Dance Recital

Emmie and Ruthie both took dance this year. Emmie took ballet and jazz and Ruthie took creative movement (ballet and tap). They both had WONDERFUL teachers and enjoyed dance so much. The dance recital was this past Saturday. They were really excited and had a great time dancing on the stage!

Ruthie was in the 9:30 recital and Emmie was in the 11:30 recital so we got a babysitter for JP!

Ruthie's class danced to the Aristocats. They were adorable.

Ruthie and her friend Ellie

Emmie's ballet class danced to "True Colors". Emmie does such a good job in ballet...I love to watch her dance.

Emmie's jazz class danced to "I'm Still Standing"

Ellie got a flower for being such a trooper. She had to sit and watch from 930-130 and she was awesome!

We had dress rehearsal last week. Gin-g came to watch since they weren't going to be at the recital and I was so glad to have the extra pair of hands! I was able to video the girls during the dance recital.


(Emmie is on the end of the front row)



(at the very beginning Emmie is the second from the left)

Roo's Swim Lessons

Ruthie just finished up 2 weeks of swim lessons with Palmetto Aquatics. She was SO excited for swim lessons this year and she learned a lot over her 2 weeks. We still have to work on getting her to kick her legs out instead of bicycle kicking but other than that she was doing awesome! We got lucky and Ruthie had the same teacher both weeks AND it was her teacher the second week she took last year. It definitely helped the first day for Ruthie to have someone she already knew. I LOVED her attitude throughout the two weeks. She was always ready to swim and she kept a big smile on her face the majority of the time. The first week she was having a lot of throat pain and then she drank a lot of water the first day which did horrible things to her stomach but she never complained during her lessons and she didn't let it slow her down when she was swimming. This kiddo is a trooper!

Week 1




Week 2


(Also, apparently roo can dive!)




She is so ready for the pool this summer! Ruthie gets to be on the mini team for swim team this year and she is beyond excited to do swim team like the big girls!

Emmie goes to Summerville

A few weekends ago Emmie got her turn to go to Summerville to spend the weekend with GiGi and PaPa all by herself. Of all the kids she was definitely the most anxious about going. She is very much a Mama's girl who likes to be at her own house with all her people. She gave us lots of hugs before she left (as opposed to Ellie and Ruthie who grabbed their bag and bolted for the car)! She of course had a wonderful time...although she was stuck to me like glue when she got back and told us she missed us over and over. She has had the best time telling us all about her adventures! Like the rest of the girls, she's already planning what she's going to do when she goes back!



Gin-g sent me this picture Saturday morning. Emmie got up and made her bed. She loves to make her bed and have things neat and orderly!


They did SO much on Saturday. Emmie had lots of great experiences!

They went to Angel Oak.



They went to the Fire Museum.

Emmie told me she got nervous driving the fire truck. I love her and how serious she takes things.

She made badges for herself and JP.

There were replicas of the Nina and the Pinta docked in Charleston and so she got to go see them. So neat!

They took her out for a nice dinner. She really, really enjoyed that! She's at a great age to do things like that but at home if it doesn't have a playground we generally don't go so I'm thrilled that she got to have this experience!

Emmie wanted to go to a River Dogs game but it ended up being sold out so they took her to Folly Beach and the pier instead. She was excited that she got to watch some people catch fish!

Krispy Kreme doughnuts! AND they brought us back a dozen doughnuts...win!

When Emmie got home she lined up Ellie and Ruthie and told them all about her adventures. She had a few small presents for them and she gave them their presents in a very orderly fashion.

Cousins Weekend

Love these sweet kids! Laura Ann, Ruthie, Emmie, JP, Mary Jane, Ellie

Two weekends ago the kids, Gin-g and I headed to NC to stay with Paul's Aunt Suzy and Uncle Clyde for cousins weekend! We look forward to this every year. This year we only had 2 of the older girls and we really missed the other cousins but we had a blast!
Friday we got there and JP immediately spotted the dogs. He was immediately smitten. We had to go over and visit with the dogs before we did anything else. Then we ate dinner and the kids played a bit (they had a ball playing hide and seek outside) and then it was time for bed.

My little man loves a good hat!

Saturday we got up (JP immediately wanted to check on the dogs), watched some Saturday morning TV and ate a HUGE, yummy breakfast and headed down to the river.

snuggle time!

There was a little playground that the kids played on for awhile and then we walked down a little overlook and they loved throwing rocks from the deck into the river. We then took the kids down to the river wehre they could stick their toes in the water. They LOVED getting all muddy. JP had lots of fun until those mean adults wouldn't let him go all the way in the water!

Ellie and Uncle Clyde

The adults had fun too!

Ruthie and Danny

When you're one of the littles you get piggy back rides everywhere you go!

having a blast!

We headed back (checked on the dogs), ate lunch, and let JP get a nap. The girls played play-doh while he napped.


We pulled out some bubbles for the kids after naps and they were entertained by that for a few minutes. (JP was really more interested in the dogs than the bubbles!).

Aunt Suzy and Roo

Carla played lots of songs for us on the piano and the kids loved "helping" her. Ellie now wants to learn how to play the piano!

Carla was very tolerant of all her little helpers!

JP wanted to dance with his GiGi.

We then headed over to check on Jennifer and Danny's animals and let the kids jump on their trampoline. You may remember from previous posts that they are slowly adding animals onto their farm. We LOVE seeing the changes every time we go (they're talking about adding pigs next!). We visited the chickens, goats, and llamas. The kids loved seeing the animals. And JP was thrilled that they also have a....DOG! (Seriously, this kid is obsessed.) The girls jumped on the trampoline for awhile as well.

Ellie was a little nervous about Mary Jane's dog at first but she was super brave and after a few minutes they were big buddies.

We headed back in time for dinner and then they played some more hide and seek before bed (and JP checked on the dogs a few hundred times).

JP and Patrick

JP and Bailey

Sunday we ate a light breakfast, checked on the dogs, packed, checked on the dogs, ate an early lunch, and then headed back to Columbia!

We had a great time visiting with family and we can't wait to go back!