A perfect anniversary

Our tenth anniversary was completely perfect. 

I woke up early enough to see the sun rise while I logged my 10,000 steps

The kids were less destructive than usual at breakfast, and the omelet guy KILLED it. We threw on clothes, swim suits, and sun screen and headed out for a dolphin cruise. 

The kids were super scared of sharks, but the boat we chartered came highly recommended by our concierge, so we assured them it was safe. Then we pulled up next to a marine gas station next to an RV "resort," and I got nervous, too. 

Our captain was a cross between Crocodile Dundee and Captain Ron. He was thin and tan with skin like fruit leather and shocking white teeth. He mocked my request for life jackets-- which are only required by pesky ole federal law, which, in South Caroline is obviously trumped by state law. He had life jackets on the boat but said they were smelly and would just get the in the way. I could have them if I wanted them, he said in a way that let me know he would think way less of me if I wanted them. So we figured when in Rome and set out on our merry way. 

 Of course Captain Ron drove fast as hell, and every time he opened the throttle, Dorothy screamed "I don't like it!"

But the rest of us sure did. We saw at least 50 dolphins eating and playing and splashing, including 2 sweet little babies. Nothing, it turn out, is as cute as a baby dolphin. 

Captain Ron plans to go to Guatemala this year because it is the only place in the world where he can swim with great white sharks out of the cage, BTW. He got a text from his son that a tiger shark was hanging out near by and he hauled ass trying to find it for us but couldn't. Thank god. 

I really took bad pictures because I was too busy gawking

Then Harrison full-on drove the boat home-- SO SCARY. Except for the Aerosmith roller coaster he is finally tall enough for at Hollywood Studios and tossing the football on the beach with a real life OSU football player, that was the highlight of his trip. 

The babies fell asleep in the car, and we drove around for awhile before heading back to the pool bar for lunch and ocean views. 

Before hitting the hotel, though, the boys and I climbed a sweet little 6-story lighthouse and took in the view:

It started to rain for awhile, but we didn't care because my brother and his partner arrived to spend the rest of the trip with us and we were so happy to see them. We waited out the rain with beers on the balcony and then hit the beach again. 

For some reason I have no pictures of the rest of the night, but it was lovely. 

Ben and I got dressed up and went to a delicious wine bar near our hotel. We had wine (duh) and tons of food-- fried green tomatoes, crab cakes, salmon, lobster mac and cheese-- you get the idea. We capped the evening off with this perfect chocolate mousse that we pretended to share but I actually devoured. 

After dinner, we spent some time hanging out with Jon and Caleb, a rare treat by itself, and I went to bed only to discover that my little mate was hogging it. 

That was the second anniversary we have spent in Hilton Head, and both have been perfect. We were together for almost 10 years before we got married, and the whole 10 years we have been husband and wife have been about our kids-- so it was only fitting that we brought them along to celebrate the milestone with us. How lucky we are to have found each other and to have built this army of tiny people to share our lives with. 

Beach Day-- It Finally Started to Be Relaxing

Tonight, Ben and I put everyone to bed as early as we possibly could and luxuriated in the normalcy of having cocktails and nachos and watching Big Brother.  After, that is, we finished driving home, cleaning and vacuuming the car, unpacking, grocery shopping, and doing laundry.  Oh, the laundry.  We will be doing it for DAYS.

I think the sign of a good vacation is not being able to blog because I am too busy having so much fun, and the past 15 days have pretty much proved that.  It was so awesome to be gone for so long-- so relaxing and it took all the pressure off the trip.  Having a crabby day?  No problem, there are still a DOZEN more.

As usual, I have WAY TOO MANY pictures, so I am going to split the trip up a little and string it out because all I have to talk about is how unprepared I am for back-to-school, and that's not  a fun subject.

I believe we left off with me complaining that it is hard to watch 4 kids on the beach.  Well.  You guys.  IT TOTALLY IS.  So let me continue in that vein and let me also tell you that the hotel pool was kind of yucky because of all the sloppy drunks in it and we have a way nicer pool at home, but the baby only wanted to swim in the hotel pool, despite the gorgeous ocean.  Sigh.  SO I spent a lot of time swimming in drunk people's urine.

The first 3 days of our trip before my brother came to stay with us were pretty much exactly the same.

Dorothy and I slept in a bed, and Cooper slept on the pull-out couch in our room.  Jack and Ben and Harry took the other bedroom and were similarly arranged with Ben and Jack in the bed and Harry on the pull-out.

As soon as Dorothy opened her pretty little eyes at the crack of 6, we flung open our curtains because WHY WOULDN'T WE?  LOOK AT THIS VIEW!

 Then we would send Ben a text to say we were awake since the bedrooms were separated by the rest of the suite.  When he and the boys woke up, we'd go down to breakfast and let the kids destroy the buffet.  Ben and the kids would head upstairs to get dressed for the beach and do a little online teaching, and I would spend a glorious hour walking on the beach.

After my walk, we all went to the beach/pool together for pretty much the rest of the day, eating lunch at the pool bar where the kids' meals come in buckets and the spinach salad is excellent.

The second day of the trip, we were still oblivious to the cabana that the hotel gifted us for our anniversary, so we saved the little deck outside our window.  We also discovered the entire menu of cocktails under 150-calories.  Spoiler alert:  they are all liquor, no mixer. So, we lifted our self-imposed day-drinking ban.

 Yay!

 Drinks by the ocean=MY FAVORITE.

 The kids liked it, too.

 Lunch view.

 Walking to the inside pool (I wanted to swim in some other people's pee for a change), I noticed our name on the back of a pool cabana, and then Ben remembered that the concierge was really insistent that he had a gift for us, but we never followed up on that.  Oops.  No worries, we enjoyed it Tuesday-Monday.  I even did a little grading while Harry and Jack danced to the pool band and swam in the deep pool.  And also, if we stay at this place again, I will always rent a cabana.  So nice to not worry about saving chairs and they come with a giant fruit and yogurt bowl everyday which was perfect for the kids.  And someday?  I will be able to beach myself there all day while my kids swim without assistance.  So much to look forward to.

 Pretty much everyday, we stayed outside until 4-ish and then got cleaned up for dinner.  The kids typically napped on our drive across the island.

 Rocking in the big rockers in Harbour Town.

 So easy to eat crab soup with a couple of kids on your lap, let me tell you.

 Crab legs!

 Ice cream!  Dorothy now only eats pink ice cream, BTW.

 Cooper got a back pack of trucks at the toy store that really tied his look together.

I am going to Trip Advisor review all 5 hotels that we stayed at before I go to bed, so I'll tell you all about our completely fantastic (oh man, now I spoiled it) 10-year anniversary tomorrow.  I know-- you will be constantly refreshing your screens until then.

Oh!  I TOTALLY FORGOT TO MENTION POOR BEN.  He got food poisoning from the Disney Junior Hollywood and Vine lunch at Disney and then developed a horrible cough and fever.  He really manned up and did his best to enjoy the trip.  He went to urgent care on the island and got some antibiotics and by the end of the trip, he was back to normal, thank goodness!  Poor guy, can you think of anything less fun to do with a fever than ride roller coasters in the rain?

Beach! So unrelaxing!

OH MY GOD.

The most relaxed I have been all day is right now, an hour and a half after my bedtime after working on my online class for 2 hours in a hotel bathrobe and a wet swimsuit and drinking 2 tumblers of wine.  Taking 4 kids to the beach is the OPPOSITE of relaxing.  Holy cats.

I mean, don't get me wrong.  This place is GORGEOUS, and we are having a total blast tucking sandy kids into bed exhausted at 9 o'clock and lingering over a great breakfast buffet before spending 8 solid hours at the pool/beach/pool/beach-- you get the idea.  But everyone could drown in the time it would take me to sip a strawberry daiquiri, and I have not cracked a book in over a week.  And we both have a TON of summer school grading to wrap up this week, so as soon as the kids finally fall asleep, it is all tumblers of Whole Foods wine (there's a store SO SO CLOSE!) and grading.  And that's the most relaxing time of the day.

We have a lovely 2 bedroom suite, which is great after a small Disney room and the car.  The kids love all the balconies.

 And they are happy to spread out and play hide and seek and watch TV.

 The beach is located on a stretch of perfect private beaches, and it's wonderful.

 The children could not be happier boogie boarding in the waves and wallowing in the sand.

 Cooper is a huge fan of making dirt angels.

 Dorothy has so much sand in her diaper.

 And she is obsessed with looking for he-hells (sea shells).

 We discovered a baby pool which is perfect for sandy kids who need to go upstairs and take showers.

 This is EXACTLY what we would be doing at home.

 We had a delicious lunch at our favorite Hilton Head restaurant.

 Where Cooper borrowed my lipstick.

 And Ben and Dorothy posed for pictures.  Also, Dorothy ordered her own food-- grilled cheese, coleslaw and milk-- which was too cute.

 Then we hit up an ice cream place so good we have rememebred it for 3 years.

 Ben went to get pizza and fruit for a picnic for dinner, and I took the kids to the indoor pool, where I assumed they would be easier to contain.  They totally were, especially since most of them loved the hot tub (ew).

 Classy.

 Sand castles until bedtime since everyone was already too sandy to come in unless they went straight to the tub.

 Jack lost a tooth!  And then dropped it in a pool grate.  But he wrote the Fairy a cute note and will be happy in the morning.

 Dorothy said she was going to sleep in the baby pool. Since she is such a pain in the ass to get down at night, I almost let her.

My brother and his boyfriend are joining us on Thursday, and we can't wait!!