Beach Shenanigans

I love living at the beach.

This is how we get to spend our weekend days. Miguel even tried his hand at surfing.

 Summer, don't go away just yet...!

Hilton Head 2012: Lasting Memories

My family and I started visiting Hilton Head Island for vacation when I was just one year old. We lived in Texas at the time and we were a family of four living on a seminary student's income, so as I'm sure you can imagine, a beach vacation was a huge treat for us! Hilton Head charmed its way into my family's heart that summer and has never left since. Bob-bob and Lo-lo (my grandparents on my Dad's side) treated us to a two-week stay for almost every one of my childhood summers. Countless memories come to mind when I think of Hilton Head. It has that "special" factor that just warms my heart and makes me smile when I think of it. The feeling of pride and ownership I have for Hilton Head rivals that of one's feeling of their hometown. Both Bob-bob and Lo-lo are partying with Christ these days, but we are continuing the Hilton Head family tradition. Sarah, my sister, wrote about it on her blog too and I encourage you to check it out here... I also am "borrowing" some pictures from her post. 

Harbor Town: Year 2012

Harbor Town: Year:..early 90's judging by our awesome attire. 

It was such a ball to introduce Karis to Hilton Head! We were so excited to recreate our childhood memories with her! Some of which include sitting in this small, wooden boat in Harbor Town as well as posing with the pensive, reader statue. I wish I could find some pictures of us in that boat. We were determined to fit in it and pose for a picture up until our late teen years. Perhaps if Karis wasn't there one of us would be modeling in this picture instead... another good reason for the addition of Kar-Bear to our family!

We also had to take Karis to see Gregg Russell. Gregg Russell has performed at Harbor Town for over 25 years and is a staple to my Hilton Head memories. He sings silly songs that kids love and, really, half of his show is pretty much stand up comedy. Even during our Hilton Head trips since adulthood, we've made it a priority to go to Gregg Russell's show. 

Though his crowd has certainly grown and he sings some new songs that we don't know, it's still a great time. 

I don't have any pictures of Sarah and me as children up on Gregg Russell's stage. The closest I have is of us at a similarly significant Hilton Head must and kid entertainer Rick Hubbard.

Sarah and I are the two on the right

Not only is it fun to share Hilton Head with Karis, but we've also had a ball bringing Miguel and Jared too!

Karis, what are you doing behind that bush? 

Haha, yep... having Uncle Miguel at Hilton Head certainly brings another side of entertainment! It definitely wouldn't be the same with out either Miguel or Jared though now!

As someone who doesn't like change much, it's good to see how much fun it is to bring others into our special family memories. It really only keeps getting better and better, and I just love continuing experiences through Karis!

Karis and her Poppa at Hilton Head

Sarah and me with Bob-bob in Hilton Head

 I just love Hilton Head and had such a great time on our family vacation there this year... I really could go on and on, but I have to get in the shower and go to work... bla ;) So since I have to cut it short, I will just leave you with this gem from a past Hilton Head Vacation. Aren't I so lucky I never went through that "ugly duckling" stage?!

Hilton Head 2012: Doggie Paddle

My parents dogs accompanied us on our beach vacation. We all love having the dogs around, but it was especially helpful for the golden retriever, Luke, who suffers from a high amount of anxiety, to be with his family. Though Luke constantly needs to be reassured and is hesitant about most things, he surprisingly enjoys playing in water... as long as his feet touch the ground. 

If you have been reading my previous HHI blogs, you will have seen the dock and beautiful water views at the vacation house. We collectively spent many nights and hours during the day enjoying the scenery from the dock. The dogs would tag along. While my parents' Basset Hound mix, Bailey, was content to sit at our feet, Luke could often be found curiously eyeing the water with a slightly concerning look of longing. Nevertheless, we weren't too worried about Luke actually getting in the water, because, as I previously mentioned, he is a pretty fearful dog and at 99% of the day can be found, if not at my mother's feet, following closely behind.

Well, I'm sure you can tell where this is going...

Yep. Nothing is quite as funny as a highly strung-out dog stuck, literally stuck, in the mud. I couldn't stop laughing during the whole ordeal. It all started with someone noticing that my mom's 5th golden-haired limb was oddly missing. After a good bit of whistling and calling, alarm started setting in when no happy-faced golden showed up. Unfortunately, I was absent from the actual discovery part of finding Luke in the water. I showed up, along with my Sister and my camera, for the rescue end of things. Thank God for husbands who have "man strength".

Miguel, with some help from my mom, was eventually able to wrangle and lift the 70 lb Luke to the lower dock. Despite his breeding, Luke is not the best swimmer, however, to his credit that puppy can run pretty quickly if he wants to! As soon as his muddy paws hit the dock Luke shot up the ramp faster than I've seen him move in years! Once back to "safety" on the higher part of the dock, Luke began the difficult job of attempting to remove the sticky marsh floor from his fur.

This was a strenuous job. We chuckled some more after seeing the trails of dog prints all throughout the low-tide marsh. He had been very busy! Poor thing!

To add a little bit more comedy to the situation, Luke then attempted to wipe off more mud using the edge of the pool. Perhaps he was inspired by the multiple nights of Olympic diving, or maybe he was just so flustered by his unintentional swim, either way Luke flipped into the pool. 

Hahaha! Look at that face! Luke was just so spent. As my brother-in-law, Jared, put it, Luke looks as though he is thinking, "This day sucks". With the new knowledge that Luke was, in fact, able to actually swim, we tried coaxing him into the pool to play. However,  after being rescued from the water for the second time within minutes, he wasn't having any of it.

Well, I guess the whole event just gave Luke another reason to be anxious, but we sure did appreciate the laugh! And this time it wasn't Jack's antics that led to a funny dog story! Woo hoo for that win ;)