Hilton Head Vacation 2009

One of the great benefits of being a teacher and having a husband who can work from anywhere that he can find an internet connection, is that we are able to take family vacations in the summer. This year, we took a return trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Nicholas and "Bear" settle in for the drive to SC.

Liam and Ben, veteran travelers, fall asleep somewhat comfortably in the back seat.

Nick, Liam and Ben hanging out after breakfast at a Cracker Barrel on the way to Hilton Head.


Liam and Ben on the balcony of our condo after having breakfast with Daddy on our first morning in Hilton Head.

Ben, very happy to be at the beach.



Liam makes his way into the ocean, with Daddy a little farther out.


Nick wasn't terribly happy about being left to his own devices in the sand. He got over it eventually and joined the rest of the boys in playing in the sand.


Mommy with Ben, Liam and Nick enjoying the beach.

One of the benefits of staying at a timeshare is that there is not only access to the beach, but also the easy availability of a pool. Not surprisingly, time was spent every day at one of the two resort pools.

Nick LOVED his panda bear floatie. He was quite happy to just ride around the pool as long as someone would pull him around.



Liam and Ben enjoyed spending as much time as possible in the pool. Mom and Dad took turns supervising pool time while the other one took Nick back to the room for a nap.



Liam, in mid-jump.


Ben, ready to make a splash.

We even made use of one of the grills that surround the pool to cook hot dogs and have lunch poolside. The boys preferred the smaller pool that was much less crowded and had some shaded areas.

Kevin and I rented a bicycle to use for the week. We took turns taking daily rides, including a ride to the beach (which took about 20 minutes each way.) I even rode to the grocery store a couple of times. Plans are in the making to purchase our own bikes here at home! (After all, I lost 5 pounds while on vacation!)



We decided to take advantage of some of the extra activities that are available on the island. There were activities that were organized for just the kids within the resort, but the boys weren't as interested in those as they were in the activities that we could do as a family. The first family activity we did was the 2-hr Dolphin Eco Tour. We were the only family on the boat and got to see some dolphins swimming nearby. They are too quick to get very good photos of, though.

Captain Wayne gave Liam and Ben a shot at driving the boat. Here's Liam during his turn at driving. He took it very seriously.

Nick was preoccupied with the rope that the captain would later tie to the dock.

Ben had a great time hanging out on the bow of the boat and watching for dolphins.

Nick got his sea legs pretty easily.

One of many beautiful sunsets we witnessed from our balcony this week.

Another of the activities we took part in was a sunset kayaking tour. We had planned to have Kevin take Liam on one night, and I would take Ben on the next night. However, when Kevin and Liam went for their turn, the parking in Harbour Town (where the tour was to leave from) was ridiculous and they couldn't find a place to park, and therefore missed their tour. After Kevin spoke with the manager at the resort about this problem, they removed Kevin and Liam's charge and paid for me to take both boys on the next night. It was disappointing that Kevin didn't get to go, but at least the boys did.

The view of the Harbour Town light house (which isn't a real light house, but a museum and gift shop) from our kayak.

Liam and Ben are at the front of the kayak while Mom is in the back. Liam helped row at times, but it was mostly my job. Luckily, the guide spent a lot of time talking and drifting, so the paddling wasn't very taxing.


Ben and Liam in front of our orange 3-person kayak. I think they had a good time, though Liam would have preferred the chance to pilot his own kayak. But, since he got tired with the little amount of paddling he did do, I don't think he would have been able to handle one all on his own. Maybe in a couple of years.

After leaving Hilton Head on the 4th of July, we headed to the mainland to stay with Nick and Roxane, who are the ones who rented the timeshare to us. They invited us to join them at a cookout with some friends from church. We had a good time, but it was quite hot and Nick only lasts so long before he hits his wall and needs his bed.

Nick carries around one of the Bocce balls after the first game finished and we were getting ready for dinner.



Liam, Nick and Ben took a turn in the hammock too. (Sorry it's so blurry, but I took this quick shot with my iPhone and if you don't sit perfectly still, nothing is clear.)


On the last leg of our journey home, we stopped in Newton, North Carolina to visit our wonderful friends, the Watsons. We spent a couple of hours catching up and had a nice little cookout. "Little Ben" had a great time playing with Liam and "Big Ben" while Nick caught a nap and Clara wrapped the rest of us aorund her little finger. My favorite Leah quote, "Who would have thought when Kevin and Mark were at Geneva Hills as teenagers, that between the two of them they would have 5 kids!" Just goes to show you that the best things in life are not what we'd ever expect!

Vacation 2008

The Carr Family on the beach on Hilton Head Island, SC.

As those of you who know us (or at least those who have read my previous blogs) know, we have been taking family trips since Ben was 6 weeks old. Previous trips have included a week in Las Vegas, multiple weeks spent traveling out west to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, visiting friends in California, family in Washington, driving to and camping in Alaska, even last summer's trip of a cruise. All told, Liam and Ben have visited 41 states and 4 countries in the five years we've been on the go. Well, this year we decided to make it a little less involved because of the addition of little Nicholas to our family.

Our shiny new minivan, ready to take on the challenges of a road trip.

I was able to rent a week's stay in a timeshare on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Much like our summer trips to Las Vegas, it was a lot like being at home, only someplace different, for a week. We bought groceries, packed up our newly purchased minivan and headed for a week of relaxation at the beach. On the way, we stopped and visited our good friends the Watsons (including their new addition, Miss Clara who is only 1 month and 6 days older than our Nicholas, as well as "little Ben") in North Carolina.

This is probably as close as I'll get to knowing what it's like to have twins.
Here I am holding Clara and Nicholas, who are only a month apart.

Liam takes some time to read to "Little Ben."

Once we got to Hilton Head, the big boys spent a lot of time every day at the pool, mostly with Daddy as Mommy was enjoying some time catching up on pleasure reading and keeping busy with Nicholas. The resort we stayed at even had planned activities for the kids, including "Pirate Camp" which the boys enjoyed. We only went to the beach once to play and once to collect shells, but that's okay. The time we spent together as a family was priceless, and that was our whole purpose in going.

Ben and Liam bury Daddy in the sand.

Nicholas relaxes in his car seat as the boys play with Daddy in the sand.

A beautiful sunset as viewed from our balcony.
Every night had sunsets just like this one.

We had a great family vacation. This may have been our first trip to Hilton Head, but it definitely won't be our last. The sacrifices we make on expenses the rest of the year are totally worth it to be able to spend the time and money that we do on our summer vacations.

What a GREAT Summer!

It has been so long since I've been able to sit down and write down my thoughts and the events in my life. Mostly it's been because I've been away from my computer and the only one at home is the one that Kevin uses for work; which means he's always using it. Now that I'm back at school I can use the one in my office during my lunch to catch up on all the Carr Family info. Hope you've got some time to spare, this may take a while.

Looking back on it, it seems like the summer just flew by. I had a few things I wanted to get done...and only got to a small portion of them. But I got to spend time with the boys. We played, went to the Library, went to the gym and the pool and just hung out together. Then came vacation!

What a fantastic 3 weeks we spent together. Now, before I go on I have to explain that our summer vacations are Road Trips in the truest sense of the word. I pack the car with a week's worth of clothes, a bag of snacks (because it's cheaper to get them from the grocery store than at every gas station we come across) and a cooler of drinks and we hit the road. I have a whole system for this. I make lists. Yep, I'm a list maker. I write down what each family member will need for the trip and then check it off when it is packed. One of the keys to packing for an extended trip is to pack one bag with the clothes for 3 days for each one of us. That way when we stop for the night, we only have to bring one bag into the hotel every three days. At the end of 7 days, I find a laundry facility and do laundry. It works out really well.

So, first we headed West with San Diego as our goal. Our first big stop was Amarillo, Texas. A couple of years ago we discovered the Big Texan Steak Ranch, home of the FREE 72 oz. steak dinner. You might think, "Woo hoo, I'm heading there for my next vacation!" But of course, there's a catch. You have to eat that 72 oz. steak--with a salad, baked potato, shrimp cocktail and roll--in an hour or less to get it for FREE. Our first trip there, Kevin attempted it but was just a couple of bites shy of finishing the whole thing. But this time, he had a plan. He started fast and made sure he ate the side items as he went along, rather than saving them for last. This time he was successful! He had just under 10 minutes to spare, too! You may ask, "What happens if he doesn't eat it all in under an hour?" Well, he would have had to pay for the dinner. A whopping $72. As Kevin ate, Liam, Ben and I enjoyed our own, much smaller, steak dinner.

Here is the massive dinner that Kevin was destined to devour in an hour.

Liam makes quick work of his steak dinner.

The smaller brother has a smaller appetite.

A very stuffed Kevin is victorious.
He finished the entire thing with 9 minutes and 44 seconds to spare.

From Amarillo, we headed to San Diego, California for Kevin and his "Fat Guys at the Movies" partner Neil to attend the San Diego ComicCon. The boys and I spent the day at the beach or the hotel while Kevin enjoyed all things entertainment at the convention center. I sure learned my way around San Diego in a few days. We also visited a Maritime Museum that had 5 different types of ships from throughout history for us to explore. After one last trip to the beach, we headed East.

Liam at the edge of the ocean.

Ben isn't quite ready to get too close to the water.

Ben and Liam meet a "real" ship's captain.

One of the classic ships that we got to tour.

One last trip to Ocean Beach. Daddy got to join us on this trip.

Our next stop was the sand dunes in Yuma, California. They were so vast you would think that was all there was in the world. There's quite a funny story there too. We were all wearing sandals and tried to climb to the top of the dunes, but the sand was so hot pouring in through our sandals that we didn't make it very far before we had to turn back. But as we're turning around, we see Ben just truckin' along up the dunes. We realized it was because he didn't weigh as much, the sand wasn't getting to his feet. So, by the time we headed back to the car and got tennis shoes on so that the rest of us could travel to the top, Ben was tired of being in the heat.

Ben climbs to the top of the dunes.

Liam and Ben pose with Mommy before heading to Texas.

Our next stop was Texas. We were there for a few days and made the most of it. We drove to Texarkana, Arkansas and stood in both Arkansas and Texas at the same time. We also saw the only Federal Building that operates in two states.

"Arkansas...Texas...Arkansas...Texas"
This was Liam and Ben's mantra as we stood in two states at once.

The Post Office/Federal Building that serves two states.

After visiting Texarkana, we drove down to Shreveport, Louisiana and had dinner at a CiCi's pizza there. In one day, we added two more states to the total number of states we've been to. Our total is now 39. We then headed back to Keller, Texas just north of Fort Worth to visit our friends the Sanfords who just moved to Texas a few weeks prior to our visit. We spent a couple of nights with them before heading to our next destination.

The Three Amigos, Liam, JJ, and Ben goof around at Sandy's Steak and Shake.

The Carrs and the Sanfords have one last big dinner together before we leave Keller.

Our next stop is The Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. That was a bit of a shock to us, in that it is in the middle of downtown San Antonio. I was expecting it to be in the middle of a desert-like area, but nope, skyscrapers and modern buildings all around. After dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the riverwalk, we headed toward Galveston and the Carnival Conquest.

The family perches on a canon at the Alamo.

One of the few buildings of the Alamo that are the still-standing originals.

Yep, The Alamo sits in downton San Antonio.

A delicious Mexican dinner at a local favorite.

Well, this is getting a little long. Needless to say, our trip is only half over. I think I'll make a second post just about the cruise. Keep an eye out for part two of the Carr Family Vacation 2007.