Extended time in Kiawah Island

Ok, so I am not going to bore you with a day to day running of what we did in our extra time at Kiawah.  To be honest, I can't remember exactly now anyway!  The day we extended, we went to reception to extend our passes etc.  We then headed off the island to a nearby (15 miles!) Walmart to pick up necessities.  This was the only time we left the island in our whole 8 days there!!!

Most days were filled with a combination of beach and/or pool, in no particular order.  We had a couple of mornings when it rained.  Then the kids pool was cold in the afternoon! 

Oliver loved the slides, and was happy to go off on his own to do them.  Oh the joys of having an independent 9 year old! 

Sebastian discovered he could go under water and basically run up the wall doing a 'back flip' like a monster jam truck would.  Thats his leg sticking up......

We saw this lovely little snake on the way back from the pool one day.  Right by the pool is a nature centre with all sorts of local creatures in.  Well worth a visit.

Still loving the water.  In fact, when he goes swimming now, he insists on his googles, as he spends most of his time with his head under the water.....

Our villa had a little 'wet bar' area.  luckily we brought cocktail stuff with us.  We didn't take much of it home....

We all enjoyed being on the screened porch, here are the boys having breakfast.  

We spotted the alligator one day.  We think he may have been resident to our particular lagoon.  Paul when out to take some pictures, and the alligator swam right up to him.

We went for a very late lunch at Cherrywood BBQ and Alehouse in the Osprey Golf Courses' clubhouse.  My word it was yummy.  Probably the most expensive BBQ we will ever have but well worth it.  We went about 3 in the afternoon, so it would be quiet. As it was, they had a lovely shaded terrace where we were able to eat, as it was not too hot.  Delicious.  We took a little walk around the outside of the clubhouse.  Beautiful.  This was the only one of five golf courses that we ventured on to.  

In our little trip to Walmart, we invested in some boogey boards.  Best investment ever.  We got 2, for the 3 of them to share, and they were good about it too.  They all loved the surf.

The beach was amazing, and the surf was perfect for our boys.  

even Isaac enjoyed it.

Even after 8 days we did not want to leave.  We managed to pack up early enough on the saturday morning.  Without a shadow of a doubt, we would go back to Kiawah Island again.  I cannot recommend it enough.  it is beautiful.  Martha's villa was amazing, and perfectly positioned for us.  It was so peaceful, even with 3 noisy boys.  

We arrived home mid afternoon on the saturday.  Sebastian sat in the car for half hour crying, as he did not want to be home......

Hilton Head - part two

The day dawned nice and sunny, and not too early for us.  We headed for the complimentary breakfast.  This was nothing special, no hot food, just toast, pop tarts, cereal muffins fruit etc.  didn't stop our boys from filling up on about 5 breakfasts each.  At least we got our monies worth....

Considering the weather report said it was going to be raining and thundering, we did not see any rain all day.  After breakfast we headed to walmart to stock up on beach essentials, you know, those things I stupidly forgot to pack cos I believed the weather forecast.

Once they were purchased, we headed back to Colligny Beach.  The facilities are good, so we parked in the same car park, and headed to the restrooms/changing facilities right on the beach.  It was still lovely and sunny....

The boys had great fun splashing in the little pool of seawater, before heading down to the waters edge.  The cold of the sea did not bother them at all, and they had great fun playing in the waves.  A group of kids were making their way along the beach. And stopped by the boys.  Here's why....

See the dolphin, no more than 20 meters from the boys?  Amazing.  By now it was rather cloudy, and the wind was starting to pick up.  Isaac was complaining of being cold, and so was I.  It was nearly lunch time so we headed back to the changing facilities.

We decided earlier in the day to pay the $5 entrance fee to get into the Sea Pines resort.  This was the first resort founded on Hilton Head back in 1956.  It is fairly large at 8 square miles, so takes up a good chunk of the island.  It consists of houses, golf courses, tennis courts, stables and shopping/leisure/dining areas, plus a few marinas thrown in for good measure.

In the whole time we have lived in South Carolina, I have never seen an alligator in the wild.  I was adamant this was going to happen in Hilton Head.  And I was right

After driving round Sea Pines, we spotted this little beauty, and her little beauties!  We stopped to take some photos then continued our drive.  Of course, once you have seen your first, you can't miss them.  We must have spotted at least another 10, of varying shapes and sizes.

We headed on to the Harbour Town area, Seb was determined he wanted to see the 'ight ouse'.  We parked up, right by a large playground and went for a stroll to find something to eat.  Harbour Town is a lovely little area.  It kinda reminded us of La Palmyre in France, a town we know very well.  This made us feel fairly comfortable.  Sebastian was estactic once he spotted the light house, and kept pointing it out to us.  We took a walk round the harbour wall and saw all the boat excursions.  There is even a boat done up like a pirate ship, and others with guaranteed dolphin watching.  Maybe next time.....

Of course, when you take 3 boys to a town two hours after they usually have lunch, you are going to get some stupidity

We eventually decided to eat at Harbourside Burgers and Brews, an out door, up market burger joint.  This was lovely.  Not too hot, and the boys ate their food quite well.  Isaac did fall off his chair, and throw a mini paddy.....

After lunch the boys had a play in the park before we decided to move on.  By now it was mid afternoon, and we were all starting to feel tired.  On the way out, we stopped at Lawton Stables.  They offer the opportunity for adults to go on trail rides through the resort, pony rides for kids under 7 and a free petting farm.  The kids loved seeing the animals, and it was really well laid out, lovely and shady and cool.  The sky had cleared again, and the day was really heating up.

Ever since the boys knew we were going away on holiday, they have been going on about playing crazy golf.  Hilton Head has two mini courses, and we went with Pirates Island Adventure Golf.  Seb doesn't normally play, but we decided to let him this time, and he was free!  The boys went so fast around the course. They skipped, a couple of people, and caught up to others right near the end.  They don't take it seriously, which I don't mind, but I think they are going to have to start soon.  Next time we play, I will be keeping score and we will be playing by the rules (I hate mini golf....)

As we had a late lunch, we decided to head back to the hotel, so the boys could try out the un heated pool.  Don't think anyone got in further than their knees.  Paul went in the hot tub with them, while I watched from the side in case anyone got brave enough to go in.

We had a snacky dinner, and settled down to watch Rio in the evening.  10 minutes into the film, Seb was asleep on the sofa.  We rearranged the furniture in our room to get his crib out, and away from the tv, and transferred him into in.  He didn't make a sound.  The boys were already in their pajamas, and thoroughly enjoyed the film.  This did mean that they ended up having lights out at the same time, never an easy feat.  Oliver feel asleep before Isaac, though he wasn't far behind.  It is actually quite nice to watch them sleep, it gives a real feeling of calmness and serenity.