Stateside: Hilton Head Island

NOTE:I somehow took next to no pictures while we were vacationing, so most pictures will, once again, be stolen from Kristen. Unfortunately, I don't have most of the ones that I want, so some pictures will just have to come later.
I for some reason can't remember right now if Hilton Head is in North Carolina or South Carolina. I think south. . .that's annoying. I should be able to remember.

Anyhow, every summer the we take a family vacation with our Dad and Tina, and this summer the destination was Hilton Head, South (?) Carolina. Tina found a great house for us right on the beach. It was amazing, and it sort of looked like the Weasley house from Harry Potter.
(picture of Harry Potter house)
We stayed for about a week, and we had an absolutely FANTASTIC time!!!!
Russell and Miranda drove down from their home in North Carolina the first night. My cousin Blake lives there with his wife,

Cousin Blake with Russell

Peggy, and they run this theatre, so one our first full day there, we went to see "Gutenburg: the Musical!," the play that was going on there at the moment. There were only two actors, but a TON of baseball hats to show what personalities they were being at any given moment.


Russ And Miranda trying on Drunk 1 and Drunk 2 hats



Krist and I sporting some of the other hats

The day after, Russell and Dad went out fishing while the rest of us attempted a new sport that I think was called paddleboarding.


Me and Krist and David paddleboarding

We basically had these big surfboard type boards, and we stood up on them and used paddles to get around. It was really cool and really fun, but being forced to paddle into the wind made it slightly less fun. There were points when the wind was so strong that I just wasn't strong enough, and I had to sit down to paddle. It really was super fun, though.
We just happened to be coming in at the same time as my dad and Russell, and Dad said that he was just amazed by how graceful everyone was looking until he saw me looking awkward and goofy and ridiculous. Yep! That's me for you!

The next day, we all went out on waverunners, and it was ridiculously awesome, even if I didn't get to drive (I forgot to bring my driver's license with me). The not driving was totally okay because I got to ride with Kristen, who was the awesomest driver. I almost think I had more fun than I would have if I had driven because I could close my eyes and therefore not get the full brunt of the water spraying in my eyes. And also, you're always just a little bit more scared about what's happening when you're not driving (and when you have your eyes closed), so I got to feel the thrill of the unexpected. Awesomeness! I had so much fun!
(picture of us all after the waverunning)

Unfortunately, Russell and Miranda had to leave the next morning for working purposes. ::sadness:: After they left, we rented bikes and went for an extraordinarly long and hilariously fun bike ride. I don't think my dad was having all that much fun, though, as he is a triathlete in training for an Iron Man, and I think our pace was just a little bit slow and frustrating for him. It started raining after the bike ride, so we went to see Transformers 2, which I absolutely LOVED, even if I still think I liked the first one a little bit more.

We also went kayaking one day, which was fun although slightly lacking in excitement. Thank goodness, though, that I was once again with Kristen. I am far to weak to attempt to kayak alone, as I discovered last summer in Croatia with Guillaume. We managed to create our own excitement by banging our boats into each other and trying to splash each other. Mega good times were had.


the gang kayaking

Aside from that, Kristen and I took a walk on the beach every morning with one exception. And that exception existed because we along with David went for a bike ride on the beach. Once again, the wind got to me, and I ended up WAY behind Kristen and David and almost didn't make it to the end of our route. I was super impressed with myself that I did, though, even though Krist and David did it so easily.


Me and Krist and the end of the almost impossible for me bike ride.

We also attempted to go shopping twice but failed, as there was really no shopping WHATSOEVER in Hilton Head.

Oh, and we also had the cousin and his wife and friend over for dinner one night, and Tina made cupcakes to celebrate my and Kristen's birthdays. They were so cute!





Thanks Dad and Tina for a wonderful birthday!

And one night we went over to his house to play Guitar Hero.


Us all at a fancy very un-vegan-friendly restaurant on the last night there.

So, all in all, the trip was a great success, and the only things that could have made it more awesome are Donald being there and Russell having gotten to stay the whole time. Alas, these things did not happen. Sadness.