"Don't Forget to Say Thank You for the Beach!" HHI October 2012--Final Updates 11/18!

[StitchIsOurHero]

We made our way down the little boardwalk and through the courtyard area, up to Tide Me Over. On the way, D passed the pool. He was SO excited to find time to get back there soon!

I ordered the bbq sandwich and onion rings (I had been craving onion rings for days!), Brian got the tuna wrap and chips, and D actually broke tradition and got a hot dog (there, they are called “Shadow Dogs”) and fries:

Our meal was really good, but if I had it to do over again, I would’ve eaten something a little less heavy. Even though it was good, it made me feel a little icky later on.

We walked around some more after lunch and found Shadow’s house. She wasn’t there, but we made a plan to come back and see her later. Isn’t her house cute??

From there, it was a quick walk across to our room for nap time!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

After lunch, we decided we were in need of a nap—Brian definitely needed one, since he had done all of the driving. We went back to our room to rest. I was still feeling the unhappiness of the bbq and onion rings, so I didn’t sleep, but both of the guys slept for about 2 hours.

After nap, we got ready to head out to Publix to get groceries. I had been talking to my parents throughout the day, since they were on their way. Here’s a little backstory on that:

My parents are wonderful, and they are super-close to us and to D! My mom keeps D every afternoon after he gets out of “playschool”. They always go to Hilton Head on vacation, but they are not Disney people. When we told them we would be there the same week they were, they were excited, but a little worried. They had some friends coming with them, so they didn’t want us to feel like they didn’t want to be around us the whole time, but . . .they didn’t want to be around us the whole time! That was ok with us, though, because we were sort of the same way!

Anyway, they were staying at a different resort, and they had left Friday morning around 7:30 am. They got stuck in Asheville (they went a different way than we did), and they lost 2 ½ hours of travel time. We had finally agreed to just wait and see them on Saturday. However, about the time we got almost done with Publix, Mom called and said they had arrived. She had had a snafu with her room, and they ended up upgrading them. They were relieved and excited, and they wanted us to come and visit!

We dropped our groceries off and went over to their place. They had a walk-across little pier to the beach, so we took D for his first sighting of the beach and the ocean!

My little guy, headed to the beach:

Brian holding D up to “see” the ocean:

My parents watching them:

I had been worried that D would be afraid of the ocean, but in fact, it was exactly the opposite! He went right in! He thought the water and the waves were the greatest things ever!

After we played on the beach for a while, we all decided to head back for dinner. We had intended to eat with mom & dad, but they were tired and wanted to go ahead and get their groceries and settle in.

So where did we end up for a great dinner on our first vacation night?? That finest of gourmet institutions. . .MCDONALD’s!!

We brought it back to our room and ate there while we watched Disney!

It really was a terrific first day, and we were so excited to get up the next morning and have a full day there!

 

[mommy2mrb]

sweet photos on the beach!
that's the way to do vacation with family, everyone do your own thing!
McD's well at least you went "fancy" and used plates

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Awesome beach day!!

C, B and D are the 3 amigos. Chicken Nuggets and Hot Dog boys!!

Hate that Mom and Dad got stuck in traffic.. but at least they got an upgrade with the room snafu..

I'm like you.. I like to visit w/ family and friends when we are on vacation but I am not spending every waking moment with ya!! I love ya..but I'm on vacation!

Love the photos of big D!!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

sweet photos on the beach!
that's the way to do vacation with family, everyone do your own thing!
McD's well at least you went "fancy" and used plates

Yep, we're nothing but "high class"! You're right--we liked the "everyone do your own thing" plan really well!

Awesome beach day!!

C, B and D are the 3 amigos. Chicken Nuggets and Hot Dog boys!!

Hate that Mom and Dad got stuck in traffic.. but at least they got an upgrade with the room snafu..

I'm like you.. I like to visit w/ family and friends when we are on vacation but I am not spending every waking moment with ya!! I love ya..but I'm on vacation!

Love the photos of big D!!!

Well, C & B are adorable, so I feel better that all D wants to eat are Chicken Nuggets and Hot Dogs!

Mom & Dad were very happy with their room upgrade. I was paranoid that D would break something in their room (it had all of the little "fancy" decorations and stuff).

Yes, the separate hotel/separate time worked out really well on vacation! We are hoping to go back for next Fall Break, and if they go too, that's the way we'll do it again.

Hope all is well with you all!!

Ok, next update coming below!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

We had planned on taking advantage of the next morning to sleep in, but I woke up at 6:00. No problem, thoughI read a book, wrote some trip report notes, and just enjoyed the quiet!

Mom called about 8:00 am, and we made a plan for the morning. We wanted to spend some time with them that morning since their friends were arriving in the afternoon.

I got the guys up about 8:15 or so, we all go ready, and we went out to meet Mom & Dad. We all went to Hilton Head Diner for breakfast, and it was great!

D wasnt in the mood for me to take his picture:

I ordered the pancakes, and so did D.

Brian had the Western Omelette, and he said it was amazing!

He still says it was the best food he had all week!

After breakfast, we all loaded in Mom and Dads car and went to HarborTown. What did D find first? A PLAYGROUND! He & Brian decided to hang out there while the rest of us walked around.

I got to see the beautiful lighthouse!

About that time, it started to sprinkle, so Dad ran back to put the top up on the car. I think it was really an excuse to get to hang out on the playground, though!

We also went to the South Beach Marina side so I could see where Salty Dog was (definitely had plans to go there later in the week). While Mom & I did some shopping, D went to visit the birds!

We stayed out about 4 or 5 hours, and then we ALL needed a nap. We went back to the restaurant, got our car, and headed back home. We ate lunch from our Publix groceries and then took a nice long nap!

 

[mommy2mrb]

fun day! love the photo of D pushing grandpa in the swing

we had many a breakfast at that diner and loved hanging out at the shopping area! did you climb the lighthouse?

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Lisa, that's so cool that you've had meals at Hilton Head Diner! I wanted to go back later in the week for the Moon Pie sundae, but we never made it back. Definitely on my agenda for next time!



Next update below!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

After a nap, D was ready to explore. We, however, were ready to check out somewhere for dinner. Somehow, the McDonald’s from the night before wasn’t working as the best vacation dinner!

We got ready and went to the resort pool for a quick swim first.

After fun in both the kiddie pool (that’s what’s in the above pics) and the “big” pool, we were hungry and ready for dinner!

We got ready and headed to San Miguel’s. San Miguel’s is a Mexican restaurant in Shelter Cove. What I loved most about this whole area was that you could just walk from the resort to these restaurants and then walk back.

We went down to the restaurant about 4:30 or so, and we were seated right away. Our server was great, and he was SO good with D! He kept him and us entertained, but wasn’t around “too much”.

I had nachos, and Brian had enchiladas. They were both hot and delicious!
For me, this was MY favorite meal of the week, but I think I could live on Mexican food.

After dinner, D wanted to check out the Neptune Statue and the marina area.

Marina:

The nice pose:

Then, Mommy led him to the dark side where we SWING on these things!! :

We played there for a while, and then headed back to the room for our next adventure of the night.

 

[mommy2mrb]

I think we ate there every Sunday for breakfast!
remember the mexican restaurant too...wow you are just taking me down memory road
love the photo of D in the pool! sure he had fun with that frog!
you are such a bad influence momma it is a cute photo though!!

 

[AJA]

LOVE your trip report with all the pics!

We're also in east TN and would love to take a trip to HHI, we have the points....just need the time! Your photo's are great, we really need to tear ourselves away from Orlando next fall.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

I think we ate there every Sunday for breakfast!
remember the mexican restaurant too...wow you are just taking me down memory road
love the photo of D in the pool! sure he had fun with that frog!
you are such a bad influence momma it is a cute photo though!!

Love that diner and the Mexican restaurant! So glad I could bring back good memories for you! D was alllllll about the pool and that frog! Yep, I am definitely a bad influence! I thought I was doing better though than the one who climbed all the way to the top (it should be noted that I might have done that if I hadn't been scared to death I would fall off! )

LOVE your trip report with all the pics!

We're also in east TN and would love to take a trip to HHI, we have the points....just need the time! Your photo's are great, we really need to tear ourselves away from Orlando next fall.

Hi neighbor!! thanks for reading along! You should definitely do an HHI trip! I have an intense addiction to WDW, and I was afraid I would think we were "wasting a week" where we could've been at WDW, but I LOVED it!!

More updates coming tomorrow!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Loving your report, and we love HHI-only six more days til we're there! Did you get back to meet Shadow? She's a real sweetie. And did you ever get a wake-up call? They have had a neat wake-up call, unique to HHI, and I was hoping they still have it.

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Loving your report, and we love HHI-only six more days til we're there! Did you get back to meet Shadow? She's a real sweetie. And did you ever get a wake-up call? They have had a neat wake-up call, unique to HHI, and I was hoping they still have it.

Hi! Thanks for reading along!! 6 more days til HHI?? How wonderful!!! Yes, we did get to meet Shadow! That update should be coming soon! We didn't get a wakeup call. . .I will have to try that out next time!

Update coming below!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

We had promised D that we would do something “super-fun” that night. So. . .we went to check out Disney’s Beach House. The resort itself is on the marsh, not on the beach. Disney, however, has its own private Beach House for resort guests only that IS on the beach. It has lots of amenities, including a heated pool. D was determined, though, that he was getting to the beach!

D posing beside the pool before setting off for the beach:

D was so excited to be back at the beach! We had told him that he could just play in the shallow water, and we would wait until the next morning to all go in the ocean. He didn’t care—he was ready to do whatever!

Some of my favorite pictures from the trip are in these:

This one is my VERY favorite from the entire trip:

To watch the joy on his face was something I hope I never forget!

After an hour or so on the beach, he was ready to go back to the room for the night—I think he thought it would be beach time sooner!

D’s footprints in the sand:

Relaxing before we went back to the room:

 

[mommy2mrb]

well, I wouldn't of been able to get as far up the pole as you did

oh my, love the photo of D jumping, amazing shot! such a happy little guy!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

well, I wouldn't of been able to get as far up the pole as you did

oh my, love the photo of D jumping, amazing shot! such a happy little guy!

I had to jump to grab the pole!!


I was really happy with that pic, too! It's my favorite of my little man!!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

The next morning, I somehow woke up at 6 am again, so I enjoyed some time reading a book while they slept! I made muffins for breakfast, and then D was ready for the day!

HELLLLOOOOOO, Beach Morning!

We went down to the Beach House to check it out, and then we were on our way down to the beach!

Just as we got there, we were renting chairs, and we ran into my parents and their friends! Mom had just realized that she lost her cell phone, so they were searching for it! They never did find it, so our texting for the week was a little bit limited—hard for us!

D had so much fun building sand castles and “decorating” them with shells.

We had brought his dump truck with us, and I was so glad he did. He thought that was terrific too!

Of course, we also had to spend lots of time in the water!

Brian ended up losing his sunglasses in the ocean. He’s had these since 2007, so they’ve definitely made up for their cost, but he loved them. He was so sad to have lost them! Between Mom’s phone and Brian’s sunglasses, it was not a good day for our stuff!

We made it for two or three hours at the beach, and then we decided to make our way up to the Beach House!

 

[StitchIsOurHero]

Ahhhh. . .the wonderful Beach House! The pool is heated, the people are fabulous, and everything is wonderful!

We swam for a while in the pool:

D quickly decided he loved this one more than the resort one, but any pool was fine with him!

We decided to eat lunch at Signals (the restaurant at the Beach House) , and by that time, we were all hungry!

D and I took pics outside while Brian got the food:

I had a salad with grilled chicken, Brian had a shrimp wrap, and D had chicken and fries in a sand bucket! We also split some cheese sticks, and BOY they were good!!!

After swimming and filling our bellies, we were ready to head back for a much-needed nap!

Just a note: we drove to the Beach House every time we went, but they DO have a shuttle bus. I saw lots of people taking advantage of that!

 

[dwelty]

Enjoying your report. This is the exact week we plan on visiting next year. How was the weather, and how crowded was the resort?