HHI Highlights—July 4th Week (Part 2/4)

beach, bike, pool, games…repeat.  good time at hilton head island.



{gregg russell under the big oak tree at harbour town.  a must for a HHI visit.}

{bike ride through the nature preserve on sea pines.}

{checking out the archaic indian shell ring.}

{and more time hanging out at home—swimming (notice my camera slowly fog up) and playing games together.}

HHI Highlights—July 4th Week (Part 1/4)

We spent the week of July 4th this summer with my parents and my sister’s family in a beach house on Hilton Head Island.  This is the first vacation, away from any of our houses, that we have all enjoyed together—the first of hopefully many Slaton family reunions.  We had an amazing week full of some fun, memorable times.  The weather tried to challenge us—it stormed nearly every single day and when it wasn’t raining it was super humid or windy (all of which made taking any pictures during our vacation a challenge…you’ll notice a lot of gray skies and some foggy images)—but it didn’t seem to phase us a bit.  We just worked around it, watching the radar closely and got in beach time, pool time, a long bike ride, and some time hanging around the house together every single day.  Hilton Head Island was the perfect spot for us—we especially loved all of the bike trails within Sea Pines, where our house was—and I can’t wait to go next year (although, I do hope for better weather).  I’ve got four posts worth of collages from our week and they are a mix of images from my sister and me and, after looking through the hundreds and hundreds from our week, one thing is apparent—we both need to be better about getting in the pictures next summer.  :)
{tracy was expecting a little girl, due in november.}
{you can see just how much the weather changed within a short period of time.}


{we went on a bike ride to harbour town.  after our first bike ride of 11 people in a caravan of bikes, i thought for sure we would want to split up in the future.  but, it’s a testament to how enjoyable our week together was that none of us ever wanted to be apart.  we took many a bike ride in a long line of 11 bikes—usually with jack trailing at the end (it was readily apparent by the end of the week that he really needed a bigger bike).}

Waves Swim Team

Ella and Jack swam on our neighborhood swim team again this summer (mid-May through the end of June).  The swimming’s getting tougher now that they’re swimming against more and more year-round swimmers, but Ella and Jack both held their own as the younger kids in each of their age groups (Ella swam in the 9-10s this year while Jack swam in 7-8s).  They each won their fair share of ribbons, but honestly the best part about swim team is hanging out with neighborhood friends.  It was a fun season and we’re already looking forward to next year!

Here’s just some highlights:











{comparing race numbers.}

{doing the team cheer.}






{ella getting cheered on during her 100m individual medley race.}










I aslo worked on the slideshow for the team's season-end party--Ella and Jack are only in it in a few times, but here is the finished result:

Instagrammin’ in July

Summer, summer, summertime…  Our July is a testament to how great, and jam-packed, our summer has been.
beautiful bike ride to harbour town. #hiltonheadisland | fun in the waves. | my MIL’s famous bloody mary recipe. #ellamadethecoaster. | bike riding on the beach in HHI. | probably time for jack to get a new bike. #pedalinglikecrazy #clownbike #itiredofbiking | off to the beach! #chairwithlegs | the strong waves have claimed two pairs of goggles, a new hat, and a snorkel. | sandcastle by the girls. | gregg russell under the great oak tree. #ilovehiltonhead | she belongs among the wildflowers. #seapinesforestpreserve | checking out the wildlife. #11bikesinarow | stoney-baynard ruins. | the quote from the boy: “we biked all the way down here for this old stuff??” | the dangling carrot at the end of a long bike ride. #saltydogcafe #cookiemonstericecream | goggles of the future. | happy 4th of july! | #slatonfamilyreunion | beautiful day at the beach. | gone fishing. | saying our goodbyes. :( #cousinlove | we wore ‘em out! #weekinhiltonhead #headedhome | looks like gator had a fun 4th of july week, too. | baking on her own for the first time! #chocolatechipcookies | finally seeing my last issue in print. | a tumor and ulcerations on his nose have us headed to an oncologist soon.  he seems to have a positive outlook, so I’m trying to, too. | best friends since the preschool 2’s. | having some after-camp fun. | never would have thought they’d be so excited about shopping for backpacks in the middle of the summer. | ready for their triathlon! | another race in the bag! #littletriathletes #theykilledit #allgasnobrakes | finally making some headway on the girl’s room transformation. | rough day for this one.  three more chunks of his nose and snout cut out and a CT scan, and he’s still up for a game of fetch. | it’s taking shape. :) | in charge of the school sign this year and already putting up info about the first day of school. #summersflyingby | excited about his new set of wheels! | mini tina. | bike ride with the kids. | the very, very good news: it’s not cancer. the bad news: still no answers. #dogcantbreath #darthgator # poorpuppy #toughweek | #unsupervisedipaduse #littleweirdos | at the zoo with some of our favorite people. #riverbankszoo | little monkeys in the trees at the zoo. | great time, as always, at the zoo today. | finding some old stuff while cleaning out the closets. #derangedeasterbunny | a week into treatment of steroids, immuno-suppressant, antibiotics, and vitamin B and he’s looking, sounding, and feeling better. | this is summer. | off to sky high after a double sleepover! | finally getting that patio and fireplace we’ve been thinking about for years. | almost done!


Also, here are a few videos I posted to Instagram while we were in Hilton Head.  These videos were my first attempt at filming and posting videos through Instagram and, for reasons I won’t go into, I totally, 100% thought that Instagram videos were silent.  I freaked a little bit when I found out, weeks after posting these videos, that all the videos do post with sound—luckily, when I went back and checked, I didn’t find anything too embarrassing in the sound bits.  Yeah, I’m an idiot.  :)

 {practicing cannon balls at our house pool, haven't seen a teeter-totter in years, catching the waves, and teaching nonni 'cups'.}

Father’s Day

We spent Father’s Day taking dad on a nature hike—Jonathan was feeling left out after seeing all of the fun the kids and I had the week before.  :)  Actually, we had been meaning to check out a nearby trail to the Big Rock Nature Preserve, with huge granite rock formations that archaic Native Americans inhabited over 7,000 years ago. They are ginormous—my pictures don’t even do them justice.  The kids loved climbing all over them.  Hard to believe this is all just 10 minutes from us.  We explored the rocks and then walked some of the trails (the kids also did some vine swinging, which was on instagram that day), and then once we we’d gotten our fill of hiking and climbing, we took Jonathan for his favorite Sunday morning treat, donuts.  We tried the new Krispy Kreme in our area.  Happy Father’s Day to the “greatest dad ever”!

Nature Hikes

During the first week of summer, Jack and I had some free time in the mornings while Ella was at tennis camp.  Her camp was at the courts of a local park, Colonel Francis Beatty Park, that also has several nature trails.  Jack and I spent the entire camp time—3 1/2 hours—of one morning on a nature hike—amazing, considering this is the boy who always would say “I tired of walking” not even halfway into any hike we tried to go on.  Jack and I had a ball exploring the trails, finding critters and animals, and just checking out the park.  I brought my big camera along, but, after just a few shots, quickly just put it away to really just enjoy my time with Jack.  He was really just so sweet and happy that day, focusing on the nature around us and on the time spent one-on-one with me.  I loved every minute of it.  Most of these images were from my phone and most were already in my June instagram post, but our nature hike was such a highlight of the summer, I really want to highlight it again here. 






Jack and I loved our nature hike so much, the next day after Ella’s camp we took Ella and Gator to all of the cool spots we’d found the day before.  They both loved it.