The Smiths: Spring Break 2017: Kiawah Island & Charleston

April 1-7

This year we spent Spring Break on Kiawah Island in South Carolina. We were fortunate to rent a beautiful house with two other couples and their families. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and the kids ran around the house exploring the 3 floors (imagine the opening scene to Real World and that is what our house looked like.) We then walked across the street to see the beach and ocean. Just checking out the ocean turned into all the kids soaking wet, swimming in their clothes. Later, after unpacking, we returned to the beach with the kids in their swim suits for a sunset walk. The Necker's arrived while we were walking on the beach.

South Carolina Visitor's Center

Our rental for the week

They were so happy to be back at the beach

The tidal pools were filled with hermit crabs

Claire

Ryan explaining all of his finds to O

Kate and Elia made it!

Neckers family made it to the beach just in time for the sun to set!

Sunday morning Owen, Ryan and I made it to the beach in time to watch the sunrise. We were a bit early and wandered around finding different treasures while we waited. The rest of the day was spent boogie boarding and exploring Kiawah and James Islands. We visited Night Heron Park and Nature Center, and stopped at Rhett's Bluff which had a beautiful view of the Marsh. We ended our travels with a stop at Freshfields Market where they had the cutest ice cream shop.

After breakfast the kids were ready to go back to the beach

Owen and Noah loved the pool

It was a beautiful day for boogie boarding

Rhett's Bluff

Night Heron Nature Center

Monday the guys went on a fishing trip in the morning. We took the 6 kiddos to the beach and it could not have been a more perfect morning for it. Owen and Noah boogie boarded while the rest of the kids played in the shoreline and sand. When the guys returned form their trip Kate, Kiki and I headed into Charleston for lunch, drinks, and a carriage tour of downtown.

Erik's catch... a blue crab

Tuesday morning all the boys were awake and asking to go for a sunrise walk. Unfortunately it was overcast. We didn't get to see the sunrise, but we did find a few treasures. The boys were most exited about finding the shell of a horseshoe crab. After breakfast we all headed into downtown Charleston. We started the day at the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry. As usual the kids loved every minute of it. We walked to the Noisy Oyster for lunch. After lunch we drove down to the Battery. We have driven around White Point Park several times in the past, but this was the first time we explored this park. The kids loved seeing all the different cannons and cannonballs. After leaving the park we headed over the Ravenel. We stopped for the kids to play at the playground before going to IOP to visit our normal beach. The wind prevented us from swimming, as we had planned so we ended up in my favorite spot, Shem Creek. We enjoyed a delicious dinner with a gorgeous view of the water.

Sunrise crew

First sand dollar find

B was so proud of this shell

The boys were excited to find the dead horseshoe crab on our walk

The Ravenel Bridge from the top of the parking garage

The "spooky stairs" at the children's museum

Wells loved this fire truck!

O spent a lot of time building his own fort

The water table was a hit

King B

Elia, Kate, and Wells took a break to grab a quick photo with me. I adore these faces!

The boys spotted this fountain on our walk to lunch.

The Andersons

I wanted one nice picture...

We found Rainbow Row on our way out of downtown

Crossing Ravenel Bridge

The boys love the playgound under the Ravenel

My happy place... Shem Creek. We enjoyed a delicious dinner with a gorgeous view.

Wednesday morning started off with B tripping on the front step with Owen falling over him and down the brick stairs.... all before 8 am. Once recovered we headed to Folly Beach to catch a boat tour out to Morris Island. A storm blew in and forced us to beach closer to the lighthouse then the company normally stops. While on the island we found countless sand dollars, large shells, and we saw two horseshoe crabs mating. The kids loved the wide open space to run and play. After the tour we returned to the house for lunch and pool time. A huge storm blew in that night, but was gone by the morning.

We watched this dolphin playing while waiting to board the boat

Elia & Kate

Noah, Ryan and B

The pelicans were following the crabbing boats

Wells was fascinated by the helicopter flying above the boat

Kate, Elia, Claire, and Kiki

This area had dolphins everywhere. They were so close to our boat at one point you could hear them taking their breaths.

Then it started to rain... we had to huddle super close for a few minutes

The Neckers

Elia was so excited to find a sand dollar

We found two horseshoe crabs mating

Noah found a ton of sand dollars

B and his sand dollar

I'm still not sure what this was that Ryan found... it was gross

Owen with his sand dollar find

The Andersons

B rushed back to tell the captain all about his finds

B was so proud of himself for getting his cheese stick in this photo.

shipwreck from a hurricane

The kids were beyond fascinated with the lady who magically appeared on the back deck to clean the pool.

Thursday was the last full day on Kiawah Island. It was a beautiful morning for a walk on the beach with the boys. When I returned to the house I went for a nice walk with the Kate and her babes. I went to lunch at the Bohicket Marina with the boys. Erik finally got his Lowcountry broil and I had some of the best fish I've ever eaten. We attempted to boogie board in the afternoon, but the wind was too much so we spent the afternoon enjoying the pool. We ended the day by going for a sunset beach walk.

This paved path to the ocean was across the street from our rental

Friday morning Owen, Ryan and I raced for the beach and we made it with two minutes to spare for the last sunrise of spring break. We returned to the house for breakfast and to finish packing. We were loaded up in the car by 8:30 and spent the day driving back to Michigan. We arrived home just after midnight.