The Dominys visited from NY two weekends ago, with 1 year old Ethan in tow! They first visited (minus the munchkin) over 4th of July.  I hope they continue to visit everyone 6 months…if not even more often!!!  Check out our shenanigans!

We started Saturday morning at Folly Beach.  Last time they visited, we graced Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island – so we wanted them to see another local beach.  It was quite windy and not as warm as forecasted, but much warmer than NY!

This handsome boy has definitely gotten the hang of that whole walking thing!

Next we stumbled upon closed down Center Street for the Taste of Folly 2012 event.  We just hung out for a few minutes and listened to the band.  Ethan was mesmerized!

Next we went to Chick-fil-A for the Dominy family’s VERY FIRST CFA experience.  It was a success!  The cow was out to play and he was a wee bit creepy, though.  Ethan wasn’t feeling him and neither were we.  Would you?!  Not when he nudges his snout into people and lingers uncomfortably longer than he should!

Yikes!

Next we went to Angel Oak!

We attempted to go to the Firefly Vodka Distillery and Irvin-House Vineyards afterwards.  Well, we did go there but they were closed (apparently for the entire month of January).  Frustrating!!!  Wadmalaw Island is far out there! Oh well…

We headed home at this point to unwind and relax before our dinner reservations.

My parents babysat Ethan (great practice, Mom and Dad!) while the 4 of us went downtown to 82 Queen for Charleston Restaurant Week.  Scott and I had never been there before, so we were hoping it would deliver.  IT SOOOO DID!  Here are some pics from their Facebook…

We were close to a half hour early, but they seated us anyway.  We sat out in the courtyard where we were covered and cozy (they had heaters pumping – just enough).  It was incredibly romantic!  Our waiter was so witty and awesome. During our dinner, a thunderstorm rolled in.  We stayed completely dry being outside, but inside.  It was awesome!  The romance scale was officially tipped. Those poor waiters, though – they got SOAKED!  Christina and I had the jambalaya, Scott had the frogmore stew, and Mike had the meatloaf.  We took our time eating and did not feel rushed in the least.  The food, the ambience, and the wait staff were all amazing.  Scott and I can’t wait to go back!

Next, we went to Coleman Public House for a night capper (aka – more water for me!).

Sunday, we went to the aquarium as our big outing.  One of the largest exhibits for toddlers was closed for renovations, so I was pretty disappointed (the admission is expensive!).  Either way, I think Ethan enjoyed it.  His favorite part?  Cruising up and down the stairs, of course!

That night, we watched the Giants kick some 9ers booty and ate some yummy/totally-bad-for-you food.

♥ A weekend of perfection ♥

Thanks for coming – Christina, Mike, and Ethan.  We love you guys!!!

p.s. HAPPY 61st WEDDING ANNIVERSARY TO MY GRAM AND POP!!!

p.s.s. GOOOO GMEN…SUPER BOWL!

Beach Count: 66   

High Temperature: 65°  

This year was the first time that I actually paid any attention to the buzz that surrounds Shark Week.  It never really caught my eye or sounded of any interest to me in the past.  But since we now live by the ocean and frequent floating in it, I figured I’d better educate myself.

Bad. idea.

I watched bits and pieces of a few shows.  Frightening!  My favorite was the episode narrated by Craig Ferguson, the self-proclaimed 3rd best late night TV show host.  Haha.  He lightened up the shark-y mood!  Otherwise, the rest of the programming scared me speechless (yes, this is hard to do!).

After getting a little worked up due to some unnecessary learning, we went to Sullivan’s Island.  Long story short(ish) → A father was yelling at his son not to go too deep into the water because of sharks.  Yes, he was yelling “sharks” at the beach (which is kinda like yelling “bomb” on a plane to me, but who am I?).  The father continues to explain to his son that a bartender from NY at Taco Mamacita said that Sullivan’s Island has had the most shark sightings of all of the local beaches.  (We know that bartender – Hi Jackie!)  I went to lay on my towel at this point while my fish of a husband stayed in the water much longer.  When Scott finally joined me back on the beach, he tells me that the guy fishing right near the young boy (note: right where we were swimming) just caught a 2 foot shark.  Really?  REALLY?  I don’t care if he was only 2 feet…it was 2 feet too long.  Yeah, I was done with swimming that day.

Do you think that sharks have some sort of meeting prior to Shark Week to make sure their teeth are all on the same page?  If so, I think it goes a little somethin’ like this…

Oy – I have an active imagination, huh.

Moving on!

The best part of Shark Week was going to the South Carolina Aquarium in downtown Charleston for a viewing of Jaws on the lawn.  First of all, this event was free (minus a few dollars for parking).  All were encouraged to bring chairs/blankets, but no coolers.  Luckily, food and drink were for sale.  $3 beers, $2 sodas, $1 waters; $2 hot dogs, $1 popcorn, and cheap nachos, too.  Seriously – the prices were generous!  They were giving away sunglasses, I ♥ Shark pins (I couldn’t get my hands on one!), providing shark facts, and walking around with shark teeth.  It was very cute.  Oh, and we got free Shark Week koozies.  Score!

Truth be told, I had never seen all of Jaws before.  I’m glad I finally have!

We had a great time!  Especially when the blow-up screen slowly collapsed a few times.  It made the movie that much more dramatic…the lightening going on in the far distance added to the drama!

Ahh, Shark Week.  It was fun while it lasted, no?  Anyone get really sucked in?!

p.s. I must face the facts – I’m back to work this week.  Hmph.  One last beach hurrah of the “summer” tomorrow, if the weather cooperates.

p.s.s. Did you know that each year there are only 3 reported shark injuries in the U.S. versus the startling and just-plain-weird 60,000 reported toilet injuries?  Yeah – chew on that!

Beach Count: 56

Pool Count: 18

High Temperature: 95°