All good beach trips start with a drive. I couldn't resist taking this picture of Ben during our first day of driving on our way to Hilton Head, SC with Drew's mom.
We stopped in Florence, SC for the night and found to our surprise that a big race was going on that weekend. We got to watch a procession of racing trucks that lasted about 30 minutes amidst honking cars and fans on the side of the road.
We spent one morning in Harbor Town where they have a neat playground built around old trees. They also have a lighthouse and a bunch of sailboats. The boys had fun as you will see...
Noah blows by Ben in his climb up the tree.
But don't worry, Ben always catches up.
Picture with Grandma
Noah enjoyed the large jacuzzi tub in our room.
The jets made quite a few bubbles during bath time.
The jets made quite a few bubbles during bath time.
A few days were cool and windy, so we spent time building sand castles.
Its hard to tell from this picture, but this sand castle had a moat and two bridges as well as many guard houses to defend the castle. Noah built a wall around the entire thing.
My attempts at the perfect photo turned into a wrestling match.
There were tons of kids at the beach or pool every day. Noah met a friend named Zachary who helped keep him entertained. One of the dad's always built a huge hole and all of the kids would play in it together.
Noah and Zachary
Ben went in the ocean on his own for the very first time. He loved the gradual slope of the shore in Hilton Head and the small waves were perfect for playing in. I took the boys out in the "waves" and helped them jump up so the water didn't hit them in the face.
Ben and Noah were entertained by a variety of electronic devices during our 9.5 hr drive back to Richmond. Grandma and I appreciated the silence.
Stop over in Richmond...
On the way home from Hilton Head, we stopped in Richmond for the night. We stayed with my dad and Susan and my sister's 3 kids. I slept in one room with 5 little kids sprawled all over the place. They did remarkably well and had fun splashing around in the creek together. Ben's favorite activity was catching toads around the house.
Philip and Noah helped bring in the mattress from the minivan.
Our trip to the Outer Banks with Opa and Grandmommy...
The beach is the perfect place to fly a kite. Both boys took turns flying the Spiderman kite.
On Thursday night we took advantage of the lack of crowds and went to play Putt Putt. The boys had mixed feelings about their first miniature golf experience. We couldn't find a place with all the tacky animals and moving windmills, so they got bored on a few of the holes. Luckily there was no one else there so Noah and Ben were able to run around and have fun.
Clearly my days of lying on the beach and reading a book are over for a while. After being buried in the sand I took a rather chilly dip in the ocean. Drew decided to put on a wetsuit before attempting a swim. He enjoyed a rough day of riding waves and then playing golf with his dad before we all head out to a crab house to celebrate Opa's (Drew's dad) 65th birthday.
I saved my favorite picture for last
