Instagrammin' in July

I probably shouldn't call this "Instagrammin'" as most of these pictures probably didn't make it to Instagram.  This is more of an iPhone-pictures-from-July collage.  Life is good in July--we spent most of it on the beach!

our first week in july is spent on hilton head. | spotted a gator on a bike ride. | nonni, papa, and kids at harbour town. | plaid lighthouse. | early morning view | run on the beach with my boy | bike ride to the ruins, the kids' favorite sight on hhi (not) | the beach | bridge in beaufort | harbour town playground | with ivy | beach time with the cousins | the raft | bocce ball | happy 4th! | fireworks on the beach | he does like ice cream! | south beach ice cream | thanks, papa! | back at harbour town | teenagers at gregg russell | gregg russell under the big oak | pretty view of the lighthouse | back in charlotte, erasure concert with carolyn | charlotte knights baseball game | it was 'the office' night--jack's dwight. | notes for ella's tennis tournament | she racked up some wins at the tournament! | fripp island | oh deer! | views from the fripp island beach | beach walk with jonathan | we threw a lot of stranded starfish back into the water. | love how quiet fripp is. | fun and games inside | cousins hanging out | more birds | more deer | beach time at the tip of fripp | one last picture by ella of the deer before we had to drive home for her high school tennis tryouts. | home with olive | while jack and jonathan enjoyed a few more days in fripp (mostly jack, while jonathan had to work a bunch). | crabbing | more crabbing | and an early birthday celebration for our boy 

Fripp Island

At the end of July, Jonathan's parents rented a house on Fripp Island, a small island on the South Carolina coast that is crawling with deer and golf carts.  Unfortunately, we didn't know until after the dates were booked that they overlapped with high school tennis tryouts for Ella, so Ella and I were only able to stay for the first two days of the trip.  We filled those two days with lots of beach time, card games, golf cart rides, crabbing, food, drinks, and laughs.  All of these pictures were from one day--we packed that much in!  Fripp was such a quaint and quiet place to spend focused time together.  Thanks, Nana and PopPop, for such a wonderful time on Fripp!

HHI Week: Beach Portraits

Thank you, Nonni and Papa, for another wonderful week in HHI!

{from oldest to youngest: jake, 16; ella, 14; zane, 13; jack, 12; drew, 11; and ivy, 4}

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...