Lobster, our cat, came from Hilton Head Island, SC. She was delivered to us by my Aunt Sherry and Uncle George in July. Last fall, John and I went down there during the VTNEA teacher convention and had a great time. So, when my cousin Gregg, who lives with his family in London, proposed to the extended family that we get together there this October, we promptly signed on.
Ten adults and five children stayed on North Forest Beach, in a house that Uncle George started going to in the 1950's. For the decade that my grandparents lived in Hilton Head, my extended family convened at this particular house for many holidays. It's a "no frills" house in a very "big frills" neighborhood. It's an absolutely perfect place and we had an absolutely perfect vacation........
Some of the highlights:
Being sung to by Grandma-- she's got a lovely voice and knows a lot more songs than Cally's lame tone deaf parents can remember.
Seeing an armadillo, a young spike horn buck, butterfly gardens, and an alligator at Pinckney Island.
Hanging out with Bumpa.....
Doing tons of cruising up and down the beach.
Having a first frozen yogurt cone.
Being forced to be a "tourist".
Meeting second cousin's Zoe (2) and Campbell (4) who live in London.
and their little brother Damon (6 months)-- he's one happy guy!
And seeing Cousin Will, a whole lot more robust than when we last saw him (he's now about 3 1/2 months old).
And mostly, just hanging out at the beach........
The weather was 80 degrees F every day.
The water was 70 degrees F.
And at low tide there were shallow pools to swim in, without the exciting, but rough waves.
Oh, and meeting Lobster's Mom, BD.
and brother, Bubba!
This was an attempt at getting all the youngest generation in a picture together..... From left to right, Campbell, Zoe, Damon, Cally, and Will. It turns out, it's rather difficult to get five kids under the age of 4 to cooperate for a picture without any parents......
Thank you Sherry and George for making sure everything was set up for this rowdy crew. Even though you still had to work and carry on with your obligations, you made sure that we were all well equiped with pack-n-plays, food, garbage disposal, and plumbers.
The Abbott family had an amazing vacation...... it was exactly what we needed.
