Hey Charleston Parents,

I hope you are enjoying the cooler temps here in Charleston and getting ready for Halloween week. We are finishing up our soccer season, which is so sad. But I am also ready to have our Saturday mornings back (at least until our winter sports start).

There is so much to do this week as we finish up this fun, fall, festive month. First, I have the best park recommendation. Especially if you find yourself on a warm fall Saturday and you are looking for some easy outdoor time as a family. Check out the IOP Recreation Park at their ‘Rec Center’.

If you are looking to go BIG this weekend check out Disney On Ice, Magic of Family, Frightmare by the Sea at the Wild Dunes Resort, and a Fall Fest in Mount Pleasant.

Courtney and Daniel make a guest appearance this week as they report on a local favorite date night spot downtown. MESU is always a hit!

We end this week’s newsletter with a funny and heart warming moment that took place this week. It took me back to when my husband used to “help” our now 8 year old get dressed when he was just a baby.

Have the best week!

Sometimes you have to make a parenting decision that feels questionable at the time and then admit later that you were completely wrong.

We had friends in town who invited us to grab bagels and meet at Isle of Palms Recreation Park. My first thought was, “We’re driving ALL the way to Isle of Palms… and we’re not even going to the beach?” But we decided to make the drive and give it a shot.

I am so glad we did.

We ended up having the best morning, and my kids were genuinely sad when it was time to leave. The park has several different play structures for different ages and stages, so there was plenty to keep everyone busy. Our kids climbed, slid, swung and played hide-and-seek until they were basically running on fumes.

My favorite feature might be the slide that is actually designed to be climbed up. Parents of toddlers, you know the struggle. In our house, climbing up the slide is allowed if no one else is using it, but the second other kids show up, it’s a hard no. Because apparently explaining playground safety to a toddler requires a 12-slide PowerPoint presentation.

This slide eliminates the argument completely. It’s designed almost like stairs, so kids can climb up safely, shimmy back down and do it again. My kids thought it was the greatest thing ever.

There’s also a bathroom with a changing station, which means you can actually change a diaper without performing some sort of emergency diaper-change maneuver in the back of your car.

And don’t forget to grab Jeff’s Bagels at the drive-through as you come onto Isle of Palms. It makes the perfect park breakfast.

If you’re feeling extra ambitious, add an hour or two at the beach while you’re there. The cooler fall temperatures make it the perfect time to do both without committing to an entire beach day.

So yes, the drive felt questionable at first. But sometimes the best family mornings are the ones you almost didn’t bother with. This one was absolutely worth the trip.

Screens Off. Safety Gear On.

Looking for something your kids will actually talk about on the ride home? iSmash Charleston on Folly Road offers three hands-on experiences under one roof.

Splatter Paint (ages 3+): Kids throw, squirt and fling glow-in-the-dark paint across a blacklight room, then take their canvas home. All the mess, none of the cleanup.

Rage Rooms (ages 8+): Fully geared up and supervised, kids smash glass, housewares and old electronics. It’s loud, it’s physical, and it’s surprisingly good at letting off steam.

Axe Throwing (ages 13+): A great pick for teens who think they’ve outgrown everything. Our staff teaches technique and keeps every lane safe.

Birthday parties are where we shine. We handle setup and cleanup, and every package can be customized to fit your group size and budget. You show up, they have the time of their lives, and you go home to a clean house.

Family outing, birthday, or a Saturday that needs saving, we’ve got you. Use code PALM15 to get 15% off your booking!

Disney On Ice

Magic of Family is gliding into North Charleston October 22–25! Bring the kids to see their favorite Disney characters come to life on the ice, featuring beloved stories from Frozen and Encanto, along with Mickey, Minnie, and more familiar faces. Expect dazzling skating, colorful costumes, aerial acrobatics, and plenty of favorite Disney songs for a magical family outing. It’s a fun option for little Disney fans and a chance to make a special memory together! Shows take place at the North Charleston Coliseum, with multiple performance times throughout the weekend, starting tomorrow night.

Frightmare by the Sea at Wild Dunes Resort

Get those costumes ready! Frightmare by the Sea is bringing Halloween fun to Wild Dunes Resort on Saturday, October 24, from 6 to 8pm. Families can trick-or-treat throughout participating resort outlets and departments, all decorated for Halloween and handing out festive treats.

At 7pm, kids ages 12 and under can show off their costumes in the Halloween costume contest for a chance to win prizes. There will also be a live DJ playing festive music and keeping the party going.

Best of all, admission is FREE! Head to the Plaza at Wild Dunes Resort on Isle of Palms for an evening of costumes, candy, and Halloween fun with the whole family.

Fall Festival at Mount Pleasant Towne Centre

Fall Festival is back at Mount Pleasant Towne Centre on Saturday, October 24, with an afternoon packed with family fun! Enjoy live music, kids’ activities, trick-or-treating, face painting, bubble play, balloon animals, local vendors, food trucks, and more. Bring your four-legged friends for the annual pet costume contest benefiting Charleston Animal Society, with registration beginning at noon and the contest kicking off at 2pm. It’s a fun way to spend the afternoon shopping local, enjoying fall festivities, and making memories with the whole family!

We love Mexican and we love sushi, so finding a place that does both well felt like a win. MESU on upper King Street in downtown Charleston blends the two into one menu (ME=Mexican, SU=sushi), and we had a blast working our way through it.

One of the best ways to start is the MESU fries, crispy fries loaded with all the best toppings you’d find on a sushi roll and a Mexican plate at once. From there we got adventurous with the tacos. Daniel had the bao bun taco, which was delicious and unlike anything we’d had before, and I went with the carne asada taco, which had some of the most tender meat I’ve had in a while. Then we dug into the sushi rolls, which pull together really unique flavor combinations. If you’re going with a group, they also offer special sushi platters and taco towers that would be perfect for sharing. We’ve already got a running list of combos we want to try next time.

Whether MESU works as a family dinner or is better saved for a parents’ night out really depends on your kids’ palates. There’s no dedicated kids’ menu, but the menu has plenty of options a kid might love. Ours would happily go for the rice bowl options, nachos, quesadillas, or a simple taco. We haven’t introduced the boys to sushi rolls yet, but we’re pretty sure there are a few they’d actually enjoy. The ambiance is casual, and we’d feel completely comfortable having the kids with us.

MESU is at 570 King Street, Charleston. The kitchen is open Sunday–Thursday 4–10pm and Friday–Saturday 4–11pm, with the bar open daily until 2am. Keep in mind it opens at 4pm, so it’s a dinner spot, not a lunch one.

The other night, my husband got our littlest ready for bed and made a classic dad move: he buttoned his onesie OVER his pants. And suddenly, I was transported back to 2019, when we were first-time parents and he took our baby to the highly esteemed Natick Mall in Massachusetts dressed exactly the same way. I was MORTIFIED. What would people think? Surely, everyone would assume we had no idea what I was doing.

Thankfully, a few kids and several years later, I have calmed down a bit. Who knew what would all happen to our lives just a few short years after 2019. Like most of us, I learned not to sweat the small stuff. Although my husband buttoned our babies onesie outside of his pants, he is a wonderful dad in a million other ways, and the fact that he thinks a onesie belongs over pants really isn't a big deal. Our baby was warm, happy, and loved.

I think it's easy to confuse our preferences with actual parenting standards. We have a certain way we think things should be done, and when our spouse does something differently, our first instinct can be to correct them. But unless it's a matter of safety or our child's well-being, does it really matter? Sometimes, the best thing we can do is laugh, say thank you, and move on.

And this applies beyond our marriages, too. Just because another parent does something differently than we expected doesn't mean they're a bad parent. Maybe their kid's outfit is mismatched, their lunch looks different than yours, or their toddler is wearing rain boots on a sunny day. We rarely know the whole story of another family's life, and we certainly can't measure their love by the little things we notice.

Parenting is a team effort, and teams work best when we give each other grace instead of criticism. Our kids don't need perfect parents, and our spouses don't need supervisors. So here's your reminder to stop sweating the small stuff. If your baby leaves the house looking like his onesie is holding his pants hostage, maybe just take a picture and laugh about it later. Some things are worth correcting. Others are just part of being a family.

Have the best week!

Love, Jenna