My friend Amy, her husband Terry and their three daughters, Isabelle, Grace and Fiona came and spent a few days with us on their way to a resort on Myrtle Beach. Amy and I became fast friends in the 5th grade, took years of dance lessons together and have remained close all these years. She's funny, smart and kind and does one hell of a Janet Jackson dance impression!
They packed in as many activities as possible during their short stay: a picnic by the pool, the aquarium, a beach day at the Isle of Palms and the Children's museum. 
It was a fun filled three days—lots of giggles, gossip, good eating, beer, sun=sunburns and Irish step dancing. 
Uncle PJ and his girlfriend Eliza arrived late Thursday evening for a quick weekend visit. We stayed up late Thursday night talking and laughing and didn't go to bed until every beer in the house was gone!
Friday we nursed our hangovers at the pool all day and then rushed home to prepare for Currier's 3rd birthday party at the Mount Pleasant Fire Station that evening (we celebrated 2 weeks early because the fire station was booked for his actual birthday).
It was great to have PJ and Eliza here for the party. They were a big help—Eliza with holding Rya during the entire party and PJ with catering. The menu included Cajun Crab Stuffed Peppers, Green Bean Shrimp and Feta Salad, Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets, Boursin Cheese Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes, and a Fruit, Cheese and Cracker Tray. Pretty fancy fare for a 3-year-old's birthday party!
The kids had a great time. They crawled all over the fire truck and squirted the fire hose. The Mount Pleasant Firemen have the patience of saints and were wonderful with the kids. Currier said that it was the best day of his life—Aawww.
On Saturday we headed downtown Charleston for some shopping, sightseeing and lunch at the Charleston Crab House where we ate fried green tomatoes, crab cakes, raw oysters and crab legs. 
Saturday evening we ordered pizza from Mellow Mushroom and lounged on the couch with the dogs and watched Madagascar 2.
After a long Mother's Day thunderstorm nap (the best kind of nap!), PJ cooked a fantastic gourmet dinner that I can't stop thinking about! PJ and Eliza left early Monday morning and we miss them already. 
Our niece from Florida, Nyah, sent us her friend, Flat Stanley, for a school project. It was our pleasure showing Flat Stanley around so that he could go back to Florida and tell Nyah and her classmates all about his adventures in Charleston. The first place we took Flat Stanley was the USS Yorktown, a Navy aircraft carrier that served in the Pacific during World War II. It is the oldest surviving aircraft carrier still intact and is now a museum ship. We also took Flat Stanley to see another major local landmark of Charleston, the Cooper River Bridge, which has a main span of 1,546 feet, the longest among cable-stayed bridges in the Western Hemisphere. After sightseeing, Flat Stanley got hungry so we took him out for some local food called Gullah Cuisine. Gullah are African Americans who live in the Low Country of South Carolina. The Gullah Cuisine dishes that Flat Stanley tried were fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes and collard greens. After our delicious home cooked meal, Flat Stanley tried a Charleston Chew because you can't come to Charleston and not try one!
We also took Flat Stanley to Dunkin Donuts. Yeah, we know Dunkin Donuts has nothing to do with Charleston. We just really love the place! 
My cousin Cheryl and her friend Sue flew in from Massachusetts late Thursday evening for a long weekend visit. As we do with all of our guests, we treated them like VIPs and put them up in the most plush quarters.
On Friday morning, we woke to grey skies with bursts of sprinkles so we ditched any hopes of tanning by the pool or ocean and just took a ride to the Isle of Palms. It stopped raining long enough for us to dip our toes in the warm Atlantic and for Currier to jump in fully dressed. 
Friday evening, we had reservations at Fleet Landing, a seafood restaurant with an exceptional view of the Charleston harbor. While we waited for our table, we sat at the bar where Cheryl and Sue tried Mint Juleps for the first time. Although they had to choke back every sip, they still managed to polish off their refreshments like good Southern Belles. For dinner we shared several appetizers, one of which was lobster and shrimp stuffed hush puppies—yum! After dinner we took a leisurely walk along the waterfront before picking up Currier from his pizza party at My Gym.
On Saturday we took a boat tour to Fort Sumter which is best known as the site where the first shots of the American Civil War were fired on April 12, 1861. 
On Sunday morning Cheryl woke feeling mucho sicko. Apparently she caught the malicious bug that invaded my body a few days prior to her arrival and Trent's body the day of her arrival. The bug, we dubbed the "South Carolina gut rot", caused severe vomiting and diarrhea and made you feel like you were on the brink of death. Thankfully my OBGYN prescribed some good drugs to help suppress the vomiting which I was nice enough to share with Cheryl so her illness wasn't as violent and didn't last too long. 
By Sunday afternoon, Cheryl was feeling well enough to take a dip in the pool and spend a few hours in the sun. It was refreshing until she upchucked a 1/2 gallon of Gatorade in the parking lot—poor Cheryleeski. 
On Monday, Currier and I dropped the girls off downtown Charleston so they could take a horse carriage tour, eat lunch and shop. Later that afternoon, we dropped them off at the airport where Currier caused a scene with his mournful goodbye. Cheryl and Sue were so sweet to Currier. He was crushed to see them go. 
There are warning signs posted around our apartment complex
and today we learned that they're not fooling around! 
My Gym hosted a parent’s night out on Friday so for our first date in Charleston, Trent and I dined at Poogan’s Porch. Named after a dog that wandered from porch to porch begging for scraps, Poogan’s Porch is one of Charleston’s oldest and most famous restaurants. It’s known for its upscale Lowcountry cuisine but moreover it was voted “third haunted place in America”. Legend has it that the ghost of Zoe St. Amand, a woman who once lived in the house, appears in a long black dress and has been known to knock over pots and pans and slam doors. There have also been claims that the fur of Poogan, who is buried in the front yard, can be felt against bare legs as his ghost searches for scraps under the tables.
To my disappointment, I had no encounters with Zoe or Poogan. I did, however, slip and almost fall on my ass in the middle of the dining room. It was one of those slow motion cartoon things where I made eye contact with everyone in the restaurant while waving my arms in a fast circular motion. I pinched a freaking nerve in my lower back trying not to fall. I swear Zoe pushed me because she was jealous of my new strappy shoes from Target. How dare she make me look foolish! I'm going to keep going back there until she shows herself just so I can tell her off and since I have to keep going back there, I might as well eat my way through the menu. We had a wonderful dining experience. I got the Shrimp and Grits and Trent got the Pan Seared Jumbo Scallops. Both dishes were delicious but we agreed that the fist sized scallops sparkled with yumminess and will keep us coming back to this charming place again and again so watch your back Zoe!
"Marn" is my cousin Cheryl’s made up word for "dork", so when we picked Cheryl up at the airport last week for her 6 day Charleston adventure, Currier enthusiastically greeted her!
After a few beers at the apartment we hit the Sullivan's Island oyster roast. We’re now experienced enough to know that you don’t show up to these sort of things sober! Although Cheryl doesn’t like seafood, she does like firemen and since this was a fire department fundraiser it was the first stop on our week long adventure. Cheryl was forced to try at least one oyster by a friendly local. Thankfully she had two beers handy to wash it down. We had such a good time; we stayed until the kegs went dry and the last oyster was shucked.
The following morning we drove to the Isle of Palms to check out the incredible waterfront mansions on Ocean Boulevard. It was fun to collect the property information on the ones for sale—all of them priced over 5 million. I’m sure we looked like serious investors driving around in our Chevy Malibu rental drinking Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffees. I bet if we had that fancy Starbucks coffee, we would have been more believable. 
After choosing which houses we would buy if we ever won the lottery, we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and walked along the beach, dipped our toes in the freezing ocean and played in the sand.
On Monday, Cheryl, Currier and I went to John’s Island to see the Angel Oak tree. Over 1500 years old, the Angel Oak tree is the oldest living thing east of the Mississippi River. We determined that the second oldest is our Papa. He turns 90 on March 2nd.
On Tuesday, we went to one of America's oldest working, living plantations—Boone Hall Plantation. Unfortunately Currier wasn’t up to sitting still or being quiet so Cheryl took the house tour on her own while Currier and I walked around and took a nap in the car.
After touring the plantation, we headed across the street to Boone Hall Market because we misunderstood and thought this is where we could buy some of that delicious, fancy flavored wine—Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill. It turned out to be a farmer’s market filled with fresh produce and other products produced on the plantation so we bought sandwiches for lunch instead.
Oprah made us do it... Later that evening, we went to Jestine’s Kitchen for some good ole Southern cooking—fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, meatloaf, fried okra, shrimp Creole, fried oyster po' boys, country cream corn, black-eyed peas, and blueberry cobbler. Many of the dishes on the menu are recipes of Jestine Mathews. Jestine, who lived for 112 years, was the housekeeper for the owner of the restaurant. Celebrities such as Oprah and Rachel Ray rave about the place and so do we!
After dinner, we went on the Charleston Ghost and Graveyard Walking Tour. The tour guide was thrilled to have Currier on the tour. He said that children and animals see the things that our brainwashed adult minds can’t. He told our group to keep an eye on the baby for his reactions to the ghosts. Unfortunately, I think Currier was a let down to our group because the graveyard night watchman was there with his two dogs and Currier kept chasing the dogs around and couldn’t be bothered by the ghosts. However, even with my brainwashed mind, I see a man on a horse on the walkway in the photo above. Do you see it?
The next day, we decided to work off some of the Southern cooking and walk across the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge, also known as the Cooper River Bridge. It is the bridge that connects Charleston to Mount Pleasant. The length of the bridge is 2.5 miles. We made it half way and then turned around because 
For Cheryl's final day, we went to The Spa at Charleston for a little pampering. I got a massage and a facial and Cheryl got a facial and a mani/pedi. We sipped tea, we relaxed and we giggled. It was the perfect way to end her visit. We miss you already Cheryl! 
After an afternoon at the oyster roast, we were invited to dinner by one of Trent’s co-workers. Dave and Iris live in another suburb outside of Charleston called Summerville, an area we are considering. Iris gave us a warm welcome by cooking us a traditional Charleston dish—Shrimp and Grits. Sure I was a little nervous at the sound of grits for dinner, but WOW was it delicious. It was like jambalaya but with homemade grits instead of rice. I plan to make good friends with Iris, get her drunk, steal her recipe and share it with you!
We moved here just in time to hit the "can't miss event", Boone Hall Plantation's 25th Annual Lowcountry Oyster Roast. The event boasts 65,000 pounds of fresh steamed oysters sold by the bucket (approximately 3-4 dozen) for just 8 bucks. We quickly learned that this is more of a giant kid friendly kegger than an oyster eating festival.
On Sunday, we drove down to Georgia to meet Trent's parents and two more of Trent's sisters and their kids. Savannah is about a two hour drive for us coming from Charleston and a five hour drive for them coming from Orlando. We got adjoining rooms at the Clarion Inn & Suites in Savannah and it was a blast to see Currier interact with his silly cousins.
To our horror, we quickly learned that Georgia doesn't sell alcohol on Sundays. Note to self: Never go to Georgia on a Sunday ever again. Good thing Kathy had on her thinking cap and packed a cooler of beer which the adults indulged in while the kiddies played in the indoor pool. Currier was ecstatic from all the attention from Jonathan, Austin, Nyah and Clayton. Although it looks like Austin is strangling Currier in this picture, I think his cousins like him. 
When the kids were tired of swimming and the beer was gone, we headed over to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner, drinks (alcohol can be served in restaurants on Sundays- Hallelujah!) and lots of laughs. We look forward to many of these family reunions now that we're all living in the same country! 
