Coming off the heels of an action packed, full filled birthday for Hunter, we were all ready for a chill resort day at Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort. Although we were all exhausted, this was unfortunately Kee and Colonel’s last day at the resort, so we wanted to get a few things in before we had to say our goodbyes. Luckily for everyone, today was the warmest projected day of our entire week at Hilton Head, so we gladly donned our shorts and t-shirts for the occasion.
Colonel and I went for our morning bike ride on the beach, followed by our tradition of getting breakfast at the General Store on the bike ride back to the resort. I am not exactly sure how they do it, but they are able to whip up some delicious breakfast sandwiches and platters in the small back corner of the convenience store that rivals any other breakfast on the island. This was Colonel and I’s second attempt at getting breakfast during their short stay, but unfortunately they weren’t serving breakfast on our first attempt. We grabbed our breakfast goodies and plopped down on the picnic table just outside the store to enjoy our breakfast and the beautiful morning weather. Emily had placed a to-go order before we left so we picked that up and biked back to the resort.
When we returned to the resort, the boys were busy building the LEGO sets that Hunter got for his birthday. It is amazing how fast they can fly through the instruction booklets and put a complete set together. Emily enjoyed her breakfast and got ready for the day.
Emily and Kee had one more store that the wanted to visit just outside the resort so Colonel and I took the boys and a deck of cards down to the pool area for a friendly game of 31. Hunter has been really into cards lately and enjoys the friendly competition, and profit potential, of 31 with Colonel. We played a couple games and then made our way upstairs to the Community Center to play a few board games while we awaited Kee and Emily’s return.
The lunch bell was ringing when Kee and Emily arrived at the Community Center so we headed over to enjoy lunch at the Tide Me Over quick service location. Waiting for our food provided the perfect opportunity for Hunter to hit up the gift shop that was right next to the order window because he had some birthday money that was burning a hole in his pocket. He had been eying up a fancy Mickey Mouse watch the day prior, and he decided that was what he wanted to get with his money.
After lunch we walked down to our traditional photo spot located at the tree by the waterfront area where they send out the kayaks and where Hunter enjoys catching the tiny crabs. The afternoon was beautiful as we sat on the Adirondack chairs that overlook the water. The boys had a blast digging in the rocks and sand. We took the opportunity to capture some photos of everyone as we enjoyed our last hour with Kee and Colonel. Since it was time for them to hit the road, we walked them back to the main building for one last birthday gift opening that Emily had sent to the resort.
We arrived back at the resort lobby and confirmed with the front desk that they received the last gift for Hunter that Emily had been working on for the months leading up to our vacation. Emily has enjoyed making photo books for as long as I can remember. Since we take so many photos on our travel adventures, Emily has a gift for putting these photos into a story book for us to remember our trips. (Emily here: I’m only about ten years behind in books at this point.) She spends countless hours ensuring that she has selected the correct font, backgrounds, and colors from the ten thousand options, which often means the projects take quite a bit of her time. In recent years her close family members have had milestone birthdays for which Emily has created photo books for them highlighting their years on the planet. Emily decided that she wanted to do the same thing for the boys, and created her first milestone photo book for Hunter for his tenth birthday. Well, due to the fact that they have ten thousand backgrounds to choose from, Emily was burning the midnight oil to ensure that she completed this book by Hunter’s 10 birthday, instead of his high school graduation. For those that know Emily, she always completes projects that she sets her mind to, this one being no exception. Shutterfly had originally indicated that the book would arrive before we left for Hilton Head (BECAUSE I PAID FOR OVERNIGHT SHIPPING… Emily), but lo and behold, it didn’t make it before we left. Emily was able to divert the shipping to the resort and it arrived (ONE MILLION ANGRY EMAILS LATER) the day after Hunter’s birthday.
The front desk quickly located the item for us and we grabbed a spot on the couch in Big Murggie’s Den in the Live Oak Lodge so that Hunter could enjoy the book while Kee and Colonel were still there. You could tell as soon as he opened the package that he appreciated the fact that someone had put the time in to make him his own photo book. He flipped through the pages, commenting on his favorite photos and memories. It was the perfect final event before Colonel and Kee had to bid us farewell and head back to Orlando.
After Kee and Colonel left we returned to the room to hang out so Hunter could play with his new laptop and the adults could relax for a bit. Since the weather was as good as it was going to get during our stay, we took advantage of the late afternoon by putting on our suits and heading down to the pool area. We were grateful that the pool was heated as it provided just the right temperature balance for afternoon temperatures. Emily and I enjoyed a few pool drinks and the boys got some ice cream treats as the sun was working its way down the western skyline.
We enjoyed our time swimming and returned to our resort to get in our pajamas to stay in for the remainder of the evening. I headed out to Kroger to get a few additional items for dinner that we could enjoy with our reheated leftovers from the previous nights. We enjoyed our dinner on the back porch overlooking the sunset across the marsh area. After dinner the boys and I got the beds set up in the family room and popped in Iron Man that we had borrowed from the gift shop. It was the perfect ending to another great day at Disney’s Hilton Head Island Resort.
