HHI Week: July 6

Not a single big camera photo of our bike rides this year (and we log 8-11 miles probably a day, all in an 11-bike caravan), but I did capture a hike through the Nature Preserve in Sea Pines.  It's fun to mix it up every year and add a new activity or two.  Beach time every day, however, is a must.

HHI Week: July 5

Our very own private pool at our house is such a fun bonus! 

HHI Week: July 4

Our 4th of July each year on Sea Pines is usually spent like most of our days in HHI, we take a morning bike ride, maybe it's our day to hit up the ice cream shop and Salty Dog store at South Beach (usually a good incentive to get the kids on a long bike ride), head to the beach by 1pm to catch the military plane flyovers, and then we stay out on the beach well until the early evening.  Some downtime at the house includes burgers, hot dogs, and watermelon and the hot dog eating contest aired on ESPN every 4th.  We cap our night off back out on the beach by dark (with all of the kids donning light bracelets and necklaces to ease our search efforts later) to watch some fireworks up and down the beach and across the water off of Tybee Island.  This is truly the best way to enjoy a crowd-free and relaxing 4th of July and still get to see some fireworks. 

HHI Week: July 3

Beautiful weather and fun waves this year out on the beach at HHI.  And way too many kids who are starting to look pretty grown up...

HHI Week: July 2

2018 marks our sixth straight summer spending a week in the same house in Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island with my extended family.  Thank you to my parents for bringing us all together every year for a week of relaxed fun in such a beautiful setting.  I value this time with my parents, my sister and her family, and my own family and I greatly cherish the cousin time my own kids get year after year.  I recently read a quote that really stuck with me, something I see every year in the memories Ella and Jack are building with their cousins.  “A cousin is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost.” — Marion C. Garretty

Instagrammin’ in June

First, I have to come clean.  Very few of these actually made it to Instagram.  I kind of took an Instagram break over the summer…actually, not kind of—I completely took the summer off.  Once I get behind, I just can’t seem to catch up because I always feel the need to edit my iPhone pics (with Snapseed app and/or Afterlight app) and I’m a little OCD about posting chronologically.  So, usually a big event (like Ella’s 8th grade graduation) holds me up and I just can’t post anything else until I’ve posted that…it’s just a vicious cycle and I can just never get back on track.  That said, these iPhone images are the ones I would’ve been posted had I not been on the aforementioned Instagram sabbatical. 

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s talk June!  Ella wrapped up middle school (sniff sniff) and Jack wrapped up his bass clarinet career (that didn’t take long).  The kids also had a few camps this month, swam with the neighborhood swim team, and we all headed to HHI!

ella and jack both swam on the scr swim team this summer. | 8th grade celebration | jack’s last band concert | 8th grade graduation! with friend kylie | nonni and papa came in to town for graduation | justine and ella | jack’s last day of 6th grade | and, jack’s front teeth met the blunt end of a broomstick…no more smiling while watching friends play broomstick hockey again… | dropped ella and friend julia off at wake forest tennis camp | dropped jack off with a few friends at davidson soccer camp | jack in the dorms | checking out the campus | i broke my first string, like ever.  i hit with a lot of topspin so i’m not sure why it took me so long. | jack had a great week at camp. | and ella enjoyed a great week at tennis camp. | a beautiful night in beaufort before heading to hudson’s and HHI with nonni and papa the next day

Instagrammin’ in May

In May we spent a great weekend down in Greenville for a soccer tournament with Jack’s soccer team.  Olive joined us—and just spent one night in a local kennel—and we got to all enjoy some time exploring the beautiful Falls Park on the Reedy in downtown Greenville.  We also just happened to be in the area at the same time as Jonathan’s Aunt Claire and Uncle Al (who live up in Pennsylvania).  They joined us to watch one of Jack’s games and then took us out to lunch…and I’m kicking myself because I don’t have any photos from our time with them.  Aunt Claire had brought both kids very thoughtful gifts, too.  All in all, it was a great weekend.  Jack’s team never lost a game, but just missed playing in the final by one goal. 

Ella and Jack also both went on a retreat at a beach house with EYC near the end of the month—these are the pictures I grab off of the EYC Facebook page when I’m checking to see my kids’ smiles while they’re away. 

And, in other news, Ella’s still playing a lot of tennis (with friend Julia) and Olive continues to be cute.