Hilton Head - part 2

The next morning was back to the beach!  We found so many cool creatures!  The ocean was filled with life.

That afternoon we headed into Harbortown!  First, we went to the candy shop for a treat and then to the playground...

Then we climbed the lighthouse!  Even Camille climbed herself.

Grady really wanted to stay at the top while Eric went down with the little kids, so he could wave to them.  There they are!

It's such a pretty spot, we took a bunch of pictures in Harbortown that night!

Later it started to rain, but the kids were being so good, we decided to let them stay up and swim in the rain.  They loved it!

Such a treat!

Hilton Head - part 1

At the end of June (over a month ago!) we spent a week at Hilton Head with Nana and Papa.  We had wonderful weather and an AMAZING beach house.  Even the kids were very impressed.  Anson keeps asking if we can go back and stay in THAT house again.  We know the kids had a blast because they were all about as well behaved as three small kids could be.  They clearly love the beach!

Hanging in Harbor Town when we first arrived

We got to our house an had to go in the pool right away!  Nana was nice enough to go get groceries and Papa made our dinner :)

The next morning the kids were ready to go to the beach!

Pigtails!

So happy to be on the sand!

Sharing a snack with Papa

That night we went to Marley's for dinner - what a fun place!

They have an ice cream shop right on the premises!

And there were hermit crab races!  Grady's crab won!  He got a free round of mini golf :)

Camille's had rhinestones.  She came right to her!

We had crabs too!

It was a great ending to our first full day!

Ocean Week at "Camp Mom"

On the weeks where we have been at home with all 3 kids, I have been trying to organize activities by having a theme for the week.  The week before we went to Hilton Head (and after we returned from Isle of Palms) was "ocean week", of course!  Not everything was on theme, but we did a few fun things.

We watched a few ocean themed educational shows throughout the week, like a new favorite, "Wildkrats", which focuses on a different animal each episode.  Like a kid-friendly documentary!

We also fit in some "park hopping" this week.  Here we are at Kid Planet...

Grady was, of course, composing actual music on the little playground xylophone 

Then we headed to City Park, in Greer for another clue!  These fountains "dance" to music that is piped in, and we got to watch a little show!

We also did Pump it Up on day, with Anson's friend Frankie.  Grady climbed the rock wall

Now for some more ocean fun!  We read some fun books and some educational books about the ocean.  I also made an ocean sensory bin that even Grady really liked.  Actually, he may have liked it best!  It was blue gelatin with shells, sea glass, and plastic sea creatures in it.

Of course you need to have an ocean snack!  This was a big hit!

On Friday we had a great opportunity to meet Eric Litwin, author of the New York Times best selling "Pete the Cat" books.  Grady and I had seen him several years ago too.  He plays guitar, sings, and puts on an amazing show!  He also signed our book!

Camille, waiting with Pete :)

Working on a puzzle

And meeting Mr. Eric!

We finished up the week with another Park Hop visit, this time to a park we had never been to, which turned out to be awesome!  Just one picture though...

So there it is - some ocean fun, some park and library fun.  It was a nice week with the kids!