I know it’s been almost two weeks, but I’m still not over our recent vacation to Hilton Head Island! We went with my dad’s whole side of the family (which is a big crew), and we had such a great time! This was our first year with two busy babies, and lemme just say- we have two major beach babes on our hands!

I had polled over on Instagram and y’all wanted some toddler must-haves for the beach! That’s coming in a few days, but I just wanted to give a brief overview of our trip and share our photos- oooobviously.

Sidenote- we went on a Friday-Friday vacation, and it was the best. We so loved having a weekend after vacation to unpack before jumping right back into real life! Recommend this highly!

Where We Stayed

We stayed at the Island Links, and this was so nice because we were able to have 3 room suites! Since we were traveling as a large group, this let families room together but still have their own space. We stayed with my parents and my brother, sister in law, and sweet little niece. We were able to each have our own room. Olive slept in the second bed in our room and we brought the pack and play for Zoey. Admittedly I was a little nervous about the sleeping situation with the kiddos, but they did great!

My favorite part of the resort was the pool area. They had a large pool that was never overly crowded. Best part- they had a 0 depth entrance at one pace for the babies. I love not having to worry about steps and that there’s a small section for babies to just splash around on their own (adult supervision, obviously). There were some water features in this area, but the fenced in pool area also had a splash pad (which I loved originally, however, this was INCREDIBLY slippery and my kids fell multiple times, so we didn’t let them go there after a while).

The resort was right next to a golf course, which my husband, dad, and brother loved, and only a short bike ride from the beach (though they provided a shuttle to go back and forth). One of my favorite things about Hilton Head was the bike paths anywhere! With two babies, we didn’t take full advantage of them, but I can’t help but think of how fun it’ll be as the kids get a little older.

Where We Ate

Our rooms had kitchens which is nothing short of a necessity for a budgeting family (and hello, not trying to take 2 babies out to eat for 3 meals a day). We did breakfast and lunch in, as well as some dinners. There are so many great restaurants in Hilton Head! I don’t even think it’s possible to scratch the surface of the restaurants there! We did learn a key though- go out to eat early! I’m assuming this is pretty much the same standard at any vacation spot. But especially with a group of 9 people, we learned that if we didn’t get anywhere by 4:30/5- you were waiting a few hours.

Since it was mine and Dan’s anniversary while we were there, my parents gave us a date night. We went to a restaurant called The Old Oyster Factory, and y’all- it was SO. GOOD! It doesn’t open until 4:45, and we got there around 5:15. By the time we left around 6:30, it was PACKED! It has amazing floor to ceiling windows, though, so you can look out into the marshes, and it as just beautiful! They have a mix of seafood (and lots of oysters, obviously) and steakhouse items. I got crab cakes. If y’all are a fan of crab cakes, you know that sometimes they can have a lot of filler. These had no filler- just lumped crab meat. So amazing. Dan got a fried seafood medley and loved it. 10/10 would recommend!

We did pizza two nights (cause who doesn’t love pizza) from Guiseppie’s. We took a day trip to Savannah, then went 20 minutes to Tybee Island and ate at The Crab Shack. The atmosphere at this dive is unlike anywhere else. It’s outside on the water under huge trees. You’re seated at picnic tables with a trash can in the center. You literally are brought platters of seafood. It was unreal. Also- BEST PART- you could feed alligators. They had a gator lagoon, and you could buy packs of food and feed them. Oliver was in HEAVEN.

We had our last meal at Skull Creek Boathouse. This is apparently a really popular restaurant in Hilton Head. As a family of 9 we got there around 4:45. We were able to be seated right away, but by the time we left, there was a wait to get on a wait. It was crazy. But again, right on the water, seafood/steakhouse restaurant. So good. I mean, any place that has sweet potato waffle fries is alright in my book!

The Pictures

Ok, if you’re here, this is probably why you’re really here! I really did only take my camera to the beach with us, so I have some iPhone snaps added in. As much as I wish I had taken it with my more places to get some good shots, this vacation was truly great to just be in the moment and enjoy the time with my family! Since they live 8 hours away in PA, we don’t get this time often!

I was so worried about how Zoey would do with naps, but she fell asleep at the beach every day we were there! Praise the Loooord!

Oliver is such a little fish! Kid loved the water.

Mr brother and his sweet little fam!

This probably goes without saying, but HOLY COW do kids get literally COVERED in sand at the beach!

If I’m very honest with you…89% of the reason I bought this hat was for this picture. #noshame #doitforthegram

Sweet little cousins!

Can you even handle this?!

Had to insert these from our date night! Any man that deals with you and a tripod on your date night is a good man! Not pictured: the dozens of bug bites Dan endured for me to check out this location. Sorry babe!

Uncle Kory’s the best.

These kiddos have the best Gigi and Pops.

So grateful to my fam and all the help that they are to us on vacation with our two babies!

Have you been to Hilton Head?? If yes, tell me your favorite places! We’ll definitely be going back and I’d love to start a list of places we should try!

Have a phenomenal day!