September 01, 2005
Starfish
Today was the perfect ending to an incredible week. We had a fabulous day starting out on the beach. It was a gorgeous, hot and sunny day and the beach was pretty busy by 9:15 or so.
The shore was covered with starfish, many of them still alive. There were places on the beach where some 20 or 30 starfish were sitting in a tidal pool or on the sand. Children carried them by the handsful. Zack and Chris swam in the calm clear water, jumped waves and did air fish, where Chris flies Zack through the air across the water. They swam while I walked the beach and picked up shells and looked at starfish.
To give Chris a break, I took over but Zack still wanted to swim like Dad swims with him. Instead, I immediately steered Zack to another little boy his age to play with, hoping that would entertain him for a while. We met Ross and his mother Mandy from South Carolina and they played and played. It was nice to have adult conversation. Zack took a break with a lemonade while we went to the Beach Club store to buy souvenir towels and t-shirts. We stayed at the beach until well after 12 and finally went in for lunch. Zack went down for his nap and I went back to enjoy the beach some more while Chris stayed in to read.
It was low tide and there were no shells on the beach but an unbelievable number of starfish - even more than before. A couple of people were surf fishing. One man I passed by had caught both a stingray and a whiting. I passed by later to find he had a caught small blue shark and another whiting. The beach was just fantastic; I hated to leave knowing this was my last time to enjoy the water.
I headed back and took a shower and we began the process of packing. After naptime, we rode the bikes back to the rental place. Although the bike trip was brief, it was nice to savor one last ride. Riding bikes is one of my favorite parts of being here. Chris took some pictures of some birds, but we couldn’t find any alligators. We walked back home and headed to Harbour Town.
We walked around a bit and headed for the Crazy Crab once again where we had broiled seafood. I had to savor the hushpuppies and sweetened iced tea. Just like clockwork, Zack felt the call of nature at the dinner table. Once again, Chris was left alone at the table to eat his meal (with my food getting cold) while we made a potty call. Not once, but twice. As soon as we got back to the table, we had no sooner sat down then Zack decided he had to go once again.
Literally at every single meal we’ve eaten out Zack has had to make a potty run. Twice at the Crazy Crab, twice at the Salty Dog and at the Kingfisher Restaurant. His amazing tour of Hilton Head toilets.
Despite the potty stop, we made it back to the table and finished dinner. We enjoyed the obligatory key lime pie, which was incredible. It was far better than anything I make. We finished up and then let Zack play on his beloved playground as usual. We shot some good video of Harbour Town, walking on the wharf one last time. It was beautiful and the sun was starting to set.
Next we made it home and headed out for our final walk on the beach at high tide. Zack ran and ran as he loves to do and we got some video.
Today was another spectacular day on a vacation that surpassed my expectations. It has been perfect in every way. We all made a deal that we would come back here every year.
Posted by Holli at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)
August 31, 2005
Clouds
Another great day. It was overcast this morning but we went out to the beach anyway. We didn’t stay long enough to get wet - at least Chris and I didn’t get wet. Zack of course ran right into the water. We walked on the beach a while and decided it was a good idea to ride our bikes to the nature preserve. We went home and threw on some shorts and got on our bikes. Zack loves to ride. I figured we would go to the nature preserve and then come back and go to the beach afterward.
We rode only about a mile for our second attempt at going to the nature preserve. The neighborhoods were beautiful and the ride was cool. We got there and got off our bikes and began to walk through the trails. Green brackish water surrounded us on both sides and we were followed by a cloud of mosquitoes brought out by the previous day's rain. We didn’t get very far when we realized we were going to be eaten up. Besides, we hadn’t seen any wildlife. We headed back to our bikes and rode through the beautiful canopied streets where giant sea pines and oaks hanging with moss covered the road.
It was getting closer to 11:30 and we were getting hungry so we made an impromptu decision to ride to Harbour Town and find a place for lunch. Once again Zack got to play on his favorite playground as Chris and I arrived hot, sweaty and tired from riding. Fully refreshed from sitting in his bike seat and being carted around, Zack ran and played and couldn’t get enough. We then walked into the toy store to cool off in the air conditioning while Zack played with the train. We then headed up to the Quarterdeck Restaurant next door to the lighthouse, on the second floor overlooking the harbor and Calibogue Sound. What is probably a very nice restaurant by night seemed to not mind that we were stinky and underdressed as many tourists riding their bikes are. We had lunch while watching the parasailing and charter boats take off from the docks. We then walked on the pier and looked at all the boats. Then we headed back on the trek home by bike which really isn’t far at all.
The stinky family made it back and Zack got a bath and Chris took a shower. At nap time, I went back over to the beach and had a wonderful hour walking on the beach, sitting in the beach chair and swimming in the water getting sticky and gross and coated in sand. It was hot and sunny and the water was very still compared to the day before. I returned and took a shower while Chris ran up to the shops at Sea Pines Center to look around. By the time he returned it was thundering and lightning and pouring down rain.
We didn’t let the rain stop us. We went to the ResortQuest office and got the key to 10 Forest Drive for a look inside. It still looks very well maintained and in good shape but the decorating isn’t to our taste. Chris took pictures of the house to send to the ResortQuest rental website.
After visiting the house and returning the key, we shopped at Coligny Plaza where we enticed Zack with the prospects of a toy store and a fudge shop. The shopping center looks like a walk back in time but was fun and brought back memories for Chris who had gone there for years as a kid. Many of the same stores were still there. With fudge in hand, we headed to a New York style pizza place to take home.
It took us a good 20 minutes to wait for our pizza in the old time pizza parlor. Chris and Zack played video games and I was glued to CNN as we waited. Just as we got the pizza out to the car, it began to suddenly pour down rain.
We went home and enjoyed eating our pizza and watching it pour in our courtyard. Since we hadn’t gotten much beach time in today, we really wanted to go on a walk tonight but weren’t sure if we would get the chance because off all the rain. Finally, around 8 p.m. the rain let up and we headed out for our walk on the beach.
The storms had just come through and no one was on the beach, literally. The sun was going down and there were beautiful flashes of lightning in the sky way off to the mainland. Just as we took our shoes off and headed for the beach, I looked down searching for shells. Out of the left side of my eye I saw packed sand with rain drop marks on it, completely uniform except for Chris and Zack’s footprints. To the right I looked down and in the dusk I was barely able to make out three perfect starfish in the sand. With amazement, we each bent down and picked one up. Chris got the big one, I picked up the medium sized one and Zack bent down and picked up the small one. A gift from the sea.
We sat them down safely with our shoes and walked on the beach and watched the sun set. We knew Zack had a big day because he was too tired to run on the beach. Of course he wasn't too tired to get completely wet in the ocean and completely filthy in the sand. We hosed down at the beach club and headed home for Zack’s second bath of the day.
Posted by Holli at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2005
Issues
Today seemed different from the other days. It was not as action packed, but perhaps temper-tantrum packed instead.
We woke up and I then went in and sat in bed with Zack while he watched TV in bed. Once Chris got up, we headed up to Harbour Town by car to get a pastry at the local bakery. We then went into the nearby nature center where we saw a few small animals.
We were then off to the beach where the waves were exceptionally big and the wind was blowing strong. It was great surfing weather so we rented a body-surfing board. Chris did well on the big waves. Then we gave Zack a try. He toppled over head first the first time and then went under. He came right back up and didn’t complain too much. However, he really didn’t want to do it again. I gave it a try a few times but had a hard time too.
Chris went to sit on the chairs and read while Zack and I stayed and played in the water. Mr. Boss Man (aka Zack) got possessive of the surf board and wouldn’t let me play with it or pull him around on it. He just bossed me around.
We headed up to the chairs after a Zack tried to bite the surf board. I then put my goggles on and went out to try the surf board for real. I didn’t do very well and couldn’t make it work.
Afterwards, we headed home for lunch of cheese pita sandwiches and a much needed nap to make the grumpies go away. I ended up taking a nap too even though I didn’t really mean to. I figured I could use the rest after all the bike riding the day before. We got up from our naps around 3:30 and were all off on our bikes to the nature preserve.
The nature center wasn't far - maybe a mile or two. The minute we got there we saw a huge storm welling up to the west. It looked like it was about to rain. We didn’t even get off our bikes, but just turned around and came right home. Chris and Zack were far ahead of me and it reminded me what it is like to ride bikes with Chris. He is so much faster than me and I’m always poking along behind.
After cooling off and watching the storm pass by barely dropping any rain, we cleaned up and headed to the mall. It was pretty boring and quite empty. We realized how we don’t really like leaving Sea Pines. Then we drove around to Shelter Cove looking for a place to eat. We ended up at Kingfisher Restaurant, a Steak and Seafood place. Immediately Zack was grumpy and acting up. What a day. He finally had to make a visit out to the car with Dad for an attitude adjustment. We didn’t like the décor in the restaurant and were kind of wishing we hadn’t chosen this place but when the seafood arrived we were glad.
I had crabcakes and Chris had grouper. Of course, Zack had another temper tantrum. He was shooting the patrons with his "chicken gun" made of his chicken strips. It was then off to the grocery for more juice and milk and then home for a quick pit stop.
We had every intent of going to the fudge shop over at Coligny Plaza. We got back in the car to go and Zack forgot Boeia (his security blanket - pronounced BEE-uh). We explained we were just going up the street to get special chocolate fudge. He had a meltdown refusing to go without his beloved Boeia. With that, we all had to get out of the car and stay home due to Mr. Fussbudget. I’m not sure if he was tired, had too much sugar, or was reacting to having an unstructured environment while on vacation. But, we stayed home and he played with his toys the rest of the night before going to bed.
Posted by Holli at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2005
Rain?
Today was another beautiful day despite a 60% chance of rain. We were at the beach by 9 a.m. once again. Zack headed straight for the surf and played and played. He loves jumping waves. We saw a shrimp boat close to the shore and dolphin in the water.
Chris and Zack built a huge sand castle which Zack summarily destroyed upon completion. Zack played in the sand some more until he got hungry and cranky. Zack loves his big bedroom with its own TV. He enjoys watching TV in bed while sucking his thumb. His new move is to tell us he needs to go to his room to “rest” and watch cartoons. We had lunch at home and hung out. Both Chris and Zack took naps while I headed out to the beach for about an hour.
We’re going to rent bicycles this afternoon so it will be interesting to see how he does.
What a busy afternoon. We got on our bicycles and rode and rode, probably some eight miles in all. Chris carried Zack on a kiddie seat and I got a bike with a basket to carry treats. We headed from the bike rental place to Harbour Town where Zack once again played on the now-famous treehouse playground. We browsed through a few shops around the harbor and tried to cool off. We picked up drinks at the local general store. Zack had a purple flurp as he calls it (grape soda). We then got back on our bikes and headed for South Beach Marina. There we had a fabulous seafood dinner at the Salty Dog. The place was loud and full of kids and the seafood was great. We needed the rest and air conditioning too.
We bought Zack a Hilton Head golf tee-shirt since he plays golf every night on the golf course at home. Then we headed back by bicycle. After that dinner I didn’t think I could make it. We saw three alligators in all during our bike ride and Zack was thrilled to ride.
On our way home we stopped by 10 Forest Drive and peeked in the front and back windows. The house looked better inside but still looks quite dark. Chris and I both agreed that the villa we were renting was the right choice. It is so light and open. And, of course it's right across from the beach making it possible to go to the beach two or three times a day.
We made it home and I was exhausted. We cooled off a while and then we were off for our nightly walk on the beach. Once again, Zack ran as fast as he could along the beach. He got to stand on a wind surfing board and then ran some more until he was completely pooped out.
Back at home, he had a quick bath and went to bed exhausted.
Posted by Holli at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2005
Settling In
“Tell the water man not to get salt water in your child’s eyes.” -- Zack Haswell
Zack saw the ocean for the first time. We had to show him how to run into the waves, jump them and let them hit him. He soon got the hang of it and couldn’t get enough of it.
We got to the beach around 9 a.m. and rented chairs. It took Zack a few minutes to figure out how much fun it was to play in the surf and then he was hooked. He ran forever on the beach, played in the sand and had a ball. He found other kids his age and bossed them around.
We played at the beach until about 11:30 a.m. and then came in and showered. We went to South Beach Marina for lunch at the Salty Dog and Zack got to play on the playground. We then went to the grocery store and came back for a much needed nap.
After nap time, we headed out to visit Harbour Town again where we climbed the lighthouse – he wasn’t too impressed but made it all 114 steps. The highlight was again playing on the treehouse playground until he had a meltdown and couldn’t handle it anymore. When he yelled at the kids, “No one can swing on my baby swing” we knew it was time to go get something to eat and head home.
At dinnertime, we picked up a pizza and gave Zack some downtime. He informed us that Emmy (a classmate at school) was his girlfriend and that Julianna (another classmate) was a hottie.
After he was recharged from dinner, we headed out for a walk on the beach at sunset where he ran and he ran and he ran.
Posted by Holli at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)
August 27, 2005
Arrival
We made it to Hilton Head without incident. Zack was really well-behaved the whole trip. This trip was his first time to ride on a bus, a tram and an airplane! He went without a nap, but still held up pretty well thanks to his new Transformer that kept him entertained the whole way. And to think we bought him a Leapster.
When we sat down on the airplane, I showed Zack the barf bag making a joke. Later in the flight, he looked at me with a funny look on his face and said, "Mom, I need the bag." I grabbed for it thinking he had to throw up and put it to his face. He hiccupped into it and handed it back to me and said “this is the hiccup bag.”
The villa we are renting on the island is fantastic. Big, nice and just ideal.
We went to Harbour Town for dinner. We walked a little bit and Zack saw some of the big Yachts docked there. He told us which boat he wanted and asked, "Will that fit in our swimming pool?" We had dinner at the Crazy Crab. Zack played a few minutes on the playground and we headed home.
Posted by Holli at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)