The Baden Family: April 2019

Warm Days

We enjoyed some really warm days in April, so we dusted off the water table and took advantage of some fun in the sun! Being outside and playing in the water has us already looking ahead to summer!

Krispy Kreme

When Scott and I were in college, Krispy Kreme was a favorite date spot. We have so many fun memories of times there together and with our friends. We don't frequent it nearly as much these days, but we decided it would be fun to have a little family outing to get some doughnuts. The kids approved!

Herb Garden

My new herb garden is quickly becoming my favorite spot in our yard. Scott did such a good job digging it out for me. So far I've planted chives (onion and garlic), lemon balm, and cilantro. As the weather continues to warm, I plan to add oregano, thyme, and Thai basil. The bird bath was a Christmas gift from our neighbor, Ms. Toni.

Charleston Trip

Scott and I celebrated our TENTH wedding anniversary back in December. As a belated celebration we spent a long weekend in Charleston while his parents kept the kids. Ever since visiting last year for Anna's wedding, we've been wanting to go back. Charleston feels like the perfect vacation destination for us right now, because its less than 4 hours from home and has so many fun things to do and great places to eat. Let's be real. We plan our trips around what we want to eat!

We arrived in Charleston a few hours before check-in at our Airbnb, so we headed downtown for lunch at the Brown Dog Deli and ice cream on King Street. After eating and walking around the College of Charleston campus, we headed to our rental in Mount Pleasant to unload and get ready for an evening on the town.

We had dinner reservations at Poogan's Poarch later that evening, but before heading back downtown we stopped by Shem's Creek for a walk along the water.

We were stuffed after a delicious dinner, so we spent some time walking around the historic district before heading back for the evening.
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We got up early the next day and headed to Palmetto Island County Park for a leisurely morning hike. Whenever we visit Charleston with the kids, this will be a definite stop! They had hiking and biking trails, playgrounds, paddle boats, and a splashpad.

After working up an appetite on our hike, we had a delicious brunch at Paige's Okra Grille.

We spent the afternoon at Boone Hall Plantation, which ended up being one of our favorite stops during our weekend away! Boone Hall Plantation is one of the country's oldest working plantations and scenes from the movie, The Notebook, were filmed there!

Avenue of Oaks

The plantation has nine original slave cabins, with presenting a different theme or aspect of Black American history. We found these little museums to be informative, fascinating, and humbling.

The slaves made the bricks used to build the cabins. Below you can see a small set of finger prints, probably belonging to a child, in the brick.

We also really enjoyed the Gullah Culture presentation. The presenter, a descendant of Boone Hall slaves, shared stories, songs, and history of the Gullah culture. (The history teacher in me was living her best life!)

After touring the cabins and watching the Gullah presentation, we spent some time exploring the gardens. Scott makes fun of me for taking so many flower pictures, but I can't resist. They were beautiful! We also took a tour of the house and a wagon tour of the farm. It was a full day!

That evening we headed to Sullivan's Island for dinner at the Obstinate Daughter and an evening beach walk. Somehow we missed the tornado warning memo!

We spent the next day on the beach at Isle of Palms. It was a super chilly, windy morning, but we bundled up, got some hot chocolate and enjoyed beach anyway. While too cold to swim, we read, napped, walked, and just relaxed together. It was a great day!

We went back to Paige's Okra Grille for dinner!

We checked out of our Airbnb the next morning and then headed back downtown for the day. We made a breakfast stop at Callie Hot Little Biscuit, took a carriage tour, walked along the battery and through the more streets in the historic district before a late lunch on the water at Fleet's Landing.

Spring Break

We returned Tuesday evening and I was excited to have the rest of the week at home with the kids for their spring break. We went to the Nature Center, played outside in the new kiddie pool, and got excited about Easter!

This makes me laugh!!! When Jacob is mad a me, he passes me hate mail!

On Friday of spring break, we had some major rain and flooding. Thankfully a small roof leak was the extent of our damage. After the rain stopped we checked out the flooding in our neighborhood. Our walking trails were rivers!

The kids took a quick dip in the ice cold baby pool after getting muddy on our walk.

Easter

We kicked Easter weekend off with a pancake breakfast and egg hunt at church and then spent the afternoon dying eggs! I think this was the first year egg was actually fun and not completely stressful. Ha!