Kiawah...Michael style

Michael...sweet, adventurous, fearless, funny Michael. He is the only one of my kids who didn't remember going to Kiawah. His delight in rediscovering it was tear-inducing, it was so joyful. Here he is jumping into the waves for the first time:

We were actually nervous that first night. He was unstoppable. Waves knocked him over, crashed into his face...and he just wiped his eyes and kept going out. Luckily, we had many many adults with us, so he was always closely monitored. But whatever anyone else did, Mike wanted to do. If he saw Pepere going out to ride waves with a boogie board, he went up and retrieved a boogie board and chased down Pepere to join him (he was not allowed...which also led to many a tantrum on the beach). He also loved chasing birds, digging holes, driving his trucks in the sand, picking up gross things that washed up, and eating. Michael took more snack breaks on the beach than anyone. In one morning he would easily have 4 snacks and several waters/ juices. He just didn't want to miss a thing...so if someone was having a snack? Michael did too.

Michael also loved the bike riding. On one path, you pass by the fire station, and he was thrilled. Imagine his delight when we went to the little shopping center to get ice cream and the fire trucks were all lined up and on display! He was a little nervous too, as you can see here:

Here's another bike ride...to the marshes. We unfortunately didn't get the littles into the bike carrier until late in the week. They loved it and we wish we'd been taking them out all week. Ah, well. In this picture, Michael is pointing the way. He always points with his hand right at his face.

Michael did a lot of bonding with his cousin. Colin was just the coolest big kid around. Unfortunately for Colin, he was very good at amping Michael up, but then he got the brunt of hyper Michael's flailing, throwing madness. Michael just wanted to do everything that Colin did. Here they are goofing around on the back porch/mosquito diner.

You put a chair in the water? I think I will too!

Michael and Uncle Greg bonded a lot. Greg was like putty when Mikey was around. He loved to make Michael laugh and Michael was happy to oblige. Here is Greg "falling asleep" on Michael while watching tv.

We don't have enough pictures of it, but playing in the sand was a big part of the day. Michael managed to get some of the big kids involved as well. He's so cute, all of us are willing to do his bidding.

One day on the beach next to us, a family was driving a remote control car around. Michael wandered over and the next thing you know, he was helping drive it! This child is charming, I'll say. Everyone is powerless against those big blue eyes. A few days later he recognized the family (even though the tide was too high to drive the car) and bolted right over. He said, "I wan roun and roun." and then started running in a circle moving his hands like an imaginary steering wheel. They were ready to adopt him.

He went on the boys day to Patriot's Point and was...energetic. From what I hear, he was super excited about each new plane/room/whatever, enjoyed it for approximately 2.5 seconds, and then ran to the next thing. A bit nerveracking when you are way up on an aircraft carrier and it is a looooong way down to the water.

Oh, Michael. It was fun to see Kiawah for the first time through your eyes. I'm sure you won't forget it anymore! You already keep pointing to South Carolina on our US placemat and say, "Dat's the beach. Let's go again!"