Vacation Bliss

We have returned from Heaven.  I mean vacation.  It was a wonderful trip that exceeded our expectations on so many levels.

This was our first time to Kiawah Island in South Carolina.  The beach was beautiful and the atmosphere was so very relaxing.

We arrived Saturday evening and, as we had promised, took the kids straight to the beach.  This little beauty was waiting for us.  It was a full double rainbow in all it's splendor.  And, if you've been following our story for a while, you know that double rainbows have a bit of significance for our family.

I almost decided against posting any pictures of our vacation because they truly do not do it justice.  It was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to but it's impossible to capture that on camera.  (at least it's impossible for me to capture it).  So I am interspersing some stock photos!

The beautiful Sanctuary resort.

Kiawah is a wonderful family-friendly location and is almost entirely accessible by bicycle.  We rented bikes for the week and, barring the high stress episodes with the stubborn 5-year-old, it was a super fun family activity.  We could load up and ride to the pool, beach, or playground.  Eveley and the twins would have ridden all day.  The five-year-old, however, had other ideas.

It was super action-packed week.

My sweet Ryan is a little bit of a girly girl. She does not like to be dirty or sandy.  So the beach wasn't really her deal.  But she was content to relax in the chair and, by the last day, had actually warmed up to the whole sand building thing.

One of the local sea creatures.

Bob and I were able to find a babysitter for one evening and headed to the Oceans Course for an evening out.  This, again, is an absolutely breathtaking spot.

Kiawah has a great nature center that features some of the local animals and lets the kids have a "hands on" learning experience.  This is definitely not my daughter but she loved the corn snake.

Mr. Caleb was one happy dude when he got to help hold the alligator.  We saw quite a few alligators around which made mama nervous and the kids excited.

Sweet Eveley is a competitive soul who loves to try anything.  She did an awesome job scaling this rock wall.

I'm not sure when I will be able to take a family photo where everyone participates.  But, for now, I will take what I can get.

This vacation, our first alone as a family, was a success.  We all enjoyed our stay and made many memories together.  The kids were very sad to leave but we vowed to return soon.

When I went to check on the kids before heading to bed, I found Mr. Jack who must have missed his sisters.