Happy 7th Birthday, Zoe!
Zoe turned 7 on April 7th, her Golden Birthday! We surprised her the day before her birthday with her first gift and a day trip with cousins. We decided to give her an American Girl doll this year. We’ve had it for years after buying it through a Today Show deal like we did with Ava’s doll. We originally said she had to learn how to read the books to be able to get an American Girl doll but after missing the window on Ava wanting to play with dolls for long, we decided to go ahead and give Zoe her doll this year even though she isn’t reading chapter books yet. She was so excited to open the box and see Melody. It was so cute when she compared her skin color to Melody’s skin and see the joy in her face that the doll matched her. Then we told her we were meeting her cousins in Charlotte for lunch and shopping at the American Girl store. She had a blast celebrating with her cousins and shopping, complete with BFF necklaces for her and Karla. For Zoe’s actual birthday, we celebrated with dinner at Cheesecake Factory and she got her first (and probably last) taste of cheesecake. She loved the design they made on the plate around her birthday cheesecake but was not a fan of the actual cake. We had so much fun celebrating our big 7 year old all weekend!!
Easter 2024
We spent Easter with my family again this year. My mom, grandmother, aunt and uncle came over for lunch. After lunch we all enjoyed an Easter egg hunt that ended same as always with one egg missing. Hopefully Zoe will find it eventually this year like last year. It was a special day celebrating Easter with my family.
Bring Your Grownup to Dance
I joined Zoe in her acro class at the end of March for Bring Your Grownup to Dance day. That class is no joke! I was sore for days from it. It was fun to get to enjoy the class with Zoe!
Radiation
After 30 daily weekday trips to the cancer institute, DJ finished radiation on March 20th! Overall, the whole process went really smoothly. There was only 1 day that the machine wasn’t working to delay treatment. He had fatigue but it was manageable. He did lose some hair but it is easily covered by his other hair. It was a long 6 weeks but we are so thankful to have this step behind us. Now we have a break before chemo starts on April 22.
Spring Break 2024
As with most things this year, spring break looked very different. We wanted to take the girls for an overnight trip but with DJ’s fatigue from radiation, we decided that wasn’t the best option. Instead, I took each girl for a day trip to Charlotte. Ava and I spent our day shopping (no pictures from that day). Zoe and I spent our day at Discovery Place. She loved the science themed museum and especially loved the recycled crafting area.
We ended spring break with ice skating at the Pavilion. Zoe was determined to teach herself how to skate. She took a few pointers from me and Ava but she actually did figure it out on her own. I don’t have any pics of her once she mastered it but here she is zooming by with the walker. She can’t wait to go skate again!
Riverbanks with the Cousins
The girls and I met up with Tiff and the kids at Riverbanks for a cousins’ day at the zoo. These crazy kids had a great time together! I’m going to post all of these pictures because this whole attempt to get a picture of the 5 of them was pure chaos and hilarious.
Random Pics of Ava from Winter
Now it’s Ava’s turn for some random pics from the past few months.
She took this selfie and I can’t get over how grown up she looks. We decided not to get her ears pierced again after the holes filled in immediately but she loves her clip on hoops!
We started full on home school with Ava this semester. It’s been fun to go on field trips with her. This was a trip to walk around the lake with Sookie. We also went to the Botanical Gardens in Clemson.
Ava started horse back riding this winter. She absolutely loves the horses and is excited to learn more about them and about riding.
Random Pics of Zoe from Winter
To minimize the number of posts, here are some random pictures of Zoe from the past few months.
She is determined to master the handstand!
Ready for her Valentine’s Day party at school with her Valentine’s from her daddy.
All snuggled up with her babies, Bobby and Bun Bun for watching TV on a Saturday morning.
Hiking at Table Rock
We decided to take the girls to Table Rock for a picnic and short hike. We took Winnie along with us and she loved every minute of it.
Marshmallow Fun
We’ve been trying to do more campfires recently and the girls are loving roasting marshmallows. Ava also discovered the fun of putting marshmallows in the microwave.
