Vacation...

Last weekend we were blessed by taking a long weekend to Pigeon Forge. We were unable to go to the beach this year because hubs used most of his vacation time when he went to Brazil.

We left on Friday & returned on Monday, we were also blessed in the fact that Memaw came to be with us for one night during our vacation. She was able to go with us to Splash Country on Saturday & she seemed to have enjoyed herself even though it rained for half of the day on Saturday. Our theory was that we were going to get wet anyway, so why did it matter if it was raining or not, at least it wasn't hot or crowded!

On Sunday Addison proclaimed that she didn't want to go to the "water slides", she just wanted to stay at the hotel and swim. Hubs and I agreed that, that was a good idea. We also went and ate at a new restaurant called "Mamas Farmhouse". It was YUUUMMMMYYYYY!!!! Even Addison loved eating there, probably because they allowed her to get a toy out of their toy box after our meal for being a good girl during breakfast.

After breakfast we also visited the Christmas store where I hinted to hubs about the village pieces that I wanted for Christmas. Hehe! Addison visited Santa Claus and told him that she wanted a beep beep (car) and a pink computer for Christmas!

Monday was filled with some shopping at Tanger outlets before going home. I purchased Addison a few items for fall and then we headed home.

It was a great long weekend! And we really enjoyed relaxing and being together as a family!


P.S. I will have to post pics later, blogger is being mean and not letting me!

Date Night!

A couple of weeks ago hubs and I were truly blessed with a date night! This was our first date night since April, so we were really excited to have a quite dinner without our little one!

We first helped Addie pack her suitcase, she packed most of it. We let her pick out her dress for church the next day, she included lots of books & her favorite nightgown. She was off to a fun evening herself, Nana & Papaw were taking her to the Volunteer Fire Department for their annual Fire Department Picnic. Too bad that she's scared of fire trucks!

After that, hubs and I were off...we first went to dinner at Chili's, which was good, but I was HIGHLY disappointed that their famous Chicken Tacos were taken off of the menu. Dinner was good anyway.

We then made our way to the Asheville mall to utilize my gap coupon. I bought myself a few things, including some new Gap jeans (LOVE them) & a cutesy pair of shoes. I rarely buy myself anything, but when you have a 40% off Gap coupon, it's kind of irresistible!

Hubs & I then made our way to the movies, where we went to the 9:55 movie! It was so much fun staying out so late! We watched the movie "Grown Ups" and to be honest with you, I will give it a "C". Hubs would probably disagree and give it an "A". We had such a good time though giggling and singing with the radio on the way home!

Addison's Summer....

With summer drawing in for a close, I wanted to update everyone on Addison's summer. Summer has been a blast for Addison, it was filled with lots of swimming and playing outside. With that, Addison has had quite a few changed in her life this summer.

The first change was that we have switched her child care from her baby sitter to a really nice pre - school located downtown. We were always happy with her baby sitter, but we were getting concerned that she may not be quite ready for kindergarten. This pre school is AMAZING to say the least, Addison is now exposed to so much more and we can tell a HUGE difference in our child since she first started her pre - school. For starters, her vocabulary has expanded & it seems like she associates what she is learning at school at home now. Her second day at school was "blue day", so I dressed her from head to toe in blue. She has known her colors for a very long time, but when she got home she associated what she had learned with other objects in our house that were also blue. She went from room to room and told me everything that was blue in that room.

Addison is also learning a lot about the bible at school as well, she was able to participate in Vacation Bible School and she also attends chapel once per week. One week was entitled " Bible Story Week" and she learned about a different bible story each day.

In a couple of weeks, she will also have the opportunity to participate in Computer and Spanish classes, along with several field trips throughout the year. Needless to say, we are very excited about this new adventure.

Another big change for Addison was ....

Yes! she got her ears pierced. She has been wanting to do it for months, but she recently mustered up the courage to do so!

One Saturday evening at The Asheville Mall, she said that she wanted to do it, so I took her into The Icing, she walked in and exclaimed "No, not this ear piercing store" so we walked to Claire's, I first let her pick out her earrings and she chose a little pair of small flowers that were different colors. I then put her up in the chair and the lady came over and did it really fast, she did cry, but not until the second ear was pierced. She wanted to take the earrings out at first, but once she saw them in her ears she loved them. Once down from the chair, she ran over and picked out a new Dora The Explorer purse & diary ( I know, why does a 3 year old need a diary?) But, who was I to tell her no after she went through all of that?

She's also doing well when we have to clean them with solution 3 times per day, she's just anxious to wear Mommy's earrings really soon!

More updates to come soon!

British Soccer Camp

This week Addison was enrolled in a British Soccer Camp at our local rec center. The camp was held each morning from 9 - 10 am and she was taught various soccer skills. At the end of camp her coaches said that her dribbling & handling of the ball had improved over the week and that she was a pleasure to have at camp.

Addison seemed to enjoy the camp and she looks forward to playing soccer this coming Spring. She will start dance classes again in August.

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a great fourth of July! The best part of the holiday weekend was that Daddy took off on Friday, so we had a four day weekend together as a family, and it was great!

On Friday we went to Splash Country and had a great day splishing and splashing together. We got there just as the park opened so we had some of the water slides to ourselves for a while, so that was nice. It is so fun to see how brave Addison is getting. I think that she would even go down the big adult slides if we let her, but I love that Splash Country is so family friendly. It is really nice to be able to go down slides with your child and have fun with them.

On Sunday we first celebrated the fourth with an awesome church service! The choir sang some great patriotic songs & a couple sang "Proud to Be An American" they did such a fantastic job, and it brought tears to my eyes. I dressed Addison in the most adorable red, white & blue dress with cute pigtails! She looked really adorable, I wore a navy dress to match her! I love it when our outfits coordinate!

On Sunday evening we were invited over by our friends Aaron & Rachel, where we continued our celebrations with a cookout and some fun games! Rachel had also invited over some of our other friends from Chrysalis. It was so nice to hang out with everyone, and Rachel is always the best hostess! She always goes out of her way to ensure that everyone is happy and comfortable. She had sparklers & sidewalk chalk waiting for Addison and when we had walked down to the fireworks she pulled out lots of glow bracelets & necklaces to keep Addison's busy hands occupied! Thanks Rachel, you're the best!

We enjoyed the fireworks lakeside, it was so nice that Aaron and Rachel live at the lake & we were able to just walk down to the lake to see the fireworks. And we were able to get a bit of a work out in as well when we walked back up to their house & we had to conquer their large hill up their road, but it was nice to work off all of the smores & cupcakes!

Hope that you and your family had a great fourth of July as well!

Memorial Day Weekend Getaway!

This weekend was the most fun & relaxing one that we've had in a long time. Ever since hubby returned from Brazil, I have been patiently waiting for a little getaway with my little family.

On Friday, Addison & I spent the day making special snacks & treats for us to go on our vacation. I just love having special things to eat when we travel, I guess I get it from my mom-- she used to do the same thing when we went on vacation. We made a cheeseball, chocolate chip cookies & home made pimento cheese -- yummy!! I also bought some local strawberries & sliced them up and put some sugar on them for a yummy treat.

Our destination? The usual-- Pigeon Forge, TN, but I didn't care! We arrived on Saturday afternoon and spent the rest of the day swimming in our hotels 2 pools. We had so much fun laughing and splashing with Addison. Later that evening we went and ate dinner at a burger joint up the street, hubs loved it, Addie and I didn't like it so much! She & I both ordered hot dogs, and they looked kinda weird, we also split an order of almost burnt soggy french fries.... so we had a snack when we got back to the room. After dinner we went to The Birkenstock store (one of my favorites) & then Addie spotted some kiddie rides across the street so we let her pick 2 rides to ride. When we got back to the hotel Addie decided that she needed a little swim before bed, the pool stayed open until 2 AM, so we let her swim until 9 :30 or so...HA! Glad she can't tell time yet!

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast in our room & then we were off to Dollywood's Splash Country, we've visited the park several times, but it's getting much more fun to take Addison now that she is getting older. She even went down a couple of the kiddie slides by herself, hubs would walk her up & put her on the slide & I would catch her at the bottom. We also bought season passes to the park, so we will be visiting much more this year! On a normal day to Splash Country, we enter the park around opening time -- 10 am or so, we splash for a few hours, go out to our car and make a picnic (they have picnic tables just outside of the entrance) or even eat in the hatch of my car and then go back in for a few more hours. I added up & we saved about $30 by doing this!

Later on that evening we went out and ate at our favorite restaurant, The Chop House and it was soooo good as usual, and of course Addie wanted to swim again after dinner, so being the good parents that we are, we let her.

On Monday, sadly it was time to go home, but not before some outlet shopping. I bought Addison a few items, including soccer cleats for soccer camp coming up at the end of July. They are black with pink cleats on the bottom -- sooo cute & we bought her a pink soccer ball to match! So adorable! I also got started on my Christmas shopping with a lot of winter items on clearance racks!

We had a great weekend away & can't wait to do it again!

Dance Recital

One of the benefits of having a little girl is dance class. Since September, 2009 Addison and I have traveled to Sylva each evening to Triple Threat Performing Arts Academy to Predance class taught by Miss. Nicole. This has been one of our favorite mommy & daughter activities, Dad has school on Tuesday evenings so dance class helps the evening go by faster.

In December, 2009 the class of 10 3 & 4 year olds started to prepare for their recital piece "The Wheels On The Bus". A few weeks later they were measured for their costumes. And the dance recital was starting to come together.

This past week was filled with extra classes & rehearsals, and the recital was today. I volunteered to be the "stage mom", helping the little ones keep their bows tied, hair fixed & entertained the group while we waited for our turn to go on stage. And finally, it was our turn. The lights turned to a bright yellow to match their adorable costumes, and it was time for the girls to go on stage. But their was a problem....my little one was glued to my leg. I picked her up and explained to her that she was going to dance for all of her friends & relatives that came to see her, and also that if she went on stage that there was a brand new slip - n - slide waiting on her in the car. That was all that it took...she bolted in front of Lydia ( a friend from church) and went out and did her wheels on the bus thing... and she did great! And yes, if you did ask me if it all was worth it... I will proudly tell you yes, yes it was! I was so proud of her on stage, dancing around and having so much fun!

The Wheels on the Bus go round & round...

The babies on the bus go wah wah wah...

The mamas on the bus go shhh shhh shhh

The slip n slide!