HHI

Last week we headed to sunny and sweltering Hilton Head, SC with my family! We had a great time relaxing, swimming, beach combing, eating, biking and fellowshiping. We loved every minute of our time and were so thankful for the opportunity to be together!

Mom and Dad rented a sa-weet house in Sea Pines that gave us plenty of room to spread out....and gave a decent barrier between us and the rest of the family for Aida's self-designated 6am wake time all week (thus requiring us to rethink the previously assumed relationship between vacation and sleeping in) At least it wasn't 5am, though :) The pool out back was the perfect relief from the 100+ degree heat index all week. Peter, Aida and I spent a lot of time there - the beach was just too hot for Aida to be down there longer than an hour or so. Last year I was 16 weeks pregnant when we were in HH, so it was a blast returning with Aida for her first beach visit. It's hard to believe she turned 9 months old while we were there! Here are some picture from our time!

Beautiful Harbor Town

Turtle time

Daily grind

Relaxing with Oma and Opa

First time seeing the ocean!

The sand was fun until it became a snack option...

Toes in!

Family swim time!

Loved the waterfall

Evening stroll in Harbor Town

Seeing Greg Russell for the first time (and all the weirdo parents who are competitive and obsessed with getting their kids on stage)

Love a good ocean sunset

Lunch at the Beach Club

Date night! We ate at Robert Irvine's Eat! Restaurant - he's a chef on the Food Network and the food was a-to-the-mazing. Seriously. Go there.

Pretty Sister

Cute parents on the Hunting Island Beach - we did a half-day trip there and it was definitely worth the drive. Beautiful, empty-ish beaches and lots of shelling. It's super tropical-looking, they've shot movie there that were set in the jungle.

Fripp Island, which is right next to Hunting

Aida's sweet humidity hair :) Love those cheeks!

Nakey swim time with Oma

Plumber Aida

Family bike ride - we love that so much of the island is accessible by bike!

Mom and her offspring eating a tasty dinner at Aqua

Evening beach photo op

Love my amazing hubby and sweet girl!

The VerHonkens :)

Opa, Oma and Aida

Beautiful evening

Early birthday celebration!

Linnea was very excited to finally get gelato

Last night bocce on the 5th green behind our house...

...while avoiding the sprinkler system

Honduran cigars to top off a great trip!

"We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo..."

Queue the Raffie CD! This morning we headed to the amazing Zoo with our friends Ruthanne, Titus and Zeke. It was a picture-perfect day (75 degrees and sunny) for hiking around the zoo, which is built into the side of a mountain - literally. Since I am a huge Bio nerd, I will probably always love the zoo as much as the kiddos. It is a beautiful, privately funded zoo and they make money by breeding and selling giraffes. Who knew that was an option?

I am seriously considering a season pass for next summer when Aida can really interact with the exhibits. We discovered this super cute garden-themed water park that looked like a blast when Pnut gets all hot and sticky from running around. Here are some pics from Aida's first visit to our zoo:

Aida was clearly fascinated by the Amur Tiger exhibit. Interesting fact: The Amur Tiger is considered one of the most endangered species in the world. Wild populations dropped into the 70s in the 1990s due to poaching in their habitat of south eastern Russia/north eastern China, and are currently estimated to be in the 400s. They are considered a "keystone species" in their ecosystem, meaning they play a pivotal role in population control of species lower on the food chain. And I am done with the zoology lecture.

Favorite exhibit: the river otters. They are just fun. Interesting fact: the otters escaped from their exhibit a few months ago and were picked up frolicking in an off-site pond. Also, Ruthanne and I have matching strollers. Actually, I was amazed by her Phil & Ted stroller and decided to get one too. Excellent choice.

Aida loved the otter action - and all the water features.

Titus loved the otters, too :)

My sweet girl

Baby orangutan

My little trooper held up great all morning, despite missing her AM nap....

Until it was time to take a picture in front of the giraffe exhibit. She was literally out in the span of four steps. We took a picture anyways :)

Fuzzy Wuzzy

A few reasons for sharing these pictures....

1. I l-o-v-e Aida's fuzzy bedhead. Walking in to her smiling face and crazy hair is one of the highlights of my day :)

2. Aida is sporting her tie-dyed Sea Pines onsies:

- tie-dye is a local favorite in our little town, Aida is appropriately blending at a young age

- Sea Pines: we are headed to Hilton Head, SC for a week of beachy fun with my fam, yay! (I dyed this onsie last year when Aida was still "WS" aka, brewing in my belly)