Vacation Part 3: Sand Castles, Petting Zoo, Coligny Beach and Stoney-Baynard Ruins!

Have I mentioned how much I loved Hilton Head? It is a wonderful place! The beach time never got old any of the days we were there! Every morning when we got to the beach, my dad and Jeff would start to dig a big sand castle pit for Boone to play in.

The white balance is a little off on this one, but here they are working 

away on Boone's fortress.

We spent most of our beach time at Sea Pines Beach Club, but one evening after dinner, we decided to ride drown to Coligny Beach. It had an awesome deck with swings and a little splash park. 

Dad and Mom at Coligny Beach

The neat boardwalk area. It seemed like a nice place to sit in the evenings. Lots of 

couples and families hanging out.

There was a stables area inside of Sea Pines where you could go and ride horses, but there was also a free petting zoo. We decided to go check it out one afternoon and it was so great!

Boone found this rooster early on and followed him around a lot.

Buddies.

Checking out the goats.

Cute signs warned the kiddos not to jump inside the animal areas.

These beautiful hydrangeas were right at the entrance of the stables. I wish I could have cut some off for a bouquet, but I didn't! Those things would cost a fortune at the store and they were beautiful!

After busy days at the beach and running around the island, Boone loved book time with Nana and Papa. It was so nice to be with them for a whole week.

As we would ride around Sea Pines, we kept seeing a sign for a ruins area in Sea Pines. My interest got the best of me and my parents and I decided to bike over there and check it out one afternoon. The ruins were the remaining pieces of the plantation from the island. 

This is what is remaining of the plantation house after a fire.

If you look closely, you can see the oyster shells they used to create the walls of the plantation house. How neat is that? So interesting to see that they used the resources around them, no matter how different, to build the home. It is so neat that you can still see the oyster shells in the walls that remain.

It was sort of an eerie feeling to be back in the ruins. It was such a contrast to the other areas of the island with beautiful homes and pristine golf courses, but I think that it is neat that they have this area to see some of the history of the island. The plantation was on somewhat of a hill in what is a very flat island, so during the Civil War, it was taken over by the Union and they set up camp there for a time. 

One last picture... My parents watched Boone one night and let Jeff and I get away for a dinner out. We went to a restaurant on the island called A Lowcountry Backyard Restaurant. It was a really cute place! It did look like house and we sat in a backyard. We ate fried green tomatoes, pimento cheese and I ordered shrimp and grits! It was delicious and so fun to have a date night. Thanks Dad and Mom for watching Boone!

One more post still to come full of pictures!

Thanks for reading!

Vacation Part 2: Beach Time and Seafood

Monday morning we were up early (we always are... we have a toddler!), so we headed towards the beach on our bikes. One of the amazing things about Hilton Head is that you can bike ANYWHERE on the island because there are bike paths that connects all the locations on the island.

The first day we were on beach was Memorial Day, so it was a bit busy, but we didn't care! We were on the beach for the first time in 3 years for Jeff and I, and the first time ever for Boone. It was wonderful!

Sea Pines Beach Club, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Boone went right for the sand! He loved playing and building (and throwing it!)

Running to the water for the first time!

Amazed by the waves.

About halfway through the morning, a lagoon would form where there would be a pool of shallow water, then a sand bar and then the waves. The lagoon was a fun place for Boone to play because it was shallow and there were lots of other little ones playing there too.

Monday evening, we decided to go to the beach and get some pictures of the whole family. My brother only stayed for part of the week, so it was a good chance to get some pictures before he headed out.

Checking out the beach with Nana.

Boone with Crazy Uncle John

We had to pull Boone back so that he didn't run into the water with his clothes on. Plus, we were going to dinner after we took pictures, so we needed to keep him dry.

Robertson, Part of 3! Love these boys and getting to spend a whole week of vacation with them!

Jeff thought this was the best picture of the whole time we were taking pictures! Haha!

After we got done with pictures, we biked out of Sea Pines and went to a seafood restaurant that Jeff had found on UrbanSpoon called The Sea Shack. It was highly recommended and many people said it was in the top 3 best seafood restaurants on the island.

When we pulled up on our bikes we saw this long line out front. I guess that is how you know it's a good restaurant! The actual restaurant was pretty small, so they only let in parties according to how much space there was for seating. 

When we got inside, we ordered food and drinks at the counter and then sat down to wait for the food to be brought to us. I ordered a half pound of shrimp, potatoes, grits and sweet tea! Now that's what I call southern food! It was all so good! And I had a slice of key lime/blueberry pie for dinner! The best key lime pie I have ever had! So delicious! We loved this restaurant so much, we went back (for takeout) later in the week! 

I thought I'd be able to do 3 vacation posts, but I have way too many pictures! So there are still two more posts coming! Sorry for the vacation picture overload, but I want to make sure that we get all these memories documented! 

The Robertsons Spring Breaking in Denver

Jeff's parents snagged some super cheap plane tickets a few months ago and made plans to come up to Denver during Carol's spring break. It was fun to see them again, and fun to have a little time to see Denver with them. The last time they came up, we had just moved into our house (three days prior), so it was bit chaotic.

We went to Boulder on Wednesday and Thursday we decided to check out the Colorado state capitol. The Robertsons had been there before on a visit when Jeff and Sam were young, but it had been quite awhile. The tour is free and it was actually pretty neat to see. The building is busy with all kinds of people since the state congress was in session. Here's a few pictures of the tour.

Main area where you meet for the tours.

The dome of the capitol. The blue tarp near the top is

 for some repairs they are doing to the dome/

The Colorado Supreme Court Chambers

The House of Representatives chambers. The Senate was full of politicians 

as they were debating a bill while we were there.

Jeff's parents were nice enough to watch Boone for a night, while Jeff and I went to Winter Park to ski. It was a fun, quick getaway and they seemed to do well with Boone while we were gone. Once we got back on Saturday, we hung around the house for a bit while Jeff did some projects with his dad in the garage, and then we went to check out White Fence Farm in Lakewood, CO. We had seen an ad for the restaurant, but didn't know what to expect. It was a huge place and we got there a half hour after it opened for the evening and it was already packed. The best way I can describe the place is if you took a lot of things in Branson, MO and jammed them into one restaurant. You had fried chicken and lots of comfort food, a petting zoo with farm animals, a big playground area, a little lake with ducks, live country music and lots of random things to buy in their store. It was fun and we would definitely take Boone back again.

Checking out the goats. When we got there we were given the #207 and I think 

they were seating #140. We were told it would take about an hour to get seated and 

I thought that would be horrible, but the wait flew by with all the things we had to check out.

Grandpa Robertson bought some goat food for Boone to try out. 

He wasn't even shy and got right up to feed the animals. 

Robertson guys checking out the tractor.

After a huge dinner, we burned off some energy at the playground.

 I think Jeff enjoyed this toy more than Boone. But he has done a great job indoctrinating

 our child into the world of trucks, construction and building.

Jeff and Booned climbed to the top of the tree house at the playground. 

At one point Boone stuck his head out of the window and made the funniest noise and face. 

I don't think Carol or I caught it on camera, but it had us all laughing.

The restaurant has served over 5 million chicken dinners.

Checking out the ducks. 

A fun truck outside the restaurant.

We had a great second visit with the Robertsons. Looking forward to summer and more adventures around the area.

Weekend at Breckenridge

A few weeks after we moved to Colorado, our friend Brett and his girlfriend Casey made plans to come up and visit. We decided to go up to Breckenridge for a few days and ski! We had great weather and skiing and such a fun time with friends! On our last evening up in the mountains, we decided to do something different and try a fondue restaurant! It really wasn't an ideal place for Boone, but the waiters and owners were so nice to us. They even took him off our hands a few times and walked him around the restaurant (don't worry... it was a small place and we could see them the entire time!)

Here's a few pictures of our weekend!

Jeff on the slopes

Brett and Casey at lunch

The Robertsons!

Oh... did I mention these two are engaged now?! Congrats Casey and Brett!

My guys! Love these two so much!

Kisses!

In the middle of dinner! It was delicious! Casey and Brett were sweet enough to treat us to dinner for our anniversary that night. Totally unexpected and we were so grateful!

Our waiter trying to entertain Boone! They were so great to us!

My friend Melissa, that I grew up with in church, lives about 15 minutes 

from Breckenridge, so she met us at the end of dinner! It was so great to see her! 

Hopefully we will see her again soon!

It was such a fun weekend up in Breckenridge! We are so blessed to have friends to come see us!