Luke's First Birthday in Hilton Head

 For Luke's first birthday, we decided to skip the traditional birthday party and pack up the car and head down to the beach instead.  Luke loves playing outside so we figured that he would have no better birthday than one at Hilton Head where there is always a surplus of outdoor activities.   

 We packed up the car to the brim, turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and hit the road at 4:00pm on Tuesday.  After 6+ hours of Mickey on repeat, we finally made it to HHI and my ears could not be more thankful that I didn't have to hear one more minute of the Hot Dog Song. While Luke loves to dance to the Hot Dog Song, I think even he was over it by that point ha!

 The house had recently been remodeled and Luke loved breaking in the new hard woods with his walker.  He LOVED the openness of the house and was constantly zipping around the room. It made me really appreciate an open floor plan with children and know that will be on my wish list for our next home. 

Another thing Luke loved was crawling on the beach!  He loved how wide open the beaches are at Hilton Head and all the little tide pools that he could play in.  It was so fun watching him explore and take in all the new sights!

 He was an absolute water baby and fearless when it came to the ocean.  He would crawl straight into the ocean without even the slightest hesitation!  We joked that he was like a baby sea turtle heading home because every time we would take him up the beach away from the water, the second we put him down he was crawling right back towards it.  He also discovered that he loved the taste of sand this trip.  We were constantly washing his mouth out and wiping off his little hands.

On Luke's actual birthday, we decided to go to Lawton Stables in Sea Pines and hit up the petting zoo.  It was absolutely amazing and he loved all the animals. It was so clean and nice and somewhere that we will definitely go each time we visit HHI. 

 Luke was so fascinated with the animals and especially loved the horses.  I was kind of shocked that he liked them due to their size but it turned out to be one of his favorites.

 The billy goat made Luke a little nervous and he decided to just look at him instead of touch him! ha

 There was the sweetest deer there that followed your around the petting zoo.  It wore a collar and had the personality of a dog.  John actually said that it made him feel guilty about hunting because it was so sweet! Hopefully it will change his mind about hunting forever! Poor Bambi!

 Besides having the petting zoo,  Lawton Stables also had horse back riding .  Luke loved watching the "big kids" ride around the property on the mini horses.  It was too cute!

Later that day, we took a bike ride down to Harbor Town to play on the play ground.  Luke loved every thing about it.  From the bike ride to the swings, to the boat in the harbor, he was in love!

 Last but not least, it was cupcake time!  Luke was loving every minute of playing with his cupcake and managed to make a huge mess!  It was all over him and the floor but hey that's what first birthday's are all about......Having fun smashing cupcakes and licking frosting!

We had such a wonderful time celebrating our sweet baby boy and cant wait to do it again next year!  We love you so much Luke and thank God every day for the many blessings you brought to our family! Happy Birthday Bug!!

xoxo!