Charleston Staycation: Waterfront Park Picnic

It's another installment of our Staycation series on the blog showcasing some of our personal favorites around our little bit of paradise, here in Charleston, South Carolina. (If you're not too familiar with the holy city already, be sure to read up more about our home and one of the best city's in the South, thanks to Southern Living.) You can also catch up in the series by reading the first post here.

 The boys and I get Tuesday's and Thursday's to spend together during the school year and one of our most favorite things to do when the weather's nice is to pack up a lunch and head to the Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park for a fun and easy picnic in the grass. What better way to take advantage of a sunny day than with a picnic?

We have lived in Mount Pleasant for almost 3 years now and absolutely love it. The MP Waterfront Park is often noted as the “crown jewel of Mount Pleasant” with fantastic views of the Ravenel Bridge, Patriots Point and more. With Charleston being so flat (part of the reason it's coined the low-country), the Ravenel Bridge is the only "hill" in town. It's a thing around here to walk the bridge, but I much rather enjoy it on flat ground. There's so much to do at the park, including multiple playgrounds for the kids, fishing/crabbing docks, taking a stroll on the promenade, or enjoying the view on one of the many park swings. When the weather's not too hot in the spring, we love to walk the pier in search of dolphins and watch the cruise ships dock across the river at the terminal. It's a great way to spend the morning before the kids go down for a nap, that is, if I'm lucky!

There are jogging and walking paths that weave through a manicured lawn right along the Cooper River, with a few perfectly placed trees for shade throughout, making it the perfect spot for our lunch dates. I've found that our picnics are a great way to get my kids to eat, being that sitting at an actual table seems to be quite the struggle for these two anymore. It's also not all about the food. Our picnics are a great way to spend special time together and it doesn't need to cost a thing. Eating outside makes it fun for them and I rarely have to fight them to finish their meals. It's usually a positive situation for all of us so, picnics for the win!

Yes, picnics are great and all, but the best part is you don't really need to get fancy. The less time I spend on using cookie cutters for our sandwiches, the more time I get to spend with them! In this case, we just swung by the Trader Joe's across the street and picked up a few wraps and snacks. Getting my boys out of the house is a feat in itself, so the less I have to do, the better. I packed our Replay Recycled gear into the basket and we were all set!

 Re-Play Recycled has become our family's go-to tableware products for the kiddos. They're 100% made from recycled HDPE plastic, which is essentially, wait for it... milk jugs! Using recycled plastics keeps more garbage from the landfills and saves so much energy. Not to mention, it can be recycled over and over again. They are even sustainable when it comes to their business practices. Their molding plant, warehouse and packaging are also within reasonable distances to lessen their carbon footprint. When being eco-conscious is easy and cheap, why would you not?! Not to mention, they're the only thing that has stood up to my two boys abuse, the dishwasher, and red-stained spaghetti sauce... so then there's that.

Extremely durable and did I also mention, safe to use? Another big factor that makes them just awesome. Unlike some other tableware materials, HDPE is also BPA-free, Phthalate free, and PVC free. So no worries about chemicals (ie. melamine) leaking into our kids' food. We love using the snack pods (with screw on lids), dinner plates with compartments (and without!), water tumblers, sippy cups, and bowls. The colors are vibrant and fun, so much that my boys like to claim their favorites as their own. Want to give them a try for yourself?

Giveaway Time!

Re-Play Recycled is being super amazing and giving away a navy feeding set to one lucky winner! To enter simply leave me a comment below and for additional entries, check out my Instagram giveaway post too! Be sure to show Re-Play Recycled some love on their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

I'm so excited to continue our staycation series through September by featuring our favorite family-friendly hot spots around Charleston - until next time....

Thank you to Re-Play Recycled for sponsoring this post. As always, all opinions are 100% honest and completely my own.