🌴 Don't Miss Summerville's Parent's Night Out!

Hello to over 2,200 Palmetto Parents!

Quick question… thanks in advance for playing 😇 

As you know, we’re in the midst of the SWEETEST week in Summerville!

The sidewalk sale and Third Thursday are sadly behind us, but there’s still time to:

• enjoy a specialty sweet tea cocktail at a local restaurant

• listen to artists performing in the Southern Songwriter’s Festival

• visit the Sweet Tea Festival tomorrow! 

You can get all the details for these events in last week’s newsletter. And if you’d like to know what fifteen businesses and restaurants are participating in the sweet tea competition during the festival, take a look at this map.

We are looking forward to spending time at the kid zone with all the free games and activities (and of course trying some good sweet tea).

Looking ahead… next weekend is also LOADED with great events like:

• Fiesta on the Square celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

• Summerville Parks & Rec’s Harvest Festival

• Jedburg Junction’s Apple Festival

• Summer’s Corner’s kick off farmers market

And don’t forget, there’s still a chance to win a $50 gift card to Coastal Coffee! Download our Palmetto Parents Fall Bingo Board, post photo proof in our Palmetto Parents Community, and whoever completes a bingo first will win! (Btw, photo proof does not need to include faces if you don’t want it to, we know privacy is important).

Sponsored by Palm Belle Grooming

We are proud owners of a a fluffy bear dog. She is a needy Bernedoodle floof who pees when she gets too excited, but she’s our’s. Her name is Lacey.

If you have a dog, you’re likely familiar with the wash and dry and groom routine that creeps up on you when you least expect it (or like maybe your dog notices a random dead carcass on a walk and smashes its face into it like it’s a birthday cake. No? Just Lacey? Okay weird, anyway.)

That’s where Palm Belle Grooming comes in, where every tail wag is met with style, care, and a touch of luxury!

And Palm Belle Grooming is accepting new doggo patients now!

ALL grooming appointments include:

• cage free, one on one appointment

• ears plucked/cleaned

• teeth brushed

• nails filed

• glands checked/expressed (upon request)

• 3 step bath w/shampoo & conditioner catered to your dogs skin & coat (deshed, sensitive, etc.)

• massage

• paw soak

• haircut

I asked the owner if she accepts humans as well and was told only dogs for now. 🤣 

And the best part.

Palm Bell Grooming is giving Palmetto Parents subscribers $20 off grooming until the end of the month! Just use code PalmettoParents20 during checkout and you’ll get $20 off.

We’re taking Lacey soon and we can’t wait.

Own a business in Summerville or the surrounding area? Get your business in front of over 2,200 Palmetto Parents by clicking here. View our list of preferred partners here, and reach out to find out how you can become a Palmetto Parents Partner.

To Do: Take Advantage of Local Parent’s Night Out

Want a great night out with friends or your spouse while knowing your kids are also having the time of their lives? Check out one of our local parent’s night out programs! Here’s the rundown of the programs, what they entail, and the cost.

Have a favorite PNO that we didn’t mention? Respond to this email so we can add it to the list.

• Kids Garden (1244 Central Ave suite B, Summerville): For kids 2 and up, choose a three-hour segment between 4-9pm on the first Saturday of the month. The evening includes themed games and crafts and lots of play. It also includes a pizza dinner for your child. Prices are $40/one child, $65/two, $75/three. Upcoming themes include Halloween Party in October, Fall Fun in November, and Polar Express in December. See dates and register your child here.

• Pepper Jack Pottery (622 Old Trolley Rd Ste 134, Summerville): For kids between 6-14, Pepper Jack Pottery hosts a kid’s night one Friday each month. You can drop your child off from 6-7:30pm to paint a fun pottery piece and eat a pizza dinner. Upcoming themes include a ghost mug in October, Among Us box in November, and ornaments in December. Prizes start at $30. See dates and register your child here.

• Choice Gymnastics (150 Varnfield Drive, Summerville): For kids between 5-16, Choice Gymnastics offers a parent’s night out one Friday a month. Between 7-10pm your children can enjoy gym time, group games, rope swing, pit fun, and trampoline time supervised by staff to keep them safe while being active. Cost is $30/per child. See dates and register your child here. There is one tonight, September 20th!

• Charleston Taekwondoe (372 E 5th N St. Summerville): For kids between 4-12, Charleston Taekwondoe prides themselves in having a very interactive, movement based parent’s night out that kids love. The PNO runs from 6-9pm. The next one coming up is on Friday, 10/11 and will have the theme of Halloween with mat games, arts and crafts, and a pizza dinner. It’s $40 for the first child and $35 for any additional children. Register your child and sign up to get more information about their parent’s night out here.

• Bizzy Bee (7671-A Northwoods Blvd, North Charleston): For children 3 and up (who are bathroom independent) Bizzy Bee offers a monthly Saturday night parent’s night out from 6-9:30pm. Kids will get to enjoy the indoor playground and play areas as well as dance parties, games, and activities to keep them engaged. Tickets are $35/per child (with discounts for siblings) and include a pizza and lemonade dinner. See dates and register your child here. There is one tomorrow night, September 21st!

❓️ Did You Know?

Did you know Summerville has a Sweet Tea Trail? You can win prizes like decals, towels, and shirts by getting your Trail Guide stamped at local shops that are a part of the trail and showing it to the Summerville Visitor Center. This is a great activity to do as a family or to do with any guests that come in town if you enjoy spending time at the restaurants and stores downtown Summerville.

An Event: Pumpkin Carving with Goats

If you want a unique, local fall experience, Flowertown Charm Farm is offering pumpkin carving with goats!

As you carve your pumpkin, the goats will happily clean up the mess and eat the delicious treat. The other animals on the farm — a mini highland cow, chickens, bunnies, dogs, and a giant tortoise — will also be there to get some pumpkin nibbles.

With your ticket you get a pumpkin to carve (or just feed to the animals), and access to carving tools and stencils. Sessions are 1.5 hours long, from 5pm-6:30pm, providing plenty of time to interact with the animals. Sessions are capped at 25 people so there’s lots of animal love for everyone. Tickets start at $22 and you can purchase tickets here. Sessions started this past week and are available through the end of October.

Flowertown Charm Farm has a variety of other fun fall events on their schedule like roasting marshmallows, bingo, candle making, pottery, yoga (all with goats, of course)! Check out their site to see all they offer. The Charm Farm is located at 225 Stallsville. Summerville.

Restaurant: Cafe de Fleur

Cafe de Fleur opened in November of 2023 and has been a beautiful addition to the coffee scene in Summerville. With Summerville’s growing population, my husband and I were so excited and relieved to see another coffee shop opening to meet all of the Summerville coffee lover’s needs.

We also love that they have Sunday hours unlike the other local shops nearby. The cafe is located in downtown Summerville off of Richardson Ave. and has the feel of an inviting Parisian cafe. It’s intimate setting has been great for a number of meet ups I’ve had with friends or more commonly my “coffee dates” with my son.

The menu has some fun, unique things that kids can enjoy like ice cream floats made with root beer, butter pecan, peach, or banana soda and the “babyccino” which is steamed & frothed plain milk and makes the little ones feel included with getting a fancy coffee drink. For the caffeine loving adults, they also have adult ice cream floats which include a shot of espresso. My son’s favorite item is the bagel, and he has great taste considering they serve authentic NYC bagels (shipped in from NY). They also serve a variety of pastries delivered fresh daily by Saffron Bakery and have gluten free cookies, bagels, and snack bars too.

Cafe de Fleur is owned and operated by Summerville locals (and Palmetto Parents 😉) Harley and Hannah Edwards. The thought and care they’ve put in to opening an excellent coffee shop is apparent. All the staff has continuously been kind and accommodating for our family and it’s clear they take pride in the drinks they serve. Every day you can find their Southern Pecan flavored house coffee at their bar (which people rave about). They rotate another single source coffee and a flavored coffee, which is currently Creme Brulee. They recently added “happy hours” where you can enjoy an afternoon coffee or pastry treat with 20% off.

Cafe de Fleur has an awesome drink line up for this fall that they unveiled yesterday. Their Autumn Specials include the following:

• Apple Cider Cinnamon Steamer

• Pumpkin Pie Latte

• Apple Spiced Latte

• Pumpkin Chai Latte

• Caramel Apple Cold Brew

They also have staff fall favorites that they feature. The Staff Fall Favorites are:

• Apple Chai Latte

• Iced Granny Smith Matcha

• Teddy Graham Latte

• Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew

• Apple Toffee Latte

Stop by to try out one of these amazing seasonal drinks and be sure to stop by during the Sweet Tea Festival to try out their sweet tea for the competition!

We’ve been to this cafe many times, including one time as part of an event that Ernest aka “The Dream Maker Agent” threw for the community. Ernest Govan is a Palmetto Parents Preferred Partner and our go-to realtor for the Summerville and Charleston area. We bought our house from him, my brother and his wife bought their house from him, and my parents bought their house from him! He’s communicative, patient, and not pushy. Need to buy, sell, or invest? Look no further. Email The Dream Maker now.

Palmetto Piece: Be Present When It Matters

Hey parents. Daniel here. 👋 

Parenting our children is one of the greatest joys in my life, but also one of the most challenging things to do well.

We have two boys — a 2.5-year-old toddler and a 4-month-old newborn baby (I almost cried realizing he isn’t a newborn anymore). Life is rambunctious and exciting and chaotic.

I am lucky enough to work from home. I work in tech (actually at beehiiv, the company that powers this newsletter). It’s fun. I love it. But also I’ll periodically be in a meeting with someone like New York Times and hear children bouncing off the walls in the background.

I love working from home but sometimes that can be challenging for me, just being real.

But lately I’ve been attempting to completely reframe my approach to being present, and trying to receive these moments with a smile on my face.

This week I was in a meeting and our toddler opened the door with a new whistle he got at Main Street Reads and he said: “Dad, look at this whistle I got!” as he blew into the whistle right next to me while I was mic-on in a meeting LOL.

I laugh at it now in hindsight but in the moment I was definitely flustered. And that’s what I want to become better at as a father.

Work is important, don’t get me wrong. But if I could replay the whole thing in my head, I would have politely asked the client on the phone for 15-30 seconds (they would have been just fine), took my headphones off, looked my son in the eyes with a massive smile on my face, and watched him blow his whistle with joy.

That moment is something I’ll have plenty of opportunities to make right, and I will.

Be present. Be joyful. Don’t mistake the priorities of life with the necessity of being present with your children. Work will always be there, but your kids will grow up and be gone before you know it.

Make the most of the moments they joyfully share with you.

Match their excitement.

Exceed their excitement.

Those are the moments that matter more than anything else.

-Daniel

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