Five On Friday: Solo Kiddo Edition

Howdy y'all! It's Friday again (yahoo!) which means I'm back with another Five On Friday update. I love these posts, mainly because I'll be able to look back at the end of the year and see what was going on with our Party o' Five each week. Anywho, here are my five random updates from this week:

[ONE].

Oh y'all. Y'all. Y'all. Y'all. When I heard those fateful words, "It's a girl!" three years ago, my heart nearly burst from excitement over all the sweet things I'd be able to do with my daughter over her lifetime. Immediately, I envisioned my little girl on a stage, in the puffiest of tutus and the tiniest of ballet shoes plie-ing and arabesque-ing to her heart's content. You see, I grew up dancing. I started with ballet in preschool and quickly added tap, jazz, lyrical, and hip-hop to my resume, dancing with a nationally reknowned company throughout my childhood and eventually dancing as a Clemson Rally Cat during my college years. Dancing is in my blood. And I was hoping my little girl would love it as much as I did. Well. Fast forward to this week. When I surprised Raleigh by telling her that she'd be participating in a dance camp in a couple weeks and that we needed to buy her her first ballet shoes and leotards. So. This happened. 

 

And then we got home. She asked if she could try on her new ballet shoes with her new tights and her new leotard. I couldn't get her dressed quickly enough--we were both so excited! I didn't let her see herself until she was completely dressed. Then, I snapped this picture when she saw herself in the mirror for the first time. A real ballerina. 

 And then? Then I started crying. Dream. Come. True.

[TWO].

We continue to fill our summer days and evenings with trips to the pool, visits to the awesome local Snow Cone place, family walks, and lots of outdoor play (that is, when it's not 95+ degrees). Luckily, my sweet Harrison is now proving to be pretty go-with-the-flow and is always ready to roll with wherever our day takes us. And, with just a few plans on our calendar this week and next, it's been really fun and new to wake up and simply ask all invovled parties, "So. Whatcha wanna do today?" and then see where the day takes us. Lovin' it. 

[THREE]. 

Yesterday, the day took us to a Charlotte area children's museum, Discovery Place Kids, with some good friends. Specifically, there were three of us mommas, each with three of our own kiddos, all ages 5 and under. Whew! But. Honestly? It went great! It's always easier to be out and about and having fun and keeping everyone contained when there are mommas working in unison. So. That we did! And my sweet Harrison was a trooper, taking in the sights from the comfort of the Bjorn, where he also napped before breaking for a quick nursing session and then it was back in the Bjorn for more sight-seeing. I think it's safe to say we all had a ball!

[FOUR].

My hub was supposed to be in Cali for two nights/three days this week. But. Then Delta screwed things up with a mechanical error, and he was forced to go to Detroit and back in the morning and was home by lunchtime. Although it's frustrating for him that he had to cancel his trip and miss meetings, I'm always happy to have him home in the evenings. And we took full advantage. The first night, the kiddos and I took him to our favorite local SnoBall place. Yum and fun!

The second night we introduced our kiddos to a little something called beer juice pong. I give my hub all the credit for this idea. Needless to say, it was a BLAST! So hilarious to see our competitive little ones (NO idea where they get that from) throwing that pong ball like nobody's business and then celebrating like crazy when they sunk their shots. And Raleigh was freakishly good. Maybe that's why she and her daddy beat Banks and me 2 game to 0. We demand a rematch!

[FIVE].

Banks and Raleigh are headed to Aiken for the weekend for a visit with their Nana and Pop and three of their cousins. They are SO excited! And I am so excited for them! I am also really looking forward to logging a little one-on-one time with my littlest guy as well as my hub. I am a BIG advocate of parents maintaining their own social lives, thus allowing their kiddos the experience of knowing that everything is still a-okay when they are away from their parents for a short bit. So. I think the weekend will be good for all parties involved! Although I will be very ready to see their smiling faces on Sunday, I am looking forward to some solo time with my littlest guy (and biggest guy!) over the next couple days.

I hope you have something fun to look forward to this weekend, too! Have a good one!