Charleston Trip: Part 2

We had a lovely house in Isle of Palms just a block away from the beach. One of my favorite parts of the house was the pool in the backyard. It was great to come off the hot sticky beach and go for a refreshing dip in the pool. Nathan LOVED being in the water so often and as I posted here, really grew in his swimming skills. He enjoyed standing on the stairs and jumping in the water and turning around under water and heading back to the steps. He can almost do it by himself.

He also enjoyed jumping in to different family members and swimming under water to them. Another favorite... "Daddy, go under please"... "Zakk, go under please" It never got old to him!
While in Charleston, I celebrated my 29th bday! I share my birth date with my dad's sister and my mom's sister. Since we were vacationing with dad's family, Aunt Judy and I shared a birthday this year! We celebrated together, family style... all of us in a restaurant enjoying a 2 hour seafood meal. It was great. Thank you so much Ginga for the dinner, and thank you Aunt Judy for the earrings and for all the laughs! Thank you family for a great week and lots of great memories! A few pics from dinner... aren't these two beautiful? This is Ava Grace... 10 months younger than Nathan.

This is her sister Jenna, 10 months older than Nathan. They are sweet and snugly!
Here's a shot of all 16 of us gathered around the table.
Nathan eating calamari, although he called it octopus. NASTY!
The next day, Chad lined up a night away for us and we headed into downtown Charleston to stay at a lovely place called the Vendue Inn. He hooked us up with a BEAUTIFUL ROOM there! The bedroom had a huge and very high king size bed. This big bed and private bedroom was made especially lovely because we had been sharing a room with Nathan and my folks while in Charleston. We love you mom and dad, but a night in our own room was very nice! It was also nice to get out of a futon and sleep on a king.

The living room attached to the bedroom was really pretty. A little sitting area and fireplace made it super cozy.
We enjoyed a pre dinner cocktail at one of the rooftop bars downtown and it was so cozy. Just the two of us overlooking the city. Super sweet! Then we had a delightful dinner at FIG (Food Is Good) and enjoyed John's Island Roasted Tomato Tart-Tatin (oh my goodness this was to die for), Heirloom Potato Agnolotti, and Strube Ranch Wagyu Bistro Steak. It was delicious, but no evening is complete without dessert... so we walked several blocks to another restaurant and shared an orange creme brulee. A lovely evening that I'm not likely to forget! After a lovely night of sleep, we woke up late and enjoyed a full service breakfast Charleston style. Thank you Chad for each little detail you planned out! I loved it! Thank you mom and dad for keeping Nathan so that we could enjoy this time alone! Here's a picture of our room on the corner.
Happy Birthday to me! :)

A week before we left for the beach, I went to a tye dye place with my friend Bethany and the two kiddos. Due to the mess factor, we didn't take pictures of the process, but each of us tye dyes three shirts, one for each in our family! Aren't they cute!


Thank you Chad for being a good sport and wearing the colorful tye dye. :) I do expect to see you wear it again. Don't you guys think it looks great on him?