Weekend Recap: Kiawah Island

I have such amazing and fond memories of Kiawah Island from my childhood.  I remember the smells, the sounds, the excitement, the sadness upon leaving, the animals, the trails, the plants, and the sand with vivid detail.  When my parents kindly invited Rich and I to spend the weekend with them during their vacation rental time, we were counting down the days until we arrived (yes...on a whiteboard in our kitchen!).    Just as I'd imagine the weekend did not disappoint.  There is certainly a reason Kiawah Island is considered one of the most amazing places for a family vacation.  Here are a few snaps and memories from Day One in Kiawah:

It is a proven doggie parent fact that all good weekends begin with the Doggie Daycare Drop Off.  Bonus points when the dogs come back to tired they don't move for a few days afterward.  Success!  Also my favorite dress here is on sale!

The first day was the best beach day.  We enjoyed it by taking a nice long beach walk with my parents. I scored this suit on major clearance at Belks.  It is sold out online but I also fancied this little number. 

The miles and miles of well designed and safe trails make Kiawah a real exercise treat!  The first day Rich and I biked for 14 miles all over the island, mostly on a serious alligator hunt.

With views like this, what's not to LOVE?

Sweaty bike break selfie!

On our 14 mile ride, we came across 4 deer.  This set was frolicking on the golf course like two sweet children would frolick.  We were able to get pretty close to them before they ran off. 

 The Nature Center at Night Heron Park had some beautiful creatures on hand.  We were able to get up close and personal with these adorable guys.

At the end of our bike ride, we came across this tower we were able to walk up and see a gorgeous view of the marsh separating Kiawah and Johns Island.  Amazingly we saw only one house far off in the horizon.  Essentailly it was nature all around us and so peaceful.  We could've stayed there for hours if not for the impending rain.

Our first night we grilled and boiled shrimp and scallops and ate outside on the patio.  It was the perfect dinner setting for family time!

There is a special lagoon on the island where the Egrets land each night to roost.  It is so neat to watch them all fly in and gather.  This photo fails to capture all the activity! 

Blue Apron: our in-home date night

A few months ago we kindly received a free trial week of Blue Apron, a convenient food delivery service that sends 3 meal ingredients for you to prepare at home.  What we loved most about the meals is it gave us a chance to cook with and eat ingredients we would never purchase at the store (I'm talking to you fennel).  Last night we gave Blue Apron another go of it and made the Thai Chicken Burger meal.  I love how this service can turn into a stay at home date night cooking class and you get 3 two person meals for 60 dollars...and....as I mentioned the priceless gift of no grocery shopping!  In the end, we came away with a delicious, "home made" meal, and to boot, we learned how to make something new.  Winners all around in this house.  If you want to look into Blue Apron for yourself click on over here.  Check it out:

Each individual ingredient arrives labeled along with the step by step directions, including pictures on how to do each step. 

 

After dicing and mixing all the ingredients to form the two chicken patties, we were all set for the stove top!

 

Just waiting on that chicken patty to be done!  These ingredients came in their whole form and we chopped them up to garnish the chicken burgers.  

 

The scene of the crime!  I can say that we made a bit of a mess with this meal.

 

Our Thai Chicken Burger before I devoured it.  For the record, it was delicious.  We both decided it tasted like something Chick Fil A would make if they added an Asian inspired chicken sandwich. 

Per usual our Sous-Chef was on hand to "help" with all the cooking. We think she may have helped a bit too much since she woke up with a rough tummy.

 

Most importantly, we are proudly flying the Black and Gold with the start of football season and happily excited to know the Deacs are 1-0 after the first week.  We shall relish that for as long as we can.