A Fun-Filled Fourth of July

We were very excited this year that John had the 4th of July off from work, since he has worked the past three.  We knew we had to do something fun, so when our friend Kelly mentioned going to her uncle's cabin in Lynnville, Tennessee, we thought it sounded perfect.  Our friends, Ben, Melanie, Steven, and Kelly all came, and we had a great weekend.  We spent two nights at the cabin, and spent most of our time in the pool.  When we were not in the pool, John and I spent the time chasing Dawson around the acres of property, playing ladder ball, cornhole, and hitting golf balls.  We saw cows and horses in nearby fields, and Dawson loved the animals. 
We took a few walks down the LONG driveway along which Dawson found several perfect "weedeat sticks."  We're always in search of the perfect "weedeat stick" these days, as Dawson loves to find long sticks outside and carry them around pretending to weedeat. 
Dawson was also in heaven with all the time we spent in the pool!  If he wears his vest along with swimmies it keeps his head well above the water.  He has learned to kick his legs to move around the water, and he would go in and swim around on his own without me or John having to hold him or pull him around the whole time.  He also probably jumped off the side of the pool about 100 times.  He loves to do this.  Most of the time we catch him enough to keep him from going completely under water, but a few times we let him go under all the way and he didn't mind too much.  He absolutely loves the water.
Sunday morning the guys got up and went to play golf at a nearby course, and John had a really good game.  On the way back from the course, John and Ben purchased some fireworks.  We were in the perfect location for fireworks...the middle of nowhere, no lights around, and just fields down the valley to watch the fireworks over.  John and Ben set off several GREAT fireworks, and Dawson was not afraid at all!  I had expected that I would stay inside with Dawson during the fireworks, but he liked them so much that he would just watch and then say "BOOM" each time!  That's my brave boy!  We got some sparklers for John and I to do with Dawson, and Dawson would chase the smoke coming from them so we had to be very careful.  I just could not believe he liked them so much.  We had a great weekend celebrating the 4th!
In other Zorio news, the weekend before the 4th we went to a birthday party for our friend Michael at Dublin pool.  Dawson had a ball swimming, and I've got a couple pictures below.  Last week, I kept two of Dawson's friends again, and we had a lot of fun going to the Monacco free movie for kids, playing in the kiddie pool in the backyard, and just letting Dawson have a lot of time to play with friends.
We have also been getting A LOT of veggies from our garden!  We've had about 6 green peppers, many zucchini and yellow squash, and we've picked three carrots, but they probably could have used a tiny bit more time.  So we're waiting to pull up the rest of the carrots.  Everything has been yummy, and Dawson loves getting to pick the veggies from the garden.  Now when we eat, he points to every veggie on his plate asking if it came from the garden!
Also, Dawson has been doing GREAT with potty training.  He only wears a diaper when he's sleeping now, and most days we have NO accidents.  Knock on wood, but potty training Dawson has been a breeze!  I've heard horror stories about potty training kids, especially boys, but this has been a snap!  I think part of it has been that we have avoided Pull-Ups all together and went straight from diapers to "undies" as Dawson calls them, but a lot of it too has been that Dawson has wanted to potty like a big kid!  I'm so proud of him for doing so well, even when we're running errands, traveling (he stayed dry on our ride to and home from Lynnville, TN this weekend), at others houses, or at church! 
John got to go to Memphis the weekend before the 4th of July with a group from work to visit the Target house there, and do a little volunteering.  He had a great time visiting Memphis and doing crafts with the kids at the Target house!
I've had the sewing machine out some again recently, and I've been sewing BOW TIES!  I've made 4 for Dawson now, and it's so much fun!
That about wraps it up for now!  Enjoy the pictures below, and we hope you all had a Happy 4th of July!

 Left to Right: Melanie, Kelly, and me sunning

in the pool.

View from the pool.

Pool and view one evening.

Dawson chasing the smoke from the

sparklers.

Sparkler time!

Dawson learning about sparkler safety from

Momma and Daddy.  He loved the sparklers

and fireworks!

The first three green peppers from the garden.

Three bow ties I made for Dawson one night

last week.  The bottom one is seersucker, but

it's hard to tell in this photo.

John, Jonah, Dawson, and Norah

at the Monacco last week for the

kids movie.

Norah, Jonah, and Dawson checking

out the fountain at Bridgestreet after

the movie.

View of Dawson and his friends through the

fountain.

First of many zucchini we have picked from the

garden.

First carrot we pulled up in the garden.

As you can see it wasn't finished growing

yet, but it was still tasty.

The first bow tie I made for Dawson.

Dawson in the little pool at Dublin

pool for Michael's birthday party.

Dawson chilling in the little pool

before heading into the big pool.

I went to a friend's baby shower last

weekend, and we had the option to make

appliqued onsies or tie-dyed onsies as

an activity.  I was one of the few who

did an applique, and this is what I made.

She is having a boy, and the nursery is a

nautical theme.  I figured an anchor would be

perfect, so that's what I did.  I thought this was

such a cool shower activity!