Life with the Lauffers: Hilton Head 2012...part 1

There are A LOT of pictures to upload...we took 325 over vacation and I probably narrowed it to about 100. Yes, I know, 100 is quite the many pictures to include in a post...and that's why I'll be capturing our first official family vacation (via plane, anyways) in 4-5 different posts ;)

I have to start somewhere though, or it will get too overwhelming to post at all, so here's number 1...

This was our first flight as a family of 4, and we were definitely interested to see how it would go. I'm happy to report that the boys did beautifully, both on the way out and back! Reid is just over 6 months, and quite a squirmy, wormy little boy so I was a bit anxious about the flight, but he did well.

You might think there was a baby nursing under the cover, but he was actually sleeping! I think he liked the darkness it provided. And Micah was quite content with the iPad. Somehow I was in charge of both kids for much of the duration of the flight...

We arrived at the resort and Micah immediately wanted to head to the beach, but we had to wait until the next day to do so. Fortunately we had a 2 bedroom with lots of space, so Micah has his own bedroom and Reid was in part of the master bath that could be closed off. The first night there Micah (who has not once climbed out of his bed since transitioning to the big boy bed) was roaming the condo at 1:30am. Freaked me out a little, and when I realized it and got him back in bed I said, "Micah? What are you doing out of bed honey?" to which he replied, "I go beach." Oh no...is this what's in store for us for the week? (Thankfully, that was the only night he got out of bed...I was scared at first!)

Bright and early the next morning, we held true to our promise to Micah and while Reid took his nap Micah and I headed to the beach for some fun in the sun.

Above are 2 pictures from our balcony. You can see the ocean through the trees along with a boardwalk to the beach. We honestly could not have asked for a better place for our family!

Sweet, sweet boy, "eating" lunch on the balcony.

This is how we saw Micah the first couple of days - realizing he really, really, struggles with transition. We were thinking about the last time we had seen Micah this out of sorts, and it was over Labor Day. And before that, Kari's wedding. Yep, Micah does not do well without his routine, so we tried really hard to help bring some semblance of home with us. Insert his play kitchen food :) He was so content and so happy with the plates, foods, utensils, and drinks that were brought with us...

The first night out Micah didn't feel like walking, so I put him in the Ergo on my back and carried Reid in front on our way to the beach. Gotta love my boys!! As you'll see from the next string of pictures, Micah loved the water! He loved picking up sticks that had been washed ashore and placing them back in the ocean. He loved jumping as the waves came in. He loved playing in the sand.

Beach + Micah = happy boy!

Enjoying some lunch at the resort restaurant by the water.

Micah played corn holes for the first time, and decided the most effective way of getting the bean bag in was to climb on the board and push it in if needed.

Check out that happy face! Micah loved pushing the buttons in the elevators and got so excited with each "beep" that came shortly thereafter.

This was through our first 2 days of vacation and slowly but surely we started falling in to a groove. And then the weather became cool and slightly rainy and we had to shift our course of action for the next few days. Enter Children's Museum... Christian took Micah one morning while I stayed back with Reid to nap. Reid's night time sleep, as I know you are all surprised to hear, was not the greatest on vacation...so he really needed a good morning nap if it fit at all with our schedule. It wasn't always the most fun to split up, but Micah was able to benefit with one-on-one parent time and the other parent was able to get some quiet time at the resort. Not a bad compromise.

The Children's Museum had different rooms to play in, including dress up, a kitchen (Micah's favorite, of course) an artist room and much more. Below is just a sampling of what he did while there.

While the cold, dreary days continued, we decided to make a little road trip and head to Savannah, Georgia (check another state for Reid, as Micah had already been to Georgia with me for my marathon last year). Unfortunately we only had the morning to explore in trying to get back for some semblance of a nap, which doesn't leave too much time. But the little we were able to see was really nice. Savannah is loaded with history and I only wish we had been able to explore a little more. (Side note, we were told in a Starbucks by a local that we should get both our boys into modeling because we could then retire and live off them...something to think about?!?? :) )