A Week at the Beach

Posted on May. 27, 2008 at 6:45 PM - Post Comment

Hilton Head was gorgeous - it is so green and lush.  There are so many palm trees and live oak with Spanish moss.  You barely realize there are resorts there.  Our resort was great too - tons to do (biking, nature sanctuary, boating, shops, restaurants) and a very quiet, clean beach.  Our condo was amazing - huge and open with incredible ocean views and a giant balcony.  The weather was also great - sunny and warm basically the whole time.  It got cloudy a few times, just long enough to convince us to leave the beach for a bit and do something else.

Grady had his ups and downs.  His teeth were definitely bothering him (2 year molars - the worst by far for him!) but it was off and on.  He also had tons of fun, REALLY enjoyed "Nana" and "Papa" and did a ton of new things.  A big new skill is saying "thank you".  At first he would just say it if we asked him to, but now he will say it if he hears us say it (like to the hostess when we leave a restaurant - so cute!) or if we give him something he asked for.  He also started saying "please" and has said it on his own.

Another new thing is pointing out shapes and naming them everywhere we go - star and heart are his favorite, which is very fitting.  He's just not the type of kid to start with something normal like "circle" :)  He also now recognizes (or "reads" as I like to think!) an "A" and a "1".  When Nana took him on a walk at the resort, they came back to the gate to get into our condo complaex and there is a big "1".  He pointed and said "one".  He then did this again and again with one and "A".  Other new words that seem to have stuck (rather than just repeating a time or two) were turtle, bucket, shovel, dump, beach, sand (had already started this one), ocean, inside (which he would tell us when he had enough on the beach and it was naptime), plane, sky, pretzel and a bunch more, I am sure.  He has also started saying "I love you", which is the nicest thing ever.  He will only say it back to you at this point, but he seems to have a sense of what it means because he will smile and hug or kiss you while saying it.  He has also started saying a lot of 2 and 3 word phrases.

Grady was super kissy and huggy with Nana and Papa, which was so much fun too!

When we first arrived, we checked out the condo and the view, which was amazing.  Unfortunately, the lighting here is bad, but you can see the beautiful beach well!

We had to get down to the beach right away! 

Grady LOVED the sand and water.  We couldn't keep him out of the water, even though he was not in his proper swim attire.  It probably was partly due to how warm the water was!

drying off with Nana and Papa after:

And a few quick shots of the beautiful condo:

The first morning we woke up to clouds, but they didn't last long.  However, we took advantage of the cooler weather to take a long bike ride.

Grady's first time on a bike!

We rode to Harbour Town, which is really cute.

Stopping to smell the flowers:

Later in the day the weather was beautiful, so we hit the beach.

Grady would play in the sand for so long - digging and raking and then going down to the water to get buckets of water.

He really wasn't afraid of the water either.

Heading to the water with Nana and Papa:

Here we are on Monday, back at the beach!

A shot of our condo from the beach:

Grady fell asleep in my arms on a walk down the beach, so Eric laid with him while he napped:

That evening we ate dinner at the "Wreck of the Salty Dog", which is right next to the famous "Salty Dog".  After dinner Nana took Grady to check out the flowers next to our table.

Then we strolled around the cute little town:

And listened to live music for a bit:

That night Grady broke loose after his tub and streaked the condo.  Some baby bum shots:

Tuesday was windy at the beach so we headed to the very quiet pool.  Here Grady is feeding Nana and Papa snacks:

Then we played in the water:

And chased Grady around the pool a bit:

Here we are on Wednesday.  Grady loved carrying water back from the ocean and would get so proud to do it on his own.  But if he needed help, he would say "help".

playing with Mama:

So proud to have his bucket:

That afternoon we went on a dolphin cruise.  Since we were the only ones, we took a smaller boat.  Grady did not like his life vest and got a bit fussy from having to sit still from time to time.  But he certainly did not seem afraid of the boat and he did check out some of the many dolphins, sharks, and cool birds we saw.

Here we are at the marina, waiting to get on the boat:

The whole group on the boat:

Just riding along:

That night we went out to a ribs/barbecue place.  It was quite good and Grady REALLY liked it. He even ate ribs, barbecue, cornbread, and mac and cheese (in addition to his own dinner we brought!).  I think he just liked the party atmosphere :)

Some shots from the balcony that evening:

Thursday morning - more beach!

On Thursday afternoon we took another bike ride, this time to the very cool nature preserve that was right in the middle of our resort.  We saw some big alligators!

On Friday we were back at the beach in the morning, but I forgot my camera.  Friday afternoon got cloudy, so Nana and Mama took Grady to this cute little children's museum while Papa and Dada drank beers and played bocce. 

Nana and G at the museum:

He loved driving cars up and down this ramp over and over:

Then we went to the art room where he colored for a long time and even said some colors (like brown, yellow, purple, and gray):

And he successfully drank from a water fountain!

That night we had a really fun dinner.  The food was great and Grady was in great spirits.  Here we are on our last night in Hilton Head:

Now for some videos - most are quite short.