Hilton Head Beach Trip

We had another wonderful week at the beach this year.  I am so thankful for my parents for sharing their time share with us.  We have really fallen in love with Hilton Head these past two years.  It is such a wonderful family atmosphere and the girls absolutely love the beach and the pool.  The girls had really improved in their water skills this year.  Both girls would go all the way under water.  They would jump off the side of the pool without someone there to catch them. Lauren loved her goggles.  We need to get her some nose plugs.  She loves to hold her nose!  Allison just plugs her nose by sticking her fingers inside her nose.  We all tried to tell her that it works better if you squeeze your nose closed instead of plugging it with your fingers.  But she just wouldn't listen.  Wish I had gotten a picture of her nose "plugged"!

The beach was great.  The girls stayed in the ocean quite a bit.  A guy found a starfish that had washed up on the beach and we got to hold it before returning it to the water.  Another guy was fishing and caught a sting ray that the girls got to see.  We saw quite a few dolphins.  I actually got to "swim" with them, for free.  There were about 10-12 swimming within 10-15 feet of me one afternoon.  Bill got a great video of it, but the video is too long to post.  I don't know how to edit it to post just part of it. 

We saw alligators this year swimming in the ponds throughout the property.  Last year we didn't get to see any, so we were thrilled to see them this year.  I didn't have my camera for any of those sightings, though.  We also saw a snake outside our deck.  And the frogs croaking at night were quite entertaining.

The girls enjoyed making donuts at a place called Flamingos.  We went there for breakfast one morning and they got to decorate their own donut. 

Here are a few (OK a lot of) pictures we took.

               Dad, Mom, Me, Bill, Lauren and Allison on our deck

Lauren, Daddy and Allison enjoying the pool

Lauren enjoying swimming

                             

                This was one of the girls' favorite things to do, have Daddy throw them up in the air

                                     

                                Uncle Bill and Allison building sand castles

Allison lying in a hole they dug in the sand and then filled with water

The starfish we got to hold

                    

Sweet smile from Lauren

                                              Another sweet smile from Lauren

Lauren playing in the ocean

Lauren and Allison sitting in the ocean....wish I could have heard their conversation

Uncle Bill and Allison lying in the ocean.  Daddy and Lauren on out in the water

Sweet smile from Allison

Allison and Uncle Bill.  I love this picture.  A wave had just crashed around them.

Daddy and Allison in the ocean.  The waves were kind of rough this day.

Allison, Daddy and Lauren......where's the rest of Daddy???

Allison buried in the sand.  If you look closely, she's a mermaid!

Allison decorating her donut at Flamingos

Lauren with her donut at Flamingos

OK,  this drives me crazy!!!!  The pictures are all centered on my screen, but when I preview the post they are all out of line.  I don't know how to fix that, so I'm just going to push publish!!!  Sorry for the alignment!:)