Just Us: Hilton Head

Donna and Bob invited us to spend time with them in Hilton Head again this year. Chris, Shannon and Emma were there too and we celebrated Emma's sixth birthday there. As always we had fun.

Hilton Head in June is hot, muggy and buggy, but it was worth it. I spent a lot of time inside in the air conditioning, but with all of the large windows, I could see activity on the golf course in the back and in the pool in the backyard.

Dixie used the windows to guard the house from small squirrels and frogs. She and Emma were great playmates.

Emma had a great birthday. Kids today have these mystery things called LOL's. It's layers of wrapping and you have no idea what is inside. Typically, it is some sort of small plastic animal or cute doll that is about 2 inches tall. The wrapping is like confetti and you have to watch where you are opening them. Don't do it in the car!

Donna, Shannon, Emma and I massaged the South Carolina economy again and had lunches out while "the guys" golfed and napped.

We took our new toy, Alexa with us. Alexa is a voice controlled personal assistant. She can tell you jokes, sing happy birthday, play music that you like, make lists, program reminders, answer questions and in general, out smart you. We got it to (I can't think of the word, I have to ask Alexa...) supplement....that's the word...supplement our collective memory. More and more, Tony and I are finding ourselves saying....."um, you know what I mean..." or, "what was the name of the guy in that movie?"

Of course, Alexa doesn't know everything, which in and of itself, is annoying, but we are finding that a lot depends on how you ask her questions. You have to say, "Alexa...play music by David Lonz," instead of just, "play David Lonz." She is teaching us how to treat her!

We have barely scratched the surface of her capabilities. If we had a "smart" house (controlled by an IPhone) she could turn lights on and off, lock doors and all kinds of stuff. For now, we are happy just to have her play music from our era while we sit in the lanai.

Speaking of the lanai, we are going to make it a 3 seasons room. The screens and current door will come out and new windows and a door will go in. Not glass windows, but more like vinyl.

June is flying by and we will be in Cleveland for Sarah's bridal shower on June 24. David, Brenda and Alexandra are coming in for Father's Day and of course, my camera isn't working. I'll have to be content to take "phone pictures" and have Tony transfer them to our computer.

Alex, at 8 months, is taking swimming lessons (or, I guess, water acceptance lessons...) and seems to enjoy them. I can't wait to see her in our pool. I took the opportunity to find 4 bathing suits for her to model there! I'm sure she will be the cutest one at the pool.

I'm still working more hours than I had anticipated. Again, we are down 3 people and are in our high volume season of tourists. So far, we have seen 5 people who have fallen into oyster shells, 3 who have fallen on the slippery decks of their big boats, 2 with severe sunburns, 1 with heat stroke and several toddlers who have burns on their feet from walking on hot sand. So far, no snake bites, but it's just a matter of time!

And so, I'm off....it's time to get my nails done before Alex gets here!

Here are some pictures from Hilton Head before my camera died.