Swamp Rabbit Cafe Fall Fest
One afternoon during the chaos of being separated during Helene, Zoe and I headed to Swamp Rabbit Cafe after school for their Fall Festival. The highlight for her was getting her face painted.
Random Fun During Helene
Here are some random shots of Zoe during our time at my mom’s and back home while DJ and Ava were away. She had fun with my phone and adding things to her selfies. She especially loved going to the open gym time at a gymnastics gym near my mom’s house. Although, now she wants to do gymnastics even more.
Hurricane Helene
Life has been very different around here for the past month. We were busy with regular school life and then our area was hit with Hurricane Helene. We are so grateful that we did not have any major damage, especially compared to Western NC, an area we love so much. But, we were without power for 11 days and without internet for another 10 days. We are still working on cleanup around the yard where we lost a couple of trees but in the grand scheme of things, it could have been a lot worse. The hardest part for us was the inconveniences of not having power or internet and needing to be split up. DJ’s parents got internet back way sooner so he and Ava spent 2 weeks with them so that they could have internet access. Zoe and I spent several days with my mom to have hot showers (thanks to her gas hot water heater) and she got power back before us. Once our power came back on, Zoe and I headed home because she was finally going to be able to go back to school. Zoe and I got to go to a friends’ house to make cards for the people of Western NC to encourage them in the face of all the destruction there. We cannot imagine what life is like there and are thankful we could do something very small to help. We are all looking forward to when we can visit places like Asheville again. It was a crazy time and one we definitely will not forget.
1st Day of 2nd Grade
Zoe started 2nd grade on August 8th. She was nervous about the new year until we went to meet the teacher night and she found out that a friend from kindergarten who moved away for 1st grade was back and was in her class. We’ve heard nothing but great things about her teacher this year and are excited to see what this year holds for her.
Acro 3
This semester, Zoe moved up to Acro 3, the next level. She was super excited the first day of class when they had a legit balance beam instead of the padded one that is just a couple inches off the floor, basically just a balance mat. She still says she wants to do gymnastics, we will see where this year of acro 3 takes us.
Random Summer Fun
I found a lot of random pictures of Zoe over the summer that I wanted to make sure to save here. Ava did things with us over the summer but is just not a fan of having her picture taken, which is why I don’t have many of her these days. I know the day will come when Zoe doesn’t want me to take her picture either so for now I’m enjoying these pictures of her (especially the last one where Ava did her makeup for fun). We enjoyed time at my grandmother’s pool and our backyard pool this summer. Zoe discovered how amazing Bush-n-Vine corn is (thanks to Lizzy for bringing us some). We had a fun day at Big Air with the Forrest cousins…I spent the time chasing Zoe and Karla around. The pups got their summer cuts. And I took Zoe downtown one day and she discovered the gem mine in downtown, which may now be her favorite place in downtown.
Family Lake Day
Thanks to Ron and Jane for inviting us all out to the lake when their kids and grandkids were in town. Unfortunately, DJ wasn’t feeling up to going and Ava was dealing with a sore throat so they weren’t able to join. But Zoe and I had a great time with the cousins, Ron, Jane and Grandmama. Zoe loved swimming by the dock and tubing. We also loved getting to meet baby Carter for the first time and I enjoyed some sweet baby snuggles. It was a great day with family on the beautiful lake Keowee!
The Summer of Girls’ Trips
This summer, instead of taking a family vacation, we decided that it would be best if I took each of the girls on a separate trip. Ava and I spent a few days in Charleston and then Zoe and I spent a few days at Edisto. I did not get any pictures from mine and Ava’s trip. We were going to go take pictures by the battery after shopping at the market but it started raining so sightseeing and pictures didn’t happen. We had a nice relaxing time in that beautiful city though!
Thanks to a cancellation, Eric and Jenn’s house in Edisto was available for a few nights. It was perfect for Zoe and I to be able to enjoy the beach since we could walk to the beach (much easier for me carrying everything than loading up the car and driving there). She loved searching for shells and sharks teeth. We had a little bit of rain that morning while we were out on the beach but we huddled in the tent and it passed quickly.
We missed DJ on each of these trips but with his chemo fatigue we knew it was best for him to stay home. We are all looking forward to the day that we can do vacations as a family again. But for now, I enjoyed the one on one time with each girl.
Fairy Trail with Friends
Zoe and I ventured out to the fairy trail in Hendersonville with some of our closest friends from church. Jennifer and I loved watching these girls light up with joy at all the fairy houses and exploring the gardens. It was such a fun day!
