Spring Break 2015 - Hilton Head Island, SC

Last Friday we drove 4 1/2 hours to Hilton Head Island.

After some beach time, we checked into our villa, ate a quick lunch and went to the pool.

Talk about beautiful. I just feel in love with this island.

After swimming, we explored the grounds around our place. There were turtles everywhere.

We also saw tons of egrets. And they let you get so close before flying away.

We walked down to Coligny Plaza, or downtown Hilton Head, to look around and eat dinner.

Then one last walk on the beach before heading in for the night.

The next morning, Josh and I took an early walk to a coffee shop, around some neighborhood streets and to the beach. Then we got the crew and headed to a northern beach called Folly Field.

Benny loved running in the waves. He didn't care a bit that the water was cold.

Next we went to the Coastal Discovery Museum. The kids are looking at crabs off the boardwalk.

Family picture under the live oak with spanish moss.

These beautiful trees were everywhere on the island.

Looks like someone added extra moss to this tree. It can't be natural!

So beautiful.

Next we headed to Sea Pines and Harbor Town. This is what the streets look like as you're driving. Wow!

Here we are in Harbor Town eating ice cream, listening to live music, under the lighthouse.

The iconic Hilton Head lighthouse.

After checking out some huge yaucts in the harbor, we stopped by a playground. The kids favorite part was this low growing tree.

Before leaving we walked out to the end of the pier and saw dolphins! They were tough to photograph.

While still in Sea Pines, we headed to another iconic Hilton Head location for dinner...The Salty Dog Cafe. Picture taken by Addy.

After dinner we walked around and listened to some live music. We even got to see more dolphins.

Sunday morning we woke up before the sun to find some treasures on the beach. Josh rescued this horseshoe crab. We also saw a huge dead turtle, one of it's fins was bit off. Our best finds were sand dollars and crabs.

We returned to Sea Pines to visit the free petting zoo at Lawton Stables.

This deer wanted to leave with Joyce.

Silly goat. How'd he get up there? This farm was one of the cleanest I've ever seen.

Next we went down the road to the Sea Pines Nature Preserve for some hiking. It was a much different forest than we are used to with palms and spanish moss.

In the forest we explored an ancient indian area, then came to several lakes.

We were excited to see our first alligator ever!

There were tons of these blue herons on the island too. I have pictures of Addy standing only a few feet away.

A field of wild flowers. This island's got it all. I wish we could have explored this area more but the kids got tired of walking.

As a vacation tradition, we had to fit in a game of mini putt. We walked to this one from our villa. The kids played great together on the hole behind the adults so we could keep score and play seriously.

Hilton Head was my favorite place we visited. So lush and beautiful. To me it is very close to paradise.