Let the sleep overs begin!

Addison had her very first sleep over guest Friday night and I have a feeling it was the first of MANY!

It was only appropriate that Addison's best friend Sophia be her first sleep over guest and Addison couldn't have been more excited. This was also the first sleep over for Sophia and I felt certain I was going to be walking her home around 12:30 AM but both of the girls surprised me and fell asleep pretty easily after lots of giggling and whispering. It was absolutely adorable to watch the two of them and its hard to believe either one of them is old enough to be having sleep-overs!

Sophia was two years old when we moved into the neighborhood...and now she is holding MY baby!

They shared lots of secrets...

And lots of giggles...

And at 1 AM when I peeked in on them, this is what they looked like...

Precious...Absolutely Precious...

No Fear

Remember those shirts??

I think I owned about three or four of them which is embarrassing to admit now, but at the time, they were cool and I thought I was as well! :)

Anyways, while at the beach this year, I came to the conclusion that my child has just that...NO FEAR and this just might be a Mother's WORST fear.

Seriously...Addison wanted to ride the Ferris wheel while we were at the beach and I was absolutely fine with that until I realized that she wanted to ride this thing ALONE. Yep...alone! And just in case you think this was a small Ferris wheel...it wasn't.

See...not so little!

After laying down the "Mommy law" (or to be completely truthful...the man telling Addison she wasn't tall enough to ride alone) Duke climbed into the small cage with her and away they went.

So you can imagine my surprise when I heard her tiny voice calling my name and saw THIS...

I'm telling ya...she's nuts! And so is her Dad for letting her do that!

Duke loves that she seems to be fearful of nothing and enjoys his "partner in crime" since I do not share their love for those types of adventures. I am glad however that they have each other for whatever limits they choose to push. :)

Despite the fact that Addie did not get ride the Ferris wheel alone, she did get to "fly" in the airplanes...

And as you can see, was quite proud of herself!

Who knows??? Maybe flying lessons are next???

Annual Beach Trip

Every year we pack up and head to Myrtle Beach for a week at the beach with my parents. My parents started taking my brother and I there probably 14 years ago and it's been neat to carry this tradition on with my family.

Each year the trip has gotten easier as Addison as gotten older and each year our car weighs less and less (which Duke and my Dad are VERY thankful for!). This year, Addison and I headed down on Sunday with my parents and Duke joined us on Tuesday for the rest of the week. Addison did GREAT on the way down thanks to Dora the Explorer (she ALWAYS saves the day) and despite starting the questioning of, "Are we there yet?" five minutes into the trip...we were good.

Its fun to go back and look at pictures of Addison each year and how much she has grown. Here is a picture of her last year...

And look at the difference this year...

She still wasn't a huge fan of the beach this year but she did play in the ocean for about 30 minutes or so with her Daddy ('cause her Mother won't get in it!) but other than that...she preferred to stay at the pool. I did manage to snap a few photos of her before she decided the sand was "itching" her.



We did find this crab (at least he used to be) and she thought that was pretty neat...

This year we had lots to celebrate! Mom turned 29 again! Happy Birthday to the most beautiful lady I know!

And my handsome hubby turned 33 just three days later! Happy Birthday sweetheart! We love you!

And two days after that...Duke and I celebrated five years of marriage and enjoyed a nice dinner out while Mom and Dad watched Addison for us. (Thank you both SO much!!!)

PLUS...on top of all of that...my Dad accepted a job right before we left for the beach!!! CONGRATULATIONS Daddy! We are all so proud of all of your accomplishments and the way that you manage to remain so strong for our family no matter what is thrown your way. We love you!

To celebrate all of these blessings, Addison spent the week working on her swimming

Trying to fly...

And helping her Daddy work out all day, every day, as he threw her OVER and OVER!

We even worked on her balancing ability while we were there...

And like you always do on vacation...we celebrated with a little ice cream! Yum!!!

We even got to visit with Pat and John while we were there which was an added treat and has become quite the tradition!

The Four Divas! I have a photo of all four of us (in Myrtle Beach) starting from when I was about 6 months prego with Addie... I am SO blessed to have these women in my life!

We had a wonderful trip this year and are already looking forward to making more memories next year!

Guess We're Really Doing This...

Addison's pre-school teacher called the house tonight to introduce herself to us and I couldn't help feeling a little sad when I hung up the phone with her. First let me say that she seemed VERY nice and when I told Addison that she had called, Addison was quite upset she did not get to talk to her herself. "Didn't she call to talk to me?" she asked.

Her name is Mrs. Tracy and she seems very nurturing which I am extremely thankful for. She asked lots of questions about Addison and from talking with her, I think Addison will do well with her.

I simply am not ready for this next phase although I know Addison is going to LOVE it and SHE is ready, which is what matters. The school is very close to our house and they have a K-12 program that she can attend which is our "big picture" hope for her. I already asked Mrs. Tracy about helping with the parties, etc. so hopefully I will get to be as involved with her class as Addison wants me to be. I figure having your Mom help in your class has got to still be cool when you're 3! Hoping so at least!!

Addison will start school on September 7th and right now it is all she talks about it. Please pray her excitement continues and my excitement builds! :)

We had a very exciting evening at the Skalon house tonight...Addison started ballet! She has been talking about taking ballet for probably 6 months now so at the beginning of the summer I took her up to watch a class to see if she really wanted to do it. Guess what??? She did! So tonight, Addison got her wish and she started ballet. Can you tell how excited she was??

Mommy and Addison right before we left...she is growing up WAY too quickly!

Addison walked right into the dance studio tonight like she had been there a hundred times before. Duke and I got the biggest kick out her tonight because she talked to "Mrs. Sarah" the ENTIRE class! It was so funny!

Addison had a great time and is ready to go back tomorrow...trying to explain to her that she can not go to ballet every day is going to be challenging!

Unfortunately, we will miss next weeks class since we will be at the beach. Addison heard me telling her teacher this tonight and she said she didn't want to go to the beach...let's hope this dedication and commitment continue throughout the year! ;)