Olivia’s First Birthday
Over Labor Day weekend, we headed down to my cousin Lauren’s house to celebrate her sweet Olivia’s first birthday. It was so fun to see all the youngest cousins together (minus Piper) and we all had a great time celebrating Miss Olivia. She was so cute and was not a fan of her cake. It was funny to watch her try to eat the strawberries but not the icing. It was almost like she was wondering why someone messed up her strawberries. We loved being with family for the day and watching these girls have a blast together.
All the First Days
Because I can’t help it….here are all of the girls’ first days of school.
Their Only Year Together
This year is the only year the girls will ever overlap at the same school. We hate they won’t have more years together but are so thankful they get this one year together. Ava is already showing Zoe the ropes at school. Zoe thinks she is big stuff being there with Ava. We hope this is a special year for them!
First Day of 5th Grade
The first day of school was a big day for Ava as well because it is her last first day of elementary school. We cannot believe she will be in middle school next year! Paris Elementary has been such a great school for Ava and we are sad this is her last year here. But, we keep telling her to enjoy every minute of this last year at Paris and all the benefits that come with being the big kid on campus. She could not wait to get back to school to see her friends. She had a great first day and already loves her teacher. We are so proud of all she’s accomplished so far and cannot wait to see her rock her last year of elementary school!
First Day of Kindergarten
The day Zoe has been dreaming about for so long finally came! She is headed off to kindergarten and gets to go to school with Ava. She was full of excitement and nerves but so ready to head into school with her big sister. It was definitely full of mixed emotions for mama and daddy as well but we know she is going to thrive in school. She had the best first day, loves her teacher and is already making friends. We can’t wait to see what this year holds for her.
Twas the Night Before Kindergarten
August 15th was going to be a big day in our house as both girls went off to school together. They were both so excited to start school. Zoe’s teacher gave her some ready confetti to put under her pillow the night before school. It came with a note saying her teacher would put some under her pillow as well and would wish for a wonderful year together. This little girl could not be more ready for big girl school!
Happy Birthday, DJ!
For DJ’s birthday, we decided to go check out a newer apple orchard. His birthday was 2 days before school started so it was also a fun way to end summer break. We headed up to Jeter Mountain Farms, which was a gorgeous orchard and wedding venue. We of course had to test their donuts but the girls said Skytop’s are better. We’ve now tried 3 other orchards and none can beat Skytop’s donuts. We decided not to pick apples but did enjoy their field of pick your own zinnias and sunflowers. The girls also loved their playground area. It was a fun way to celebrate the birthday boy and the end of summer.
Summer Highlights
Here are some random highlights from my phone from this summer that didn’t really fit into other posts.
The girls have both figured out how to take pictures with the iPad or my phone so I am constantly finding random pictures of them on my phone….usually making silly faces.
Sookie and Winnie are loving life together. It took Winnie a little while to really start to play with Sookie. It almost seemed like she was afraid she would hurt Sookie when she was really little. It took a few weeks for them to adjust to life together but now they are best friends and play all the time! Sookie is slowly learning boundaries with her play because Winnie lets her do anything (except take her food…that’s the only time she’ll growl at Sookie). We are working on teaching Sookie that you can’t bite and play dirty. But it is so fun to see them play and be best buds.
Sookie is such a cutie but she is a mess. She is constantly stealing shoes, socks, stuffed animals, bathroom trash, etc. We keep saying we forget what life with a puppy was like because the time when Winnie was a puppy seems like a black hole because we had a 1 year old baby at the same time. Sookie got spayed this summer and had to wear the donut of shame. We decided to wait to get her groomed until after she healed from getting spayed to be able to even out where they had to shave her, which meant she got super shaggy. She got so shaggy she had enough hair on top of her head for a little ponytail…something she was not a fan of. Zoe and Sookie are really developing a bond because Zoe knows that Sookie will eventually be her sleeping buddy. She started playing a game with Sookie where she lays on the floor and hides under the blanket while Sookie lays down on top of her. Zoe giggles the whole time they play together. And this summer she discovered a fun new toy…balloons. She is so cute when she plays with balloons and surprisingly she plays for a while before she pops them.
One evening this summer we looked outside and saw the most beautiful double rainbow!
DJ and I were able to take 2 dates over the summer. The first was to the Monet and Friends exhibit at Biltmore, which was so cool. Impressionists are my favorite artists and it was so cool to see their images projected in the immersive exhibit. Then we were able to see Hamilton again when it came to town. It was just as good as the first time we saw it!
Zoe found a way to make the most of the rainy days we had this summer. As long as it wasn’t thundering, she wanted to play outside in the rain some. Ava is growing so much these days! And Zoe requests having her picture taken more and more these days, which I am happy to oblige.
Zoe decided to use her Christmas money to buy a new doll this summer. This doll is amazing. Her name happens to be Zoe (so she is referred to as Zoe doll) and the creator is a Black woman who wanted to create a doll to promote a positive image around Black hair. You can wash and style the doll’s hair and Zoe is now a little more willing for hair day since she can choose a style for her and Zoe doll. On one of the days Ava had her last camp, I took Zoe to try to find some crocs at the consignment stores since she outgrew her’s. I realized as we were out that we didn’t have time to go back home for lunch before we needed to pick up Ava so we headed to Panera. I decided to take a picture of her because I realized it was one of my last days to spend just the 2 of us before she heads off to kindergarten.
It was a busy summer with camps and swimming but it was a lot of fun. Now we are all ready for school!
1st Day of Dance - Fall 2022
We are excited for Zoe to start another semester at Dance Without Limits. Now that she is in kindergarten, she’s moved up to the next level of classes (and dress code). Back in the spring, they let everyone try a week of dance for free to see what class the kids wanted to sign up for in the fall. Zoe tried jazz, hip hop, acro (basically tumbling), and ballet. To our surprise, she chose ballet. So far she loving her ballet class and she looks so cute in her new leotard. We can’t wait to see what this little ballerina does this fall.
