Salt, singers, salt, sunburn, salt, and shopping....

We (myself and the Freeman's) are back from Hilton Head.................. pooped and still finding sand in misc. places. The pictures of our trip will be on a slide show here soon.........
I have managed to unpack, get my laundry done, and wash a very muddy Maddi.......................
We had fun this week and I am so glad that everything worked out and that Steven was able to join us.
We left Sunday morning. I had my car loaded (yes my car..... i finally got it back July 11th) and put Maddi in the back to head to Anne's. Upon my arrival, I let Maddi out into the backyard to play with T-Bone. They weren't too sure of each other, but it wasn't long before T-Bone thought Maddi was a hottie and proceeded to attempt to show her.............. I was freaking out! My baby was appearing to be violated! Anne was equally freaked out! We ended up separating them, putting Maddi in the other half of the backyard. It was then off to attempt to pack Anne's car. It did not matter how many ways we rearranged the trunk, Steven's golf clubs were always left out. After being eaten alive by mosquitoes and sweating profusely, we decided to take my car as well........................ so we loaded the leftovers and of course, Isaiah and Arissa, into my car, we were off. Off to the Oak Ridge Starbucks............ then we were off. We stopped for lunch and kept on trucking...... through the mountains (curves, curves, and more curves)........... went through a couple of tunnels and kept on until we hit Hilton Head about 6 that evening. We got checked in to our hotel room, changed into our bathing suits and headed out to the beach. It was so fun to see the kids reaction to the ocean and the waves. I know they had a great time. After playing in the ocean, we went to check out the shops and find something to eat. We ended up eating outside, in our wet bathing suits and windblown hair. Our motto: "We are on vacay, who cares!". (like we will ever see those people again). They all danced to the tone-deaf reggae singer (who made up his own version of Margaritaville) and had fun! After dinner, Arissa, Isaiah and myself decided we would walk back to the hotel and let Steve and Anne drive the car back over there. About half way back I hear my name called and like a dork, I wave, thinking it is Anne and Steve driving by.......NOT.... I had the car keys in my bag and it was them yelling at us from the sidewalk. Classic Memory! That nite, Steven ended up finding 2 unchained bicycles and decided he needed to use them. He and Anne went for a ride, then Isaiah and Arissa. Arissa came back early b/c she was forced to ride in the baby seat on the back of Steve's bike and she said it was very shaky and she was scared. We all stayed up until about 1 in the morning.......... b/c we could.
Monday........................ Steven gets us up at 10. I know why I am thankful I do not live with the man..... he is very loud and annoying if you are not a morning person! I need peace and quiet and coffee before I can get motivated. We all got into our bathing suits, packed our beach bags and headed for day one of sun and fun. Anne and I dropped the kids and Steven at the beach + all our beach supplies and headed for the grocery store. We needed snacks and waters and other items not on our list. We got to them about noon, feeling confident we would be able to find the massive, beachball looking umbrella on the beach......... NOT. Hello..... we are not the only ones with that umbrella. Try about 4 others in our area. We found them and got to relaxing and tanning. I laid out for a mere 2 hours and yes, got slightly fried. The 2o minutes that Anne was in the ocean, she managed to get a sunburn as well. We came back to the pool at the hotel, for a prewash (getting the sand off of us) and hung out while Steve golfed. We showered and rested and headed off to Captain Woody's for dinner. I liked it and ended up with a cute pink t-shirt. We came back to the hotel and the kids swam for about 30 minutes, then we went up to get ready for bed. Anne and Steve took a walk, so me and the kiddies bonded.
Tuesday..............Arissa and I woke up before everyone else and decided we would go explore the free continental breakfast in our pj's. She thought is was funny. We didn't care. We ate cereal, split a waffle and grabbed apples for later. She and I had great fun, just me and her, bonding and talking. When we got back, we informed everyone of the eats and off Steven and Isaiah went. Due to the day before, our beach plan were halted for the day. Steven took the kids down to the pool and i joined them later. Anne did not budge from the room, instead she basked in the air conditioned room and took Benedryl to counteract the sunburn. Steve went to play golf and Isaiah and I trecked to the mainland to the Target. We got what we needed and some things we didn't, stopped at ChikFilA to pick up lunch, and headed back to Arissa and Anne. Anne was still asleep and Arissa had helped herself to my camera to occupy her time. She took pictures of everything in our room!! Good times, Good times...... We had made reservations for a dolphin cruise that evening. Isaiah was the most excited. He could hardly wait. We boarded the boat and sat there for 20 minutes until it took off. Everyone had their cameras ready in anticipation of the dolphins......... it was really neat to see them glide through the water. But after seeing them for an hour, I had lost my excitement. When we got done, we stopped at a pizza joint on the way to the hotel and brought it back, to eat in our room. I had a salad with no utensils (oops we forgot to ask for them).
Wednesday........... we got up early again and the kids and steven and anne headed to breakfast. When they got back, we loaded up and went to the beach, slathered in SPF 50!!!! Anne and I made sure we were completely covered by the umbrella. At one point, we were not covered, due to the fact that our umbrella uprooted itself, hitting me in the head and toppling over. We did think it was funny. It was a beautiful day, a cool breeze, and we stayed out for about 4 hours. THe kids dug a hole and then buried their feet in it, we played in the waves, and had a wonderful time. We went back to the hotel and jumped and played in the pool. We got ready for our farewell family pics on the beach. That was an experience..... hair blowing all over the place, sand all over your butt and legs again. We walked around the shops and found somewhere to eat dinner. It was good but overpriced ( i thought so anyway) and hot and muggy inside. When we finished dinner, we walked around the shops, listened to more bad singing, and took a final walk on the beach in the dark, which freaked me out. I made sure i kept my distance from the water. On our way back to the hotel that evening, Arissa and I walked together, talking about all kinds of things, making special memories and moments. OCD Anne ended up packing most of their stuff and taking it to the car. We were ready for the morning.
Thursday..................... we got up, loaded the cars, and went to get breakfast before hitting the road home. Arissa ended up hurling on our way home, this included the inside of the car and the side of the interstate. Other than that, our trip was fine. When I got to Anne's, I knew that it had stormed that day. I was stunned to see Maddi, at least I thought it was Maddi, wet and muddy from head to tail. I got her in the car and came home, without unloading the car, she went straight to the tub. Of course, I needed a shower after that!! We spent the rest of our nite doing laundry and unpacking.
Today....... I am not at all motivated to clean my house, which needs it very badly. My head hurts and I don't feel so well. May be it was too much beach..................... NOT!!!

The Pooped Puddle Splashers