Holden Beach Vacation

After our fun week in Hilton Head we drove up the coast to Holden Beach in North Carolina. It is a long drive (almost 6 hours) and unfortunately during that time Reece decided that he absolutely HATED the car. So it wasn't exactly restful.
We stopped about halfway at Sonic (yum!) to have a picnic and stretch our legs. Just look at my cuties...

 Hailey is the easy one to entertain in the car now. She watches DVDs and loves to do crafts. I made these before we left and she loved them!

putting the correct amount of stickers in the box

I cut out the pieces and she glued them to make a picture

Sunday morning we hit the beach! Hailey was so excited to look for shells

And play in the water with Poppi and Kristin (this was right before we heard about all of the shark attacks). Hailey loved the beach as long as she could be in the water and wasn't thinking about being sandy. She isn't a fan of the sand but loves to jump the waves and look for shells.

This was the week where it was 95+ each day so we always tried to go down to the beach early before it got too hot. I would only stay for about an hour or so with the kids then bring them back to the house for lunch and a nap.
We also celebrated Ryan's parents 40th wedding anniversary while we were there. We went out to a nice (well, as nice as you can get with a 3 year old and 3 month old) dinner.
I really wanted a cute picture of us at the restaurant because they had a great view but this is the best we got...

Hailey got some new rainbow sunglasses and absolutely loved them. Can you tell?!

We were so lucky that we had access to a pool the week we were in Holden Beach. One, because it was SO hot, too hot for the beach, but also because Hailey LOVED it.
She got to show off her swimming skills for Mimi and Poppi. She loved throwing her diving toys to the bottom for Poppi to get. ;)

One night we went to get ice cream and play putt putt. Hailey had been asking to play again ever since Ryan took her in Hilton Head. She asked for strawberry ice cream and ate about 3 bites. Ha!

Then it was time to play! Hailey wanted to do it "by myself". She would hit the ball once then run, pick it up and put it in the hole. Ha! Reece and I watched for a few holes and then went back to the house.

"No Daddy. By myself."

Yay Hailey! Hole in one! ;)

Ryan ended up having to play with Hailey's little club!

I promise Reece was there too! I just don't have as many cute pictures of him on the beach or pool. It was just too hot.

Wearing my sister's sunglasses. The things they do to me...

 He was quite happy in his Yankees outfit

 This one says "born to play baseball with my daddy"

With his Mimi

And Hailey and Reece got lots of early morning cuddle time with Poppi (the other early riser)

Since the whole Epley clan was there this year (including Ryan's two sisters, one of which lives in the Dominican with her husband) we took a few family pictures

We had a GREAT vacation with both sides of our family! I love making memories with these people!

Vacation in Hilton Head

This year we were able to enjoy almost two weeks of beach vacation with both sides of our family. We spent the first week in Hilton Head with my parents and nephew Tucker. It was so fun to see Tucker and Hailey interact with each other. Each time they are together it is so sweet to see them carry on real conversations and actually play together.

We left on Monday morning to travel down (about 5 and a half hours!) Hailey did great in the car, especially after realizing that her beloved "hippie" had been left at home. (We have the best friends and neighbors who went to look for him at our house and then overnighted him to us at the beach.) She was super excited that Daddy had made her a scavenger hunt for the car.

It was a long ride but we finally made it. After unloading the car we went straight to the pool! Reece took a quick nap

but Hailey wasted no time getting in the water. After being a little timid at first she quickly warmed up and turned into a little fish for the remainder of the week.

She liked the pool better than the beach this time. We spent every morning and even a few afternoons at the pool. At the beginning of the week she was wearing her puddle jumper but after getting more and more comfortable she tried out Tucker's water wings and never looked back! She's still not crazy about getting her face wet but doesn't cry. She won't jump off the side to me but will sit and slide in the water.
We tried putting Reece in the water but he wasn't really a fan. I think it was a little chilly for him.

One night we hit up the Japanese Steakhouse for dinner. Tucker and Hailey both loved the fried rice but not the "show" of cooking the food.

before it started

Reece hated it. I don't know if it was the smell, the noise or something else but he screamed and screamed and we finally had to take turns with him outside. Oh well. There's always next year. We did get a few cute pics of Tucker and Hailey before dinner though.

Ryan took Hailey and Tucker to play putt putt one afternoon. He said it was quite the experience! They both had a great time but I don't know how much actual putt putt was played. I think it was a lot of hitting the ball once, fishing it out of the water and them running to put it in the holes. :)

They both got these plastic glasses after playing. Hailey had the best time with hers...

even Grams got to wear them!

 We did actually make it down to the beach once or twice too! Hailey loved riding in the wagon used to haul all of the chairs down.

She also loved being in the water! She even made my mom get in!

Dad is quite the sandcastle maker.

But Hailey was more interested in jumping over it.

Reece enjoyed napping on the beach.

Hailey liked looking for shells and sitting in the chairs too. But that little girl is not a fan of the sand.

She loved feeding the turtles in the pond on the way back to the car though.

 Ryan and I got a date night one night too!

We had a great week in Hilton Head with my parents. We are so thankful that we get to do this every summer and see how things change and our kids grow in just one year. Hilton Head may have been over but our beach vacation wasn't...on to Holden Beach!