Zoe’s First Day of Dance Fall 2023
Zoe began her 4th year at Dance Without Limits with a new dance class this fall. After a 6 week summer class in Acro, Zoe fell in love with that and was even able to move up to Acro 2 for the fall semester. The acro class is basically floor gymnastics with some dance components added. Zoe has been asking to do gymnastics but there isn’t a great gym near us so we thought this might be a good compromise for her. She is already learning so much and practices her skills all the time at home. She’s determined to figure out a handstand now and I don’t think it will take her too long before she masters it. It is fun to watch her do something that fits her so well.
The Girl Gang at the Zoo
Zoe and I had so much fun meeting up with my cousins and their girls at the Atlanta Zoo. We did miss Elizabeth and her girls but we understood traveling with a baby who does not like the car is just not fun at all. It was so fun to see the girl gang cousins (as Elizabeth coined them) all having fun together at the zoo. My cousins and I were so close growing up so we love seeing our girls together and we hope they always have a sweet relationship. We are all excited for Lauren and Caleb to welcome the first boy to the family in January after 7 little girls!
Sleepover Fun
Since we didn’t have an official party for Ava’s birthday, we decided to invite her best friends from church over for her very first sleepover. The two girls are sisters and it was such a fun girly night with all kinds of snacks and movies. They had fun in our new above ground pool as well. These girls are such sweet friends and we are so thankful for them!
Zoe’s Summer Camps 2023
Zoe had fun at 2 different summer camps this summer. First, she went to an art camp at Bob Jones that was hosted by the art museum of Bob Jones. They learned about art from around the world and made projects based on each country. Then, she went to a mermaids and pirates camp at her dance studio with 2 sweet dance friends. She had so much fun dancing and playing with her friends each day. She also took a 6 week acro dance class and fell in love with acro. Each week she improved her skills like cartwheels and different forward rolls. She was able to level up to the next acro class for the fall semester!
July 11th Through the Years
Now that I’ve shared the beach pictures, I can post the pictures of Ava on July 11th through the years. Well, the picture this year is actually from July 12th because I didn’t get a great picture of Ava on her birthday and the one from the beach is much better. Plus, it is fun that we were in the Charleston area for her birthday just 2 years before as well. I just love seeing what Ava looks like each year on her birthday. She’s growing into such a beautiful young lady!
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
July 11, 2023 - 11 Years
Isle of Palms 2023
The day after Ava’s birthday, we packed up the car and headed to Isle of Palms for a short beach trip. We stopped in downtown Charleston for a special treat at Carmella’s bakery and the girls each got a mini cake (that was actually huge for each of them). We realized after the fact that they had little mug cake versions that we missed when we were ordering. After eating their fill of cake, we headed straight to the beach because our hotel was not ready yet. We spent a few hours at the beach before heading to the hotel to check in and then to dinner. We chose a restaurant right near our hotel that was amazing for food sensitivities. It was so good, we decided to go back there the next night for supper too. Our 2nd day was spent completely on the beach….which ended with DJ and I sunburnt and all of us exhausted. But, we loved our time looking for shells, jumping the waves and building sandcastles. We headed home the next day after lunch at a fun breakfast restaurant. It was short trip but such a fun trip enjoying the beautiful beach!
Ava is 11!
Ava celebrated her golden birthday on July 11th this year when she turned 11! We had a fun day celebrating Ava. We enjoyed cinnamon rolls for breakfast (her request) and she opened gifts while we waited for them to cook. Then, we took the girls to Big Air for a fun day of jumping and good food, including Dippin’ Dots for Ava’s birthday treat. We ended the evening with Ava’s requested tater tot nachos for supper. It was a fun day celebrating our 11 year old!
Girls’ Getaway
Instead of a big party for Ava’s birthday this year, she and I took a little getaway to Charlotte for a night. We spent time shopping and enjoying good food. Ava especially enjoyed the American Girl store and it was so fun to see the huge American Girl dollhouse in person. It was a fun little getaway with my big girl.
Cousin Sleepover Swap
This summer Ava had a fun adventure with Grace. We worked out with Tiff and Josh to do a sleepover swap with the big girls. We took Ava to Columbia and she spent 3 nights with Grace at their house. And the added benefit was that DJ and I got to see the final performance of Dear Evan Hansen in Columbia as it was ending the North American tour. It was our 3rd time seeing the show but this was such a very special performance being the final curtain call. Then, Zoe and I met up with Tiff and the kids at Riverbanks and then we brought Ava and Grace home with us. Grace spent 2 nights with us. The girls had a lot of fun swimming, baking and ice skating over the week. It was a fun cousin week!
Our Ballerina
I made sure to do a little portrait session of Zoe in her costume. I think this may be one of my favorite costumes she has worn. She looked so beautiful!
