Thanksgiving at Hilton Head

We had a pretty magical week off for Thanksgiving! My folks and siblings came our way to be together at Hilton Head Island. We had more food than we could have eaten in two weeks. Dad managed to work wonders with two partially frozen turkeys on a gas grill. Silas was in heaven with the Oculus and his idol Malachi. Eli continued to be a puzzle prodigy. Dad got to mark seeing an alligator off his bucket list. Jane made Christmas come early with quilts and gifts. We did a Whodunit and may have terrified Rory with the pillow corpse on the floor. (I am certainly the worst actor in the family.) Turns out Trevor (Juan Iron) is a murderer, but when it comes to family, he is right... "Very good! Very good! Hole-in-one every time!" 

Missouri

We drove in through St. Louis to meet Axel! He is a doll! Every time we see Bob and Kristen, Daron says "I wish they lived closer. I could see us hanging out with them a lot." Yes, please!

We were in Branson for most of our visit, but we hit up Springfield for a Bridgetones concert and Grandma's 90th birthday party.

The boys loved Silver Dollar City. I think it was Rory's first time at a theme park of any kind. He sat by Hannah on Fire in the Hole and I kept waiting for screams but turns out he is a thrill junkie.

I was feeling like a hero for finding us a speed boat rental last minute on the Air B&B of boats. The tide quickly turned as said boat ended up being the sketchiest thing I have ever laid eyes on. We finally found people in the world more cursed than Dad. First they were late because they forgot the tube pump. Then the pump didn't actually work. Next they got a ticket for making wake from water patrol as they were warming the boat up. After that the boat would no longer start and was missing some sort of mandatory life preserver (along with every cup holder and a good bit of the upholstery). I'm not saying that having a snake tattooed on your head or gold teeth is anything to be ashamed of, but I do feel like it needs to be mentioned to really paint the picture of what we were working with.  Needless to say, we decided to call the boat a wash and enjoy this variation of watersport, kayak tubing. 

We did some family tie-dying. Doll-doll made everyone their own beautiful quilt. We also went to the creek, set up a (non-homemade and actually functional) projector in the shop for movie night, and the Roebkes won our first annual corn hole tournament. Also, fireworks.

Beach Trip

Meemaw and Gramps took the whole family to Hilton Head for a week by the sea! Cousin heaven, food heaven, nature heaven... It was pretty much every sort of heaven you can imagine. Or, as Justin Willman would say, "Ding dong magic!"

Ahhligator.

Pedaling about.

Tie-dyeing success.

Evening beach walks.

I think we all got our first jellyfish stings, but survived.

Gramps caught two sharks, two sting rays, and a bunch of whiting.

 

This inner tube was the life of the party.

 

Kites. (I would not recommend the dollar store variety.)

 

Silas became a 100% proficient swimmer!

Shelling at the sound.

Feeling spoiled with this fun crew to call family and a two vacation summer!