The Zorio Family: I Went to the Animal Fair...

Last weekend we went to Tennessee to visit family and go to the Knoxville Zoo. Although John's 27th birthday is not until the end of September we decided to go ahead and celebrate while we were with family. Don't worry because he'll be getting another birthday cake and gifts from me and Dawson on his actual birthday!

On Saturday evening John's mom cooked his favorite, chicken and dumplings and deviled eggs. John's parents, Emily, Drew, my parents, and Logan were all there to celebrate. After dinner we had yummy white cake with white icing (John's favorite) that Em had decorated with Tennessee colors. We sang happy birthday, and then Dawson got to help blow out the candles.

After dinner John got to open his gifts. One of his gifts-ladder ball-provided entertainment for the rest of our evening and the next afternoon! We set up ladder ball in the back yard. Dawson ran around playing and jumping on the trampoline while we all took turns playing. Logan, who had never played before, dominated the game. Dawson loved all the attention and getting to be outside. John had a great early birthday party!

The next day was the day we planned to visit the Knoxville Zoo! We got there early when they opened, and it felt like we had the zoo to ourselves. There was hardly anyone there that early on a Sunday, and the weather was perfect! Also, all of the animals were awake and playful (except the tigers), so it worked out perfect!

Dawson's Nana and Grandad (which he has recently started pronouncing "Nainy" and "Mandad") came with us, and Dawson had a ball seeing the animals with them! One of Dawson's favorite animals we saw were the chimpanzees. He has not stopped talking about these monkeys since we've been home! We had never seen the chimps act like this, but they were being SO loud and fighting over a blanket. We, of course, told Dawson they were just playing. After a while they were let inside where we could see them even better. Then we got to watch them eat icee pops which Dawson thought was really cool! One monkey was a little dirty, and, of course, couldn't miss this. He pointed the monkey out and said, "Ewie! Monkey nasty. Gross!" After that, he was done with the monkeys! Haha!

Dawson also got to see an animal show with trained dogs and birds while we were there. There was an African Crane in the show that Dawson was convinced was a peacock (remember his obsession with peacocks since we went to the Birmingham Zoo in May??). Well this African Crane got a while hair and flew off during the animal show! They said it was the first time this had happened, and they managed to eventually get him back after the performance...it made for an even more interesting show though! Dawson liked watching the animals talk, dance, and fly right above his head!

Dawson has also been talking about the elephants and the zebras. He says, "Elephant. I don't like it. Mouth dirty with grass." One of the elephants was eating hay while we were there, and Dawson remembers his mouth as being dirty. We got to see the elephants and zebras really close up (along with a lot of other animals), and Dawson was thrilled. He has continued to talk about all the animals this whole week.

After we left the Knoxville Zoo we walked over to the Tennessee Valley Fair which just so happened to be in town while we were there! Although we didn't go on any rides, we had a good time! Dawson enjoyed looking at the rides, all the people, and everything going on around him. We had a little fair food for lunch, and played some games. Dawson enjoyed the fishing game the most where he won a little stuffed penguin.

After playing some games we walked into the pavilion where there were all kinds of tractors set up, and Dawson was in heaven! I think he sat on all the tractors there! After looking at the tractors we walked over to the animal area. Dawson thought it was awesome that he got to pet a cow and that it licked him (don't worry we washed those hands!). He has talked about this a lot too! After seeing the cows, we walked over to the sheep. Right as Dawson reached out to pet one it looked right at him and baa'ed really loud! It scared Dawson, and he said, "No woofing sheep. It scare me!" From our entire day of seeing animals, this sheep has probably been what we have talked about the most since we got back home. After seeing the animals at the fair we were all worn out and ready to go.

That evening after Dawson took an awesome nap, we went to visit Dawson's Great Mamaw, Lolly, Pop and Uncle Logan while John met one of our friends, Lance, for dinner.

On Monday after stopping by to visit Pop and go on one ride on his John Deere, we loaded up to come back home. We had a great time in Tennessee visiting family and seeing the zoo and the fair. Here are some pictures from our trip...