HHI Family Reunion TR 7/31-8/7/09 10/16 Final Updates Pg 5!

[podsnel]

That looks like so much fun. Did you all bring your own clubs or did some of you rent clubs.

I would love to play with my DH next year. He golfs on a regular basis as opposed to me who dabbles every now and then.

We all brought our own clubs. DS10 is a lefty, so for him it's very necessary to bring the clubs. I had borrowed clubs- I have since (as in 2 days before we left for WDW this Sept!) gotten my own clubs- the pro who gave me the lesson said Wilson clubs were fine, and they would be much lighter than what I was trying to golf with. He was SOOOO right!! I got them on Amazon Prime for $299, I'm so glad I have them!

I really like that it is something we can all do together; I also really like that it's something DH & I can do together- better than being a golf widow!!

 

[UGAFan0829]

Wow, what a great report! The pics and details are awesome!
My DH and I are planning to take my Mom to HH next May, so your report has given me a lot of info that I've been looking for. Do you happen to have any pics of the 2 BR villa? That's what we're planning to book. The GV looked so awesome!! I'm glad that you were able to get one since it was during prime season. I also have a question about the location of the resort...I guess I'm a lilttle confused as to where everything is located. The actual rooms, or villas are not actually located on the beach right? How far is it from the room to the beach? And lastly, do you happen to remember roughly how much the marsh tour and the island tour costs? I think both of these might be something that my Mom would love to do, so any additional info that you might be able to pass along would be great.
Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed and fun report!

 

[podsnel]

Wow, what a great report! The pics and details are awesome!
My DH and I are planning to take my Mom to HH next May, so your report has given me a lot of info that I've been looking for. Do you happen to have any pics of the 2 BR villa? That's what we're planning to book. The GV looked so awesome!! I'm glad that you were able to get one since it was during prime season. I also have a question about the location of the resort...I guess I'm a lilttle confused as to where everything is located. The actual rooms, or villas are not actually located on the beach right? How far is it from the room to the beach? And lastly, do you happen to remember roughly how much the marsh tour and the island tour costs? I think both of these might be something that my Mom would love to do, so any additional info that you might be able to pass along would be great.
Thanks for taking the time to post such a detailed and fun report!

Hi! Thanks so much for reading my TR!! That's great that you are going with your DH & Mom in May!! I would guess May would be a beautiful time of year to go, and one day that will be when DH & I go....no heat, just beautiful HHI! My MIL has some mobility issues- she has (well, HAD bad knees, she had knee replacement last month and is in rehab right now) a cane, and the stairs were going to be a little bit of a problem (she could do them, but I wanted to try to minimize it as much as possible) so I requested their 2bdrm was on the first floor- also we asked for a chair to be placed in her shower since there is no bar on the shower wall, only in the HA rooms. This all was fine for her. The only time she had a really hard time I think was when she went down to the beach. I don't know if any of this is relevant for your Mom, but I thought I would throw it in there just in case! Sorry, I do not have pics of the 2bdrm they were in, but here is a link to Allears that has a ton of HHI pics- http://allears.net/acc/g_hh.htm

No, the rooms are all at the marsh- the beach is a little over 1 mile from there. There is a shuttle that runs between the marsh part of the resort and the beach (where there is a second pool, game room, bar and counter service restaurant, also another room with TVs and games to hang out in) I think every half hour or 20 minutes. There is a parking lot at the beach house, but if you want to park in the summer, you usually will need to arrive early (I say usually because last year we NEVER had a problem at any time parking there, but this year we DID.). But in May, that might not be a problem. I really, really like that there are these 2 different places to hang out, because to me this makes it like 2 vacations in one. To people who only want the beach, this isn't always so great.

Of those two tours you mentioned, the marsh tour is free, it's only about a half hour long and it's on the property. The HHI tour goes out in a van and lasts 3 hours, it's $20 per person. very reasonable. They offer alot of other tours as well- and they may have completely different things when you go in May. My MIL enjoyed the HHI trip alot. I would like to do Pinckney Island next time if possible. Carol told us in the off season, they have a photography tour, too- I would LOVE that one!

Hope you have a great trip!

 

[podsnel]

When I came out of the Piggly Wiggly- well, the clouds had DEFINITELY rolled in!! It was BLACK and scary out there! But we were grilling- sooo....the guys went out to lite the 3 pieces of charcoal... OOPS! And I got the veggies ready to grill before the burgers and dogs. Except, you can't grill all that on 3 pieces of charcoal. So plan B, I roasted the veggies inside while they tried to grill dinner for 20 on 3 pieces of charcoal. In the rain. There were umbrellas involved. And a LOT of matches. The kids played with balloons while dinner was prepared-

Tyler wonders, wheeeeerrrrrreeessss the beef?

The first load of burgers came in, and were finished in the microwave. My MIL sat down and said- Where's the cheese? Ummmm...in your belly from last night, I guess.... Anyway, a million hours and mucho hassle later, dinner was done (oh, it was SOOOOOOOOOO done!) and we were ready to be entertained by the kids who were putting on a show.

And, by the way...my DH refers to this night as "Grilling in the rain with no charcoal is NOT my idea of vacation!" On the plus side, for our trip NEXT year, 3 out of 4 families do NOT want to cook so much again- they want to eat out. So I say, YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! Thank-you Jesus for the perfectly timed rain!

Ok- on with the show! Grandma had requested that on this vacation the kids put on a talent show for her and that DS10, Timmy, MC. So cute! All the kids worked it out with their families before hand, and up they went.

Timmy announced all the acts- he was very funny and professional!

Then DN10 did 5 minute abs- that his older brother, Tommy, had taught him when he was on leave from the airforce. All I can say is WOW!!! And OUCH!!!

Mr Abs-of-steel himself-

Next, his sister did cartwheels-

Then DN7 performed a magic trick he had learned the night before at the show. -

His brother showed off his lacrosse skills-

And their sister did a really fun dance routine-

Then our favorite magician went back up to do...some leg spinning around his body kind of thing-

Cont'd next post-

 

[podsnel]

Then our Ohio nephews got up to tell jokes (well, minus their little brother who was too shy to go up...Awwwww!) The boys were really cute & funny!!

Finally it was my kids turn- since we are obsessed with baseball at our house, we thought they could do Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First" routine. Timmy was Abbott, Tyler was Costello-

They're a hit!

We all enjoyed this on our last night together, I hope we can do it again next summer. When the kids had finished, Uncle Bob showed them a cool card trick-

And after that, it was....sniff, sniff... time to start packing.

Next up...our last day before we hit the road at 4:45!

 

[Morgan4]

No- not Bono! I ran off to Vero Beach & OKW with my DH instead!!



I think that's an excellent plan!! When we have more time for long vacations, I hope to do just that- drive to WDW with stops at HHI to break it up (and hopefully Wash DC DVC, too!!). When we went last year for the first time, we did 4 nights, and this year bumped it up to 5...but next time, we're doing the full week. Although, right now, I'm not sure when next time is.

And I'm so happy you liked my DCL TR!! THAT vacation is incredible- we are booked in 2010 for the Halloween cruise. We were thinking about going to DL instead next year, but the kids would have none of it! They want back on the Magic!! But, i guess I can't blame them, I want back on the Magic, too. Did you do DCL???

Yes we did DCL!!! WOW!! we were on the Magic doing the eastern, but we had a hurricane which changed it to a western! We had so much fun, and the best weather that the crew had seen in weeks.

We had this "plan" on vacations for the next few years as my girls are quickly growing up

2009 - WDW - 1st trip home
2010 - WDW & HHI
2011 - Western vaca (Arizona etc..)
2012 - not sure
2014 - Hawaii (combine 3 years points)

Well the best made plans..... I asked my girls if they would like to go out west or do another cruise and well.............CRUISE!!!!

I hope when we go to HHI that guy is there with the mazes!! Those are awesome!

 

[podsnel]

UGH. I hate the last day. But, there was one thing making it bearable....my MIL and her generous spirit, along with her absolute joy over DHHIR. Because she had asked all the kids if they would like to come back and do it all again next year- and all of them were like, "Really?? Are you KIDDING???" So, where I had planned this thinking it was a one time vacation, well, now I was fortunate enough to be able to do it again??? WOW!! I was so happy! And yet....something in my head was saying in a very tiny voice....

Don't get TOO excited, Ellen. Something is not quite right.

Oh, SHUSH! I chose not to listen....and with a spring in my step, walked over to Tide me Over for one last Mickey waffle and a coffee mug refill. On the way I saw this guy who was actually climbing up the stairs (but I missed it because my camera was fogged)

And I saw-

And I ate-

And saw-

Then back to the great big villa to finish packing up. We were out before 11, I was impressed!! Then, of course, it was time to take some pictures-

I just have to show our pic from last year- DN4 (who was then 3) would NOT get up on that branch!! He was sooooooooo upset!! So we were very glad he did it this year!

He's so funny! I forget if I've mentioned this or not, but my DS10, Timmy, is obsessed with his 4 year old cousin. He totally dotes on him. And DN4 loves every minute of it.

Grandma was sitting down watching us, she didn't get in the family photo.

Don't you love how colorful their shirts are? My SIL got the kids' HHI shirts at the Walmart- I think they were maybe $10 each!

This one looks like Olan Mills-

I'm not crazy about taking a family photo here, because, well, my oldest son is missing. But I still did-

And then it was time to say good-bye for some of us- Ohio and NJ were leaving, Florida and this NJ family were staying until the late afternoon.

Cont'd next post-

 

[podsnel]

We went over to the Big Dipper pool and grabbed lunch at Tide me Over, and just spent the day trying to ignore the fact that the clock was ticking away like a time bomb and we would all be leaving much too soon. My MIL found a spot she really liked outside of the Community Hall and was rocking away-

The boys fit in another game of ping pong-

And then did exactly what they did last year- go on the slide every way they weren't supposed to. I was in the pool with Jejouel and we were discussing her family's upcoming cruise (YAY for you!! It's almost here!!!) while the lifeguard disciplined my kids over and over, as did I. But still, it was kind of funny. Sorry.

Anyway, my SIL wanted to know how to get to that big sundial we saw on the HHI tour, so I rode bikes with her over to Shelter Cove to show her, as I also needed to get a HHI magnet for my car. But before we went, some pics of the BEST trees-

And -

My SIL wanted to take the pics of this because she wanted to send a bunch of pics to her brother in England to show him what a gorgeous place HHI is. She & her family really, really loved it! And she thought it was a place her brother would love as well. I was just so happy they enjoyed themselves that much-
We went back, and it was sadly time for us to say good-bye, too. And thank my MIL for a fantastic vacation!

And we meant Thank-you. Time to go... We were home the next day, Saturday, as was my MIL (they broke up the trip into 2 days on the way home, too, to make it easier on her).

A few days later, my MIL phoned to ask me to hold off on HHI for next year. It seems on Sunday, my BIL called to say his version of Thank-you...including how disappointed he and his wife were in the family reunion. That there was not enough time spent together. That the resort wasn't so great. That the activities weren't all that. That the cost of the activites was too much. That they would prefer to do something else next time, but would go again if they had to.

Leaving both my MIL & I completely disillusioned and confused. And hurt. And sad. (and me, disgusted- THIS is how you say THANK-YOU????????) Still. (Although, on the plus side, they have made us choosing who NOT to bring on future DVC stays much, much easier!) Sooooo....next year, we are going to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, and staying in a 5000 sq. ft. log cabin. And there will not be any $3 Mickey Ice Cream Bars for them to get worked up about, nor will there be any $12 crafts for them to fret over.

There will be $50 tickets to Dollywood.

There will be $45 white water rafting trips.

There will be $50 days at the waterpark.

There may be $60 zip lining. Not to mention golf.

And a LOT of dining out!


Should be...interesting.

Thanks so much for reading along- I hope you will join me in my next TR- about my trip with DH a few weeks ago to Vero & OKW- I'll post a link when i start!!!

 

[podsnel]

Yes we did DCL!!! WOW!! we were on the Magic doing the eastern, but we had a hurricane which changed it to a western! We had so much fun, and the best weather that the crew had seen in weeks.

We had this "plan" on vacations for the next few years as my girls are quickly growing up

2009 - WDW - 1st trip home
2010 - WDW & HHI
2011 - Western vaca (Arizona etc..)
2012 - not sure
2014 - Hawaii (combine 3 years points)

Well the best made plans..... I asked my girls if they would like to go out west or do another cruise and well.............CRUISE!!!!

I hope when we go to HHI that guy is there with the mazes!! Those are awesome!

You're funny! You have your future vacations planned out even MORE into the future than me!! And DH thinks I'm obsessed!!
I like all your plans- and I hear you about the kids growing up so fast. I feel like that, too. We're planning to do Hawaii in 2011, it's our 25th anniversary and my DH's 50th. Really that's how I'm justifying it to him, we'd be going anyway. I want to do the Grand Canyon, too- I just don't want to go in the summer (sooooo hot, right?) so that has me a little baffled. I guess one year we'll have to go in November (we get 2 days off in NJ for teachers convention, ie NJ week at Disney!), but I hate giving up WDW or DCL that week. Soooo, we'll see.

 

[dvc4life]

Ellen - wonderful report as always. Thank you so much for sharing your vacations.

Aaaaaa, we will be your missing family members next year. Looks like a heck of a good time to me!

Can't wait to find your next report!

 

[podsnel]

Hi chris! I've missed you! Thanks for stopping by to say...good-bye! Hey- what are your trip plans for F&W? Are we there at the same time???? Can we possibly.....MEET??????