The Zorio Family: The Great Outdoors

The reason for the lack of blog updates recently is because we have been spending every wakeing hour outside!! This year we are having wonderful March weather here in Alabama, and we are taking full advantage of it! It has been in the 70's and 80's every day with lows only in the 50's. When I say we have spent every waking hour outside, I mean it! From the moment Dawson gets out of bed all he wants to do it play outside. He already has a farmer's tan, and (I think) his hair has gotten blonder. If you tell him it's not time to go outside yet, he will bring you his socks and shoes. The other day I told him we had to wait until after breakfast, to which he responded, "Outside! OPEN DOOR! Outside!" Silly boy!

I am still keeping Dawson's friends, Jonah and Norah, and he loves having friends here all the time! When they're not here, he talks about them. He has gotten really sweet with them and will randomly hold their hands or give a hug, and he is understanding the concept of sharing a little more each day. All three are good kids so it's really just like an extended playdate every date for Dawson which is awesome! His friends like to play outside equally as much, which provides plenty of entertainment for all the kids!

On Friday morning it was just me and Dawson, so we met his friends Matthew and Caroline and their mom at Monrovia Community Center to play on the playground. Dawson had a ball! There were slides, swings, and a tunnel, all of which he loved! I dressed him in jeans for the park because we went early in the morning so I didn't think it would get that warm, but it was in the upper 70's by the time we left. When we got home Dawson was so dirty he had to have a bath, after which I switched him to summer clothes. He has not been back in pants (except for church) since then, it's been so warm! Dawson and his friends were all really sweet playing together at the playground. I love to watch how he interacts with his friends!

On Saturday we had a backyard barbecue with some friends. The reason for the event was because our friends, the Gibsons, were traveling through Alabama on their way moving to Knoxville so it was a great reason to have a bunch of people over for dinner. I think there ended up being 9 adults and 6 kids, and again, Dawson had fun running around outside with his friends.

I think I have mentioned Dawson's love for gnomes in previous blog posts, but I failed to mention that his prized gnome broke into about 100 pieces a couple weeks ago. When we were in Tennessee we found a "Paint Your Own Gnome" kit at Target, so Dawson has done about three rounds of paint on his little gnome that now lives in my garden. Also, yesterday we received a package from Dawson's Nana and Grandad containing a gnome. Dawson is in heaven! While he was sleeping we put the gnome from Nana in the landscape in our front yard, and after he woke up we let him run around in the front yard. I wish I had recorded how excited he was to find it! I did take a few pictures of him with it, though. When we read Dawson's illustrated book of Noah's Ark, he always points to Noah and calls him a gnome! In Dawson's defense, Noah does have a white beard in the illustration! :) I think it's funny how excited he gets about gnomes. I love his quirks! :) We've moved from clocks to tunnels to gnomes!

We've also been staying busy with outdoor projects. We have new flowers in my window box and around our mailbox. I have also (finally) planted a garden in the backyard. It is a raised bed garden with carrots, strawberries, squash, zucchini, and peppers. There are already green strawberries growing which Dawson loves to point out, so I'm hoping everything else grows well too. Dawson loves to go look at the garden and water it with me or John. John has already had to mow our yard a few times, and Dawson LOVES to watch and talk about the mower the entire time. Who knew they could be so exciting?! I remember Dawson's friend, Jude, having a love of mowers last summer, and it looks like the obsession has moved to our house! :) As you can tell, we have been enjoying the great outdoors. Enjoy the pictures...