A Vacation Post!

I am back in the office after an amazing week and a half off. We spent a week at Hilton Head, and then enjoyed a long weekend at home in Tallahassee. So, here's a little round-up of my time away from the office!

HILTON HEAD ISLAND

Spending time with family:

We had so much fun spending quality time with my family. Caroline loves them! She loves playing with her auntie's hair, reading magazines with her Pepaw, and cuddling with her Memaw in all her cute new clothes (her Memaw has excellent taste). I'm so glad she got to spend a week with them, and that they got to spend a week with her. She loved them all!! 

  

Beach babe:

Caroline LOVES the beach. She enjoyed the way the sand felt on her feet, absolutely loved staring at the ocean, and had so much fun feeling the water on her little toes. She is such a beach babe :) She rocked her sunhat and sunglasses and was definitely the cutest thing on that beach. She snoozed in my lap, played on the beach mat, took a walk to find shells (which Hilton Head is seriously lacking), and enjoyed her bottles. It looks like she inherited the Rose/Brian families' loves for the beach!!

Swimming:

My dad bought her a float to use in the swimming pool. I took her in the water and she LOVED it. I knew she would considering her loves for baths. She kicked those little feet like crazy! I think she would have been happy staying in that swimming pool all day if given the chance. My dad even joined her in the pool the last day of vacation and she had so much fun! Watching her swim was definitely a highlight of the trip!

The food:

We ate SO MUCH GOOD FOOD on this trip! From The Crazy Crab to the British Open Pub to the Salty Dog to Stacks, and everything in between, the food was delicious! And, of course, my dad made some great breakfasts and my mom made some delicious dinners! Being married to a guy who's not a big fan of seafood, it's so nice to go to the beach and order shrimp, fish, etc. Hilton Head had some great restaurants!! Even Caroline loved the restaurants; my little piglet required a bottle every time we ate. I have gotten good at holding a bottle with my left hand and eating with my right hand.

The shopping:

We did a lot of shopping while in Hilton Head. Most stores are way out of my price range, but it's always fun to look. Caroline was not a fan of all this shopping and had to be held about half of the time. She did enjoy her Pepaw pushing her in the stroller, though, and sitting with her outside while the ladies went into the stores.

Adult beverages:

I drank some pretty awesome beers while on vacation! Holy City Porter was my favorite. Salty Dog Amber is a close second. Every other beer was wonderful, as well. I also splurged on a $10 raspberry margarita to enjoy on the beach one day. It was quite refreshing. At the condo, I enjoyed both white and red wines. We also made quite a few batches of bloody mary's, complete with celery and olives. Yes, I sound like a lush. Yes, I probably am ;)

The long drives with my six-month old:

Honestly, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting! I never got a mirror for the backseat, but she snoozed most of the time so it wasn't really needed. On the way to South Caroline, we made it all the way to Georgia before having to stop. We hung out at a Chickfila and had our milk (milkshake for me, formula for her), changed her diaper, got some gas, and were back on the road within half an hour. We did have to stop at a random Crack Barrell parking lot further up in Georgia so a bottle could soothe a backseat meltdown, but it was a quick and easy stop!

The way back to Tallahassee wasn't so pretty. We did great until Jacksonville with no stops and then a meltdown began as she woke up. I exited in Jacksonville and she immediately stopped crying and fell asleep. Well, while looking for a Dunkin Donuts (I think that billboard was lying) I got lost and somehow ended up at the airport. Thank goodness for the GPS because I was freeeeeaking out! She actually slept until we were about an hour from home and of course started screaming right before we entered the "twilight zone" as we call it... a 30 minute chunk of road with no stops, no restaurants, nothing. So she screamed for 30 minutes until I found a Wendy's. I was a hot mess express in there, guys. In summary: ordered while juggling my purse, the diaper bag, the car seat, and the baby (screaming baby had to be taken out of the car seat). Once we ate, we went to change her poopy diaper to discover there was no changing table. I made my own in the handicap stall, noticed it was a blow-out, tried to fix it while a handicap person waited for the stall (what are the chances of that, seriously?), and carried my naked baby out to the car to get her dressed in peace. Needless to say, everyone in that Wendy's was probably ecstatic when we left.

In conclusion:

It was a WONDERFUL vacation and I wish it could have lasted longer. We had fun in Hilton Head and surrounding areas (outlet shopping and historic Bluffton!). Caroline loved spending time with her Memaw, Pepaw, and Auntie and misses them so much already. Her mommy misses them, too :)

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND

Joshua was so happy to see his baby girl on Friday (and I suppose he was happy to see me, as well)!! His first words were, "SHE GOT HUGE!" It's crazy how much they grow in a week. He held her a lot this weekend.

Saturday, we finally used a Best Buy reward and got three movies for $5.00. Horrible Bosses, The Big Labowski, and Tropic Thunder are all ours to enjoy! We drank some brewskies (I highly recommend the Sam Adams Summer Variety Pack) and relaxed! Saturday was Caroline's SIX MONTH BIRTHDAY! I cannot believe we have had her for half a year already. Time flies!

Sunday, I had a headache for most of the morning which was a drag. We did end up going for a walk and once again relaxing around the house.

Monday, we took Miss Caroline for a walk around Lake Ella (she snoozed the whole time) and then took her to the pool! She LOVED swimming with her daddy. She splashed, jumped, and sat in the water. She loved watching the older kids swim and they were all amazed by her. We had such a fun time and will definitely do it again!

 

All in all, there isn't much to report from the weekend, which is just the way we wanted it! We had a quiet weekend at home enjoying each others company. It was perfect :)