Little Saint Simon's Island

The latter part of the week we had the fortune of being the beneficiaries of my dad's birthday present to himself.  He wanted to get the whole family together at one of his favorite places, Little Saint Simon's Island, so he flew all of us to Georgia for the perfect springtime vacation.  I've been to the island on a couple of special occasions.  It is an amazing place that I recommend to any nature lover who is looking for a relaxing place to get away from everything.  The island can house only 30 guests at a time and has a staff of amicable naturalists and fabulous chefs to keep your sense of adventure active and your palate happy.  We spent our days birding, beach combing, learning about the natural history of the island, fishing, kayaking, boating, biking, and hiking.  If the mosquitos had not been present we would have enjoyed the PERFECT time.  We had an amazing time, but are still scratching our many bites.  :)  

A rare Houston Family photo

This is a view of the lodge (where meals are served) from the Helen House (where we stayed on this trip)

The Helen House 

Courtyard of the Helen House

Living room of the Helen House

It's pretty amazing to have an entire beach all to yourself.  

Jeff perfected his skim boarding technique on this trip!

They said that the water was a bit warmer here on LSSI than on Tybee, but it was still way too cold for my blood!  Not for these two though...

We took advantage of the skiffs and took Quinn out on a couple of boat rides.  He didn't really like sitting still...

 ...but loved hanging over the side of the boat.  Thank goodness for Aunt Colleen!

A horrible photo of me, but it proves that I was on this trip too.  Guess this is one of the hazards of always being the one with the camera.

Quinn even got to try his hand at driving the boat.  :)

The beach road at Sunrise 

I went out one morning just after sunrise to photograph a Great Egret Colony in the morning light.  Andy road his bike out to find me and I snapped this photo of him from my beach cruiser.

Stacia, one of the naturalists helps us identify the many shorebirds on the north end of the island.

Quinn got sick of birding and went exploring with Nana

On meals were generally served in the lodge, but one afternoon we had a picnic low country boil on the creek.

Somehow the staff learned that it was Dad's birthday trip and brought him a flaming chocolate cake after dinner on our last evening.  Happy Birthday, GoGo!

On our last morning on the island we got up extra early to watch the sunrise on the beach.

Andy, ever the photographer snaps a photo of Colleen.  Can't wait to see his pictures from this trip!

Dad with the naturalist, Ben, contemplating the rising sun? 

The truck ride back to breakfast.  As long as we were moving we were happily mosquito free! 

The creek and the boat docks.

Andy and Quinn share a moment on the porch swing as we await our boat for the return trip.   

One of my favorite things about this trip was getting back into my nature (bird) photography hobby.  It feels like it's been ages since I really spent any time  photographing anything besides that cute kid of mine, and it felt great to be out there with a camera trying to capture some beauty.  Here are a couple of my favorite pictures from the trip.  The egret was taken at a nesting site early in the morning as the sun was coming up.  The next photo was taken on our last morning on the island as we watched the sun rise on the beach.  If you'd like to see the rest of the bird photos they are all in a set on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/5blackcats/sets/72157629260331050/

It was great having a whole week to relax and spend time with family.  I'd like to make it a priority to have an annual gathering of the Houston clan someplace....already thinking about where to go next!!  :)  Thanks for the great trip, Mom, Dad, Andy, Colleen, Jeff and Quinn.

Tybee Island, Georgia

We spent the first part of last week at my parents' friends' beach house on Tybee Island, Georgia.  Tybee is just minutes away from Savannah, where my parents (aka Nana and GoGo) live.  The weather could not have been better.  It was sunny and warm and even though the ocean was too cold for my blood the boys all had a great time playing in the water and swimming.  Quinn was absolutely content at the beach and spent a lot of time entertaining himself splashing in the "duck pond" (tidal pool), throwing shells into the water, and running from the waves.  We need to remember to take him to the beach more often here in San Diego...

The start of the run through the "duck pond"

A little father-son screaming contest.  I think Quinn won this one.  He usually does.

Gathering a shell to return it to the ocean.  

Aunt Colleen and Uncle Andy were a huge hit with Quinn on this trip.  Colleen spent lots of time playing the game of running and jumping into the water followed by a sprint back to the towel only to immediately get back up to run back into the waves.

Then Uncle Andy rose from the depths of the Atlantic to join in the game.  

Whew, These Boys are Wild!

A full Saturday spent with the cuz means some wild times for these two.  They are like little tornadoes.  In constant motion!  Just watching them fly around the house/yard is enough to exhaust any normal human.  It was a beautiful day today, so the boys got to have a lot of fun splashing in the water.

I'm not sure we've mentioned it yet on the blog, but we have a new nephew.  Kellan John Shea is now 3 weeks old and appears to be the calmest, most easy-going kid around.  Maybe he won't get the wild gene from his big brother and cousin.  :)

Jeffrey is the biggest kid of all.  He enjoys ambushing the boys with the hose.  Nice!  

  

The shovels were also a bit hit today.  

A good day was had by all.  Quinn did not want to come home, but alas, all good things must come to and end.  Thinking we'll enjoy a nice quiet day tomorrow.  :)