Miriam's Birthday

We celebrated Miriam's birthday on a couple of different days. On the 21st we had dinner and cupcakes with Trevor and Robyn's family. (We only got a video that day. I really need to do better.) On the 23rd we celebrated her actual birthday the only way our kids know how, bowling and lunch at Chick-fil-A. This was the first time Levi showed interest in bowling, so we let him push the ball down the lane. It was a pretty busy day at the bowling alley and there were not any ramps left for the kids. Miriam and Simon actually did really well without it. Levi only bowled one game while Miriam and Simon bowled 2 games. First game scores: Miriam 73, Simon 62, Levi 85. Second game scores: Miriam 82 and Simon 52.

This year Miriam requested spaghetti carbonara for dinner. After dinner Michael's parents came over with Elizabeth and Rebecca for presents and dessert. Miriam got a lot of fun things for her birthday including a new haircut (and looking back at these pictures I realized she had three different hairstyles in one day)!

Miriam wanted crème brûlée for dessert, a girl after my own heart.

I had a couple of videos to share, but our computer is wacko. I can only get this one to work, so pretend there is a cute video of the kids bowling and of Miriam opening gifts also.

Miriam's Birthday Video

Levi is walking

Hunting Island State Park

On our way home from South Carolina we made one more stop at Hunting Island State Park. We read about it being really good for finding seashells and shark teeth. Miriam collected a lot of really great shells. However, we didn't find any shark teeth. Simon's main plan was to see how many things he could throw into the ocean. We were soaking up every last bit of sea breeze.

right as we were getting ready to leave we spotted a horseshoe crab

Due to a later than planned start that morning we ended up not having time to see the lighthouse. Ever since we saw the lighthouse last year in San Diego, Miriam has been interested in lighthouses. She was sad we didn't have time, so we quickly stopped and took her picture in front of it.

Here is our video from our morning at Hunting Island:

Hilton Head SC - Beach Time and Everything Else

This is the rest of the bits and pieces of our vacation to Hilton Head Island.

on our way to the beach

Michael and his Dad took Miriam and Simon fishing at a pond on our resort property.

Michael went golfing with his Dad and brothers-in-law.

And last but certainly not least, the food. One of our favorite parts of vacation is checking out local restaurants and food spots.

My friend Stephanie suggested we try Stu's

big family dinner at Hudson's

third trip to Kilwin's since arriving in South Carolina

Michael's parents watched the all grandkids so the siblings and spouses could go out to dinner.

since we thought the picture inside didn't turn out, we tried for a group selfie outside; both failed

Despite sunburn, sickness, teething, rain, a huge chip in our windshield, and hitting a skunk... we enjoyed our vacation!
Here are the last of the video clips from our week in Hilton Head South Carolina: