Family Vacation

Even with all the traveling we had already done in July, we were still excited for our family trip – or as Ty likes to say, “Adventure” that we had planed almost a year ago. 

Our trip includes a night stay in Savannah, GA (because it is half way to Florida), 3 nights in Florida and 3 nights in Hilton Head, SC. 

Chris returned from training in WY for his job late Wednesday night, so we got a late morning start on Thursday to Savannah.  We were not sure exactly what we would see when we got there.  After we checked in to our hotel, I looked at the city map and found a Roundhouse Train station Museum.  I knew we couldn’t go wrong there.  Unfortunately, it was closed when we got there, but the gates were still open, so we went in and walked around and let Ty look at the trains.  He wanted to climb on the trains, however, the signs said no climbing.  This is one positive for him being able to read – we have him read signs and then he does a better job of following directions.  For the rest of the trip, he continued to tell us, “Next time when we go to the train museum, we will tell them to change the signs so you can climb on the trains.”

Ty did not want to leave the train yard, even when we informed him that we had seen everything, he insisted that we still had more to see.  We finally convinced him it was time to go.  We headed to the water front and found a parking spot.  We were starving, so our first priority was to eat.  After walking along the riverfront, we decided on Huey’s.  We were very pleased with the choice.  We tried the fried green tomatoes which were good, but not quite what we thought it would be.  Then we shared their crab cakes – they were some of the best that we have had.  Kylan enjoyed the corn bread and sweet potato fries.  He is basically eating anything we will give him.  Ty enjoyed the corn bread and rice and beans. 

After dinner, we walked along the river front and watched the boats and ships go by. 

We completed the evening with some gelato on the riverfront before it began to rain.  When we asked Ty what his favorite part of the day was, we thought sure he would say the train museum, however, he surprised us and said, “Eating ice cream and watching the boats.”

Friday we continued our journey south to Florida.  We stopped at the St. Augustine outlets along the way, which led to a late arrival in Orlando that evening due to additional delay of traffic in Orlando.  We had booked a hotel with a water slide and had already told Ty he could play in it.  Although we checked in at 9:30, Ty was still ready to go swimming.  So Chris and Ty headed to the pool at 10 PM and I put Kylan to bed.  Ty enjoyed “swimming” and the water slide.

Ty enjoyed jumping in to dad in between the slide. 

Saturday – August 1 – HAPPY BIRTHDAY TY!

Ty was very excited for his birthday and had informed us a month early that instead of a Thomas cake, he wanted an Henry cake this year.  When I asked him if he wanted a Gordon cake instead since he is #4, he said no, just a Henry cake.  The day before we left, he inquired if I would be bringing his cake on our trip.  I laughed and told him that would not work, but I’m sure we would find a cake for him. 

Even though we didn’t get to bed until midnight, we arose early (not as early as planned, but still early) Saturday morning to pack up and head to Disneyworld. 

Ty was just a bit excited and wide awake, despite the short night sleep and early morning wake up.  After packing the car and grabbing breakfast, we arrived at Hollywood studios at 8:30.  Ty received a Birthday badge to wear all day from which the Disney staff would tell him “Happy Birthday” every time they saw him.  In addition, we got the Birthday fast passes – which really helped us from not having to wait in any lines. 

Like the majority of individuals, we headed straight to Toy Story Mania.  We fast passed and then went to the other side of the park and walked right on for Star Tours and Muppets 3D.  Ty and I went on Star Tours while Chris waited with Kylan.  As we exited, I asked if he liked it, he said yes.  “Do you want to go again with Dad?” “No, I am all done with that one.”  So we moved on to the Muppets Show.  Ty really enjoyed this one and laughed out loud.  Kylan enjoyed the bubbles the most. 

We met up with our friends the Weatherspoons and went back to Toy Story.  Chris had Kylan this time and I rode with Ty.

I tried to get Ty to keep the aim down, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Since our last visit 8 months ago, Ty had grown 2 inches and could now go on more rides, including Twilight Tower of Terror.  So I took Ty and Sydney on our fast passes while the others stayed behind.  Ty had no idea what he was in for.  He did fine, but after the first drop, was holding on and leaning into me.  I asked if he wanted to go again with dad, but stated that he did not. 

Ty quickly warmed up to the Weatherspoons and spent more time with them holding one of their hands versus us. 

We headed back to Toy Story for Chris and Mike to challenge each other on who could get the higher score.  We let Ty and Jake ride together – they had fun, but definitely did not get the high scores.  Sydney rode with me and Kendra was kind enough to wait outside with Kylan.  I actually ended up with a higher score than both Chris and Mike:)

Next, we just caught the next show of Playhouse Disney which Ty enjoys because there is a segment about the Little Einstein's.  I sat out with Kylan to feed him.  I thought Ty would stand with one of the Einstein's since he had talked about it all month, but he just wanted to look at them.  At least he got closer this time than in January. 

We caught 2 more shows – Indiana Jones and the Stunt Show.  Both were a nice break as they were both shaded and allowed us to snack and have a little seated break.  Ty wasn’t as interested in the Indiana Jones show, but really liked the stunt show with the cars. 

After the Stunt show, the Weatherspoons had to leave.  We returned to Toy Story where we each rode with Ty while Kylan slept.  Then it was time for lunch.  We took the boat over to Epcot and finally decided on Nine Dragons.  Ty received a cake for his Birthday and a Birthday card in Chinese. 

Ty decided to be creative and blow the candle out through the straw – which actually worked well.

It was a ginger cake, that was not to sweet.  Ty ate it right down.

We rode the Nemo ride before we left.  Ty enjoyed observing the fish and manatee.  At this point, Ty had developed a blister and said he was done, but then quickly said he wanted to stay.  So we hopped on the monorail to the Magic Kingdom.  We went straight to the Splash Mt and Thunder Mt.  We did Rider switch on Splash Mt so Ty rode twice in a row and we got right on both times.  Ty really enjoyed that ride and requested to go again.  Ty also enjoyed Thunder Mt, and we took turns riding that with him.  With me, he got adventurous and followed the people in front of us by raising his hands and screaming, but only for a few seconds. 

From here, we rode the train over to Toon Town so Ty could ride the Goofy Coaster.  We went into the store and let Ty pick out a toy.  After over a half hour of looking, he decided on a train – big surprise.  It is a miniature replica of the Thunder Mt. engine with Mickey as the engineer. 

As we left, we got caught in the crowd for the Light Parade and decided to just sit and watch versus fight through the crowd.  Then we made our way out of the park.  Kylan was asleep before we hit the parade.  We watched the fireworks from the seats of our bus that would take us to our car at Hollywood Studios.  Ty was out before we pulled away in the bus.  Fortunately the both slept as we drove out to Melbourne to stay with the Weatherspoons. 

We enjoyed our brief visit with the Weatherspoons from Sunday until we left Monday morning.  Ty enjoyed playing with Jake and Sydney and their toys.  Kylan enjoyed watching their dog Buddy. 

As we left Monday morning, Ty invited them to come to Hilton Head with us.  He didn’t quite understand why they could not come. 

Monday we drove up to Hilton Head were we stayed until Thursday. 

Tuesday morning we made our way to Coligny beach were we spent the morning.  Ty headed straight to the water.  Kylan was not quite sure about the ocean, so we found an area that had a shallow strip of water that was really warm.  Kylan splashed and played with our beach ball, while Ty filled his bucket with sand and water.

Kylan struggled with keeping his hat on.  He would pull it off faster, than we could put it back on.

Ty enjoyed playing in the water fountains at the entrance to the beach as we left.  Kylan watched with jealousy.

Wednesday we enjoyed the morning at the beach again. 

Kylan did a much better job keeping his hat on this day.  He was satisfied playing with the water toys on the towel while Dad and Ty were playing in the ocean. 

Chris tried to build a sand castle with Ty a few times.  Just when Chris had a few stacks down, Ty, decided to crush them with his foot. 

Kylan warmed up to the ocean better today and actually enjoyed splashing as the waves rolled in.

 

Ty enjoyed walking out as far as he could stand without the water going over his head and then running back out as the waves followed him.

 

Wednesday afternoon we went into Sea Pines/Harbor Town area.  We had a great lunch at Truffles Cafe.  Kylan loved the sweat potato fries. 

After lunch we drove down to Harbor Town.  We went up to the top of the Lighthouse – 114 steps. 

Ty ran around the top a handful of times and then announced he was done.  We let him pick out something to take with him.  He found a miniature lighthouse replica and I convinced him to get it as a Christmas ornament.

We went out on a Dolphin Nature Cruise on the Vagabond boat.

Here it is coming into port for our trip.  Ty decided he wanted to sit at the back of the boat versus on top or in front. 

We followed a shrimp boat and got great views of hundreds of dolphins.  The boat then took us to some areas around Daufuskie Island and then back to Harbor Town.

The haunted Lighthouse of Daufuskie island.

Thursday morning, we woke the boys up at 6:20 to catch the sunrise on the beach. 

 

Not quite the same reaction or energy as the morning we went to Disney, but I still got him to smile.

Kylan, our morning baby, was quite happy and smiley. 

We took a short walk down the beach enjoying the pleasant morning before heading back to pack up at the hotel.  Along the way, we came across this crab that had gotten flipped by the waves.

He rolled himself back over with the help of a few waves.

As we left the island, we stopped at the Tanger Outlets for some shopping before the drive home.  Ty and Kylan had one of their best travel days, sleeping 2 hours.  Unfortunately, we had to stop and get gas, which caused them both to wake up.  I’m sure we could have gotten at least a half hour more if they hadn’t woken up. 

Ty is already planning the “Next time” we go to Disney world and Hilton Head:)