Dance Portraits

I couldn’t resist the urge to take pictures of Zoe in her dance costumes. I was tempted to buy some from picture day at dance but knew I could get my own…well, assuming I could convince Zoe to take some, which took a while. She finally agreed on day and I took advantage of it, even though it meant Eeyore had to be in some of the pictures. She just looked so cute in her costumes!!

Zoe’s First Dance Recital

Zoe had her very first dance recital on June 5th. She did such a good job!! She was a little nervous but she got right up on stage and performed her 3 routines with her class. Her hip hop routine was first and she danced to “Party Rock Anthem”. I loved this routine that they did. Then she changed costumes and danced in her ballet routine to “Tomorrow” from Annie (also super cute routine). At the end of the recital, all the classes performed a routine to “We’re All in this Together” from High School Musical, which I think was my favorite routine of all. Unfortunately, due to COVID, each kid was only allowed to bring 2 guests so DJ and I were the only ones who could go. Ava did get to go to her dress rehearsal so she got to see it in person and they set up a live stream for the actual recital so everyone else was able to watch virtually. We were just thankful she got to have a recital at all since they didn’t have on in December because of COVID. We are looking forward to many more dance performances in our future with our cute little dancer!

I am hoping to have better pictures from the actual performance from the photographer but I haven’t gotten those yet. We weren’t allowed to take pictures of the actual show but I grabbed a few on my camera outside and on my phone before it started.

All the Last Days of School

Time for my typical post comparing all the last days of school….wishing time would slow down!

Last Day of 3rd Grade

Ava officially ended the strangest school year ever on June 4th. I thought 2nd grade was strange (and it was with the sudden shut down and never returning back to school) but 3rd grade was even stranger. This school year started with 4 days of e-learning and 1 day in-person. Moved to 2 days in person then 3 days in person then all days in person but with masks and plexiglass on the desks. The kids couldn’t get close to each other all year. The teachers had to get creative with parties, like sending in Valentines or snacks 3 days in advance so they could quarantine. On top of all that, Ava’s teacher had a hip replacement a few weeks after school started and was out most of the fall semester. Thankfully, her long-term sub from last year (who is also her tutor) filled in while her teacher was out so she had someone familiar to help with the strange transition. In spite of all this, Ava had a great year! She loved her teacher (and the long-term sub) and made some great friends. She finished with really good grades and learned so much! She won the Ravenous Reader award from her teacher, Honor Roll, Technology Award and E-Learning award (for being one of the few kids to complete all e-learning assignments). We are so proud of how well she did in such a strange school year. It was definitely a school year we will never forget. We are hopeful next school year will be a little more normal! Just cannot believe she only has 2 more years of elementary school!!

Dance Studio Ribbon Cutting

Zoe’s dance class got to be part of a special day for the studio. The Greenville Chamber of Commerce had to delay the new studio ribbon cutting because of COVID last year. They were finally able to schedule it and it happened to be right before her tap/ballet class. So, they invited the girls to help Mrs. Beth cut the ribbon. We can’t say enough good things about the dance studio. Their entire mission that dance is for everyone (no matter age, size, special needs, etc) is so wonderful! The whole staff is so sweet and we just love the environment.

Picture Day at Dance

Zoe had picture day at dance where they wore their recital costumes for professional pictures. She was such a cute little dancer/model! She posed perfectly for the photographers and looked so cute in her costumes. We didn’t order the pictures (I took some later at home) but I took screen shots of them and grabbed some (not great) on my phone through the observation window. The blue and pink costume is her hip hop class (and her teacher Mrs. Molly). The yellow is her tap/ballet class (and her teacher Mrs. Annika. We love our cute little dancer!!

Playing Hookie

The end of the school year is always filled with fun and not a ton of work. So, after Ava had her state testing, we decided she deserved the chance to play hookie. And to be honest, the day was just as much for me as it was for her. I took the girls to the American Girl store to see the original 6 dolls (the ones I grew up with, like my doll Kirsten) that they brought back out in honor of American Girl’s 35th birthday. I invited my mom to come with us since she experienced those original dolls/catalogs with me when I was Ava’s age. It was so cool to see the dolls back in their original outfits with the “Meet…” books in the original Pleasant Company design. My cousin made the comment that American Girl couldn’t have planned this better because all of us who grew up with those original dolls now have little girls who we are buying dolls for and she was so right. It was definitely a fun girls’ day out!

Career Day

Ava had one final dress up day at school before the end of the year…career day. She decided to dress up as an art teacher this year. We think this is actually a really great career option for her! (Although, we should have turned her apron around because she said people thought she was a worker from Publix, haha).

Zoe’s Party Fun

We had so much fun celebrating Zoe at her party. The girls had a blast playing in the kiddie pool, the water beads, making lei’s and eating cupcakes. We are so thankful for all these sweet friends of Zoe’s!

Zoe loved having everyone sing happy birthday to her and blowing out her candle. She actually tried to sneak the cupcake before it was time…hence the fingerprint in the icing. Then after we sang, she ate a little bit of the icing off her cupcake and then headed back to play…still not super into sweets.

I made sure to grab pictures of Zoe with her guests before they all left. She loves all these precious friends!

Grayson and Anna

Her cousin, Karla

Mary Wallace

Adi Mae

CC and Madeline

Hazel

Tiff and I tried to get a decent cousin picture before they headed home. We should have known that was impossible with this crew!

Zoe’s 4th Birthday Party

Our first event at the new house was Zoe’s 4th birthday party. It was a fun way to christen the new house. We planned it a few weeks after we moved in, which also gave me lots of good motivation to get things unpacked and settled. Zoe wanted a Moana themed birthday, which worked perfectly for a pool party in the back yard. She requested chocolate cupcakes and we also served fruit - perfect for an island theme. We invited several of her friends from church and her cousins. She had a blast playing with all the little girls and we loved celebrating our big 4 year old!

I’m going to break the pictures up into 2 different posts to show off the decorations (thanks Pinterest for all the wonderful inspiration) and then show off the party fun.

After the party was over, I had Zoe dress up in her Moana dress (her birthday present from us) and pose with Maui’s ship. I also wanted to make sure to get some pictures of her with her birth mama flowers from her party. As usual, I made a flower arrangement in honor of her beautiful birth mama for her party.

Happy Birthday, beautiful girl! We love you to the moon and back!!!