I must confess. I don't remember many details about the trip. I remember the moss covered towering trees, the lack of high rises, and I remember it being one of the busiest beaches I had ever seen.
On the other hand, Danny has an incredible memory of that vacation. He remembers restaurants where we ate, the plantation where we stayed, and the fireworks show at Harbour Island. He swears he remembers all of our dates. I'm not too sure.
Flash forward 10 years later.... Threats of oil covered beaches in Destin made us make a last minute decision to head once again to the Atlantic Ocean. We were back, plus two little boys, my parents, Danny's parents, Dale, Becca and one fabulous house with a private pool.
Vacationing is much different now with a one year old plus a five year old in tow, but thanks to grandparents and Drew's daily 3 hour nap, Danny and I were able to get
The first couple of days Drew had his moments trying to figure out the sand and his new schedule. As it turns out, he loved the ocean as well as sand covered goldfish. Grant pretty much stayed in the water non-stop only to get out periodically to pee or eat an ice cream sandwich. He was quoted numerous time saying "this is the best day ever!" On the second day, he got crushed by a wave on his boogie board and suffered a pretty bad strawberry on his head, but he was back in the water in no time. By Thursday Grant was "all done with vacation," and Drew was just getting started.
I wonder what details I will remember about this trip ten years from now.....
I'll remember our visit to Harbor Island-- Grant and Danny climbing the 114 stairs to get to the top of the lighthouse, snacking on ice cream cones with the whole family, and the trolley ride with Drew squirming in my lap.
I'll remember Drew skinning dipping in the swimming pool.
and Grant perfecting his cannon ball.
And I'll remember the feeling I felt wondering with Danny one night at dinner (at Alexander's!) if it would be another 10 years before we go back to Hilton Head.... Grant would be 15. Drew would be 11. I would be....well, let's just not go there.
We never made it down to the beach for some nice family pictures so the back yard had to do. After snapping a some shots, Dale asked if we wanted some pictures of just the two of us. No, I said. There's not just two of us anymore. There's four of us now.
