Ava Through the Years
I truly cannot believe how much that tiny baby girl that we met on July 11, 2012 has grown over the years. She is growing into such a beautiful young woman and we are so blessed to be able to watch her grow each year.
July 11, 2012 - Newborn
July 11, 2013 - 1 Year
July 11, 2014 - 2 Years
July 11, 2015 - 3 Years
July 11, 2016 - 4 Years
July 11, 2017 - 5 Years
July 11, 2018 - 6 Years
July 11, 2019 - 7 Years
July 11, 2020 - 8 Years
July 11, 2021 - 9 Years
July 11, 2022 - 10 Years
Happy 10th Birthday, Ava
How in the world is Ava 10 years old already??? I truly do not know where the past 10 years have gone. It blows my mind that it has been 10 years since we met that tiny baby in the hospital. This feels like such a huge milestone birthday for her. Every year she seems so grown up but hitting double digits truly feels huge. We had a fun day celebrating the double-digit girl! We started the day with presents. Zoe was so excited to give Ava the Isabella doll she picked out. We thought that was such a good gift idea, we decided to give Ava a Mirabel doll as well. Ava loved her koala shoes (see getting so big she gets excited about shoes for a gift) because koalas are her favorite animals. We also gave Ava a special necklace that came with 2 parts, one of which we will send to her birth mom. As Ava gets older she is really processing her adoption and missing her birth mom a lot. We wanted to honor that connection and give her something to share with her birth mama who we all love very much. Zoe had dance camp on Ava’s birthday, so while she was at camp DJ and Ava took a bike ride on the Swamp Rabbit Trail. I met up with them at Swamp Rabbit Cafe after I dropped Zoe off at camp and we celebrated with birthday popsicles. After we picked Zoe up from camp, we took the girls to Barnes and Noble so Ava could do what she loves most, shop for books. Then we had supper at Tipsy Taco. It was a special day celebrating our big girl.
Fairy Trail
Since we had our big vacation over spring break, we didn’t take a vacation this summer. But we did take a fun day trip up to Hendersonville. We went to Bullington Gardens to explore their Fairy Trail. The trail was so cute and the girls had a blast looking at all the fairy gardens and opening the fairy doors to see what was in them. Zoe was determined we were going to see a real fairy and was a little disappointed we didn’t find one but said they must be hiding and only come out when the people aren’t there. Now the girls want to create their own fairy trail in our woods.
Summer Camps 2022
This summer both girls got to take part in 2 camps. Zoe did 2 different camps at her dance studio again this year. The first camp was Frozen 2 themed and the 2nd camp was Princess themed. As usual, she had a blast with the dancing, crafts and especially the snacks. She made a sweet new dance friend, Aeryn at both camps and got to enjoy time with her friend Tallulah as well. We love the dance studio and they make it such a sweet experience for the kids!
Ava did one art camp at the TR Makers Co. The art camp was camp out themed and they spent their days doing art outside and using things like leaves to paint with. It just so happened to be the hottest week we had so far this summer but Ava had a blast despite the heat. The second camp she did was a camp just for adopted kids that her counselor created. It was such a special week for these kiddos to spend time with other adopted kids and explore all their pieces of what makes them who they are. The last day of camp was a time for the parents to join the kids for lunch and playtime with bounce houses. Ava made a really sweet friend at this camp as well. It was a such a good week for her to be with other adopted kids and she already says she wants to go again next year.
Zoe’s Spring Showcase
Zoe had her spring showcase on June 5th. The theme for the Showcase was Lights, Camera, Dance! All of the songs were from movies. Zoe’s Tot Hop and Tumble class danced to Space Jam from the original Space Jam movie. They all looked so cute in their basketball jersey leotards. Zoe danced her heart out on the stage and did such a good job. I am always worried that she doesn’t know the routine but she surprises me at each performance. The confetti cannon was a fun surprise during the finale for the kids! This year she got to share the performance with Grammie and GG, which was super special. Nana and Papa were supposed to come but were sick and couldn’t make it. We all just love watching this girl shine on the stage!
First Day vs Last Day
I can’t help but compare Ava’s first and last day of 4th grade. 5th Grade here she comes!
Ava’s Last day of 4th Grade
Ava finished up 4th grade on June 3rd. She had such a great year this year. As the year went on, things slowly got back to normal as COVID regulations were relaxed. It was so great for her to be able to go on a field trip, have Spiritfest and have a chorus concert and all the other things that weren’t allowed during COVID. Ava loved her teacher, Miss Riebe, and learned so much from her this year. They also had a teaching intern from Clemson, Miss Carter, in their class. Ava loved Miss Carter as well and was very sad when she got a full time job at another school but was excited for Miss Carter to be able to have her own class. Ava fell in love with social studies this year and really blossomed in math. She made some really great friends, especially her best friend Anahi. It always makes us so proud to see her grow and blossom so much each year in school. Now on to 5th grade, the last year of elementary school!
Ava’s Awards Day
For the first time in 2 years, we were able to attend Ava’s end of the year awards day in person! And this year was even bigger because the 4th grade awards are all together in the cafeteria. The principal Mr. Wise and assistant principal Ms. Gerard helped hand out the awards as the teachers announced them. We were very proud of Ava for making the A/B Honor Roll and for receiving the Excellence in Art award from her art teacher. She has had such a great year in 4th grade and loves her teacher, Miss Riebe.
Zoe’s First and Last Days
Since I can’t compare different years of school, I wanted to compare Zoe on the first day of 4k and the last day. She grew so much in one school year! Kindergarten here she comes!
