get a 2-person selfie with a huge hat on. :) | talking to a beach artist with nonni. | caravan o’ bikes. #iloveseapines #bikerideeveryday | fun in the pool. | john e at harbourtown. | cousins! | more sights to see on our bike rides. | cuddling on the beach with papa. | beautiful beach weather.
On Father’s Day, (after we all took him for breakfast at his favorite local donut shot, MJ Donuts) Jonathan took the kids for a hike up Crowder’s Mountain on our ever-favorite Rocktop Trail (my right knee was pretty swollen, so I couldn’t make it). Ella brought along her camera and documented their hike. I think I might have to get her to do that more often!
{there’s a reason it’s called the rocktop trail. my knees definitely wouldn’t have liked this on that particular weekend.}
