For the past three years, we've been heading down to Hilton Head Island, SC. Every time we go to this place, it becomes more and more ideal for our current situation. Getting there wasn't all that much fun (three hour delay in Detroit because of snow), navigating airports and staying quiet on airplanes with two wee ones, but once we got down to this beach house, we were set.
This is the modest beach home that our family has been renting every now and again for 15 years. It's surrounded by "McMansions", but this beach house has remained largely the same since it was built back in the 50's. My Uncle George would spend summers at this house with his family and the family that still owns it. We packed 10 adults and 6 kids into the six bedrooms this year.
My Uncle Dick, who lives in Hawaii claims that this is one of the nicest beaches he's ever been to. It goes on for miles, there are great waves for body surfing, hard packed sand for running and biking, tide pools for kids to frolic in, and you are never far from napping kids, home cooked food, or a cocktail.
The Characters:
The Walker Family flew in from London. Amanda & Gregg are known for their great cooking, organizing activities, and love of fine wine. Campbell (5 1/2), Zoe (4), and Damon (2) are their spawn.
The Niquettes drove down from Baltimore, MD. They came with sweet Will (he'll be 2 in July):
Bobbie and Dick Walker: The parents of Gregg, flew in from their own little slice of heaven on the Big Island in Hawaii to do some Bargain Box shopping and spend time with their grandchildren who live so far away. Here is a picture of Aunt Bobbie with Hazen:
Lindsay (and her fiancee Silas) drove down from Charleston, SC. Unfortunately, we only got to spend one night with Silas, but he joined the naughty cousins in some pool hopping, so he's now officially initiated as a part of the Underwood Clan.
The Meyers flew from Boston with Kesley, the best caretaker of younger cousins ever (age 8) and Jameson (4).
And finally, the Masters of ceremony were Sherry and George Westerfield. They not only rented the house for us all, but got us bikes, sand toys, baby bouncer chairs, beach chairs, umbrellas, pack-n-plays, did our recycling, organized boat trips and river adventures, babysat their niece and nephews children, brought kids on "ghost crab hunts", cooked, and cleaned. And, they did it all with a smile on their face (even though I know they had to be sick of all the entertaining while they could have been planning more details for their daughter's wedding). Here is a picture of Cally giving Uncle George a big kiss for introducing her to crab meat for the first time:
And here they are, 8 of the 10 Underwood Great Grandchildren (from left to right: Campbell, Damon, Jameson, Hazen, Kesley, Will, Zoe, and Cally):
We spent a lot of time at the beach:
But we also got to go boating out to Palmetto Bluff on a refurbished tugboat with Captain George Hayward:
And go fishing, crabbing, and paddle boarding at the Cram's property across from Pinkney Island:
And decorate Easter Eggs thanks to Aunt Sherry organizing everything:
And hunt for Easter Eggs:
And celebrate a four years old's birthday:
And just hang out with cousins. Something that the Underwood grandchildren were fortunate to be able to do every summer as we were growing up. And something that we all value thanks to a tradition started by Great Grandma Isabel:
And here's to Mr. H. He rocked it in the travel department, slept like a champ, and even got to enjoy a little beach time.
Vacations as we once knew them to be have changed. There wasn't a whole lot of relaxing (I didn't crack open a book or magazine for the entire week) and traveling with two wee ones is nothing short of stressful, but we had so much fun and would do it again in a heartbeat (in fact, we are doing it again in two months for LW & Silas' wedding). Seeing all those kids, parents, grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles together creating new relationships and fostering old ones was what it was all about. There will be time to rest and relax later.
