An Interview with 6 Year Old Nora Kate

Every year when the kids turn 3 we begin asking them the same 20 questions on their birthday.  This year was Nora Kate's 4th time to do her birthday interview.  I love her answers below.  I enjoy doing this to see how much she's grown and changed!  

1. What is your favorite color?  PINK AND PURPLE

2. What is your favorite toy? BARBIES AND MY NEW KEYBOARD TO PLAY MUSIC ON AND LOTS OF OTHER STUFF TOO

3. What is your favorite fruit?  PEACHES....FROM ISOMS

4. What is your favorite tv show?  SOFIA (I was really surprised that she picked this show because she NEVER watches it anymore)

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? PIZZA  

6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear?  MY PINK AND WHITE STRIPED ROMPER

7. What is your favorite game? CANDY LAND AND TAG

8. What is your favorite snack? ANIMAL CRACKERS AND GOLDFISH

9. What is your favorite animal?  UNICORN

10. What is your favorite song? JESUS LOVES ME

 11. What is your favorite book? FANCY NANCY AND WELLIE WISHERS BOOKS

12. Who is your best friend?  ANNIE AND HEATHER...AND YOU, MOMMA!

13. What is your favorite cereal? LUCKY CHARMS

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? RIDE MY BIKE WITH NO TRAINING WHEELS

15. What is your favorite drink? LEMONADE

16. What is your favorite holiday?  SUMMER (me too, Nora Kate, me too!)

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? LOVIE AND MY BLANKET

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? PANCAKES AND DADDY'S WAFFLES

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? PIZZA

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A MOMMY

*****

Here are Nora Kate's responses to the interview from when she turned 5:

1. What is your favorite color?  PINK AND PURPLE AND RAINBOW

2. What is your favorite toy? BARBIES, BARBIE HOUSE

3. What is your favorite fruit?  APPLES AND CHEESE (me: cheese isn't a fruit, Nora Kate: yeah, but I said apples too)

4. What is your favorite tv show?  STORYBOTS

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  MAC AND CHEESE OR SPAGHETTI

6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear?  RUNNING SHIRT

7. What is your favorite game? SWITCH AND PAC MAN

8. What is your favorite snack? CHEESE ITS

9. What is your favorite animal?  UNICORNS

10. What is your favorite song? I'M SO FANCY

 11. What is your favorite book? FANCY NANCY

12. Who is your best friend?  HARPER, FINLEY, AND ANNIE

13. What is your favorite cereal? LUCKY CHARMS

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? DOLLYWOOD (DOLLYWOOD IS OUTSIDE SO I CAN SAY DOLLYWOOD, RIGHT MOMMA?)

15. What is your favorite drink? WATER AND WHEN WE GET SPRITE AT A RESTAURANT.

16. What is your favorite holiday?  CHRISTMAS

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? LOVIE AND MY REALLY PINK BLANKET

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? WHAT YOU MAKE OR CEREAL (hah if it were only that easy)

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? WAFFLE HOUSE

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? I'M GOING TO BE A KID FOREVER OR I'LL BE A MERMAID

***********

FOR THE FUN OF COMPARISON HERE IS HER 4 YEAR OLD INTERVIEW

1. What is your favorite color?  PINK AND PURPLE AND SOMETIMES BLUE

2. What is your favorite toy? MY DOLLHOUSE

3. What is your favorite fruit?  APPLES BECAUSE APPLES ARE HEALTHY

4. What is your favorite tv show?  ANIMAL MECHANICAL 

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  COTTAGE CHEESE AND APPLES TOO

6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear?  MY DRESS THAT I'M WEARING RIGHT NOW AND ALL MY TUTUS

7. What is your favorite game? TAG

8. What is your favorite snack? CHEESE

9. What is your favorite animal?  UNICORNS

10. What is your favorite song? I'M SO FANCY

 11. What is your favorite book? FANCY NANCY

12. Who is your best friend?  GOD

13. What is your favorite cereal? LUCKY CHARMS

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? SWING AND PLAY ON THE PLAYSET

15. What is your favorite drink? WATER BECAUSE IT'S HEALTHY

16. What is your favorite holiday?  CHRISTMAS

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? LOVIE

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? SPOON YOGURT AND GRANOLA (that's a greek yogurt with granola)

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? MAC AND CHEESE

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A MOMMA AND A RAINBOW MERMAID

*************** And just for the fun of comparison, here is her 3 year old interview answers:

1. What is your favorite color?  PINK

2. What is your favorite toy? BABY DOLLS, DOLL HOUSE, MY LITTLE PONY, FANCY THINGS!! AND EVERYTHING!

3. What is your favorite fruit?  GRAPES

4. What is your favorite tv show?  BUBBLE GUPPIES AND THE THREE LITTLE PIGS

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  MAC N CHEESE
6. What is your favorite outfit or things to wear?  DRESSES AND CLOTHES THAT ARE PINK

7. What is your favorite game? MATCHING GAME!

8. What is your favorite snack? GRANOLA BARS

9. What is your favorite animal?  ELEPHANTS

10. What is your favorite song? 7 DAYS, YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE, AND ROCKY TOP

 11. What is your favorite book? FANCY NANCY

12. Who is your best friend?  CARTER’S FRIENDS! HAHA (laughing, meanwhile Carter shouts from the other room "you can't say MY FRIENDS!" hmmm...why do I suspect this trend might continue?! Haha!) AND HARPER...SHE'S SO NICE"

13. What is your favorite cereal? LUCKY CHARMS

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? PLAY OUTSIDE

Me: But what do you like to PLAY outside?

NK: OUTSIDE! JUST PLAY OUT THERE!

15. What is your favorite drink? WATER
16. What is your favorite holiday?  CHRISTMAS

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? LOVIE

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? SPOON YOGURT AND GRANOLA IN IT…OR MAYBE A PANCAKE

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday? CHEESE BURGER

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? A MOMMA WITH A PINK BABY (translation:  a baby girl)

Nora Kate's SIXTH Birthday Party: Cupcakes and Cartwheels

Nora Kate has loved doing gymnastics this past year so when she requested to celebrate her birthday at her gymnastics gym it made perfect sense!  She also requested her birthday cake to be cupcakes, so we decided a Cupcakes and Cartwheels Party would be just right!

Our big six year old ready for her party to begin!

Invitations

Everyone had fun...Clayton always watches enviously during Nora Kate's gymnastics lessons, so he was beyond excited to get to play on and in everything at the party.

Pink and purple cupcakes

Foam pit fun

Her party was mid-afternoon so we just did cupcakes and snacks for food.

All about our big six year old

Pretty much what NK looked like the entire party...a blur as she ran by from thing to thing!

Her sweet friends brought gifts

In attendance were John Thomas, Heather, Blakelyn, Henry, Carter, Jude, Nora Kate, Jasper, Winnie, Annie, Dawson, Clayton, Ezra, and Ruby (left to right).

Enjoy the party food after playing hard!

Friends enjoyed the inflatable there also!

After such an active party, jump ropes made a great party favor.

I loved watching how excited Nora Kate's friends were to give her their gifts...such sweet giving hearts.

Great size crowd and great fun was had by all.

We are so thankful our sweet six year old has such wonderful friends to celebrate her special day!

July 2019

While June was a busy summer fun month with travel, July was equally as fun and busy but just without as much travel.

We started the month checking another item off the kids summer fun list....

visiting the trampoline park.  I've always disliked the idea of trampoline parks because of the danger of injury, but a friend invited us back in the winter and we went first thing in the morning when it wasn't crowded and it was oh so fun!  SO the big boys were in school when NK and Clayton and I went that time, so they added it to the summer fun list because they REALLY wanted to go check it out.  We got there right when it opened and had the place to ourselves for about the first 45 minutes to an hour.  Two friends met us there-Heather and Blakelyn-and we had a great time!

Remember those tye dye shirts we made at the cabin in Mentone?!  Well the kids were so excited to get to wear them on the 4th of July! (excuse Clayton's face...this is the face he has decided to make for every.single.picture lately!)

Red, white, and blue mani/pedi.

We celebrated the 4th with lighting some fireworks/sparklers in our neighborhood, going to a pool party and cookout at the Hough's pool with lots of friends, watching amazing fireworks over the space and rocket center, and John having several days off.

We had been wanting to take the kids to a Birmingham Barons baseball game and the McWane Science Center in Birmingham, so we decided to take advantage of John's time off and go to Birmingham for 2 days and 1 night...so we did end up doing a little travel in July after all.

I feel like the kids have become really great about walking on city streets and sidewalks this summer (thanks, Washington, DC), so that made this trip a little easier.  We checked into our hotel, and then walked around downtown Birmingham.

Famous Alabamians had stars along the sidewalks.

We ate lunch in the Pizitz and Nora Kate requested a selfie with me.

Then we headed on over to the McWane Science Center.

The kids, especially Clayton, was enamored with this water sculpture outside the museum that I was unsure if we would ever get to actually go inside-hah! 

First we checked out the bed of nails...Nora Kate was very brave!

Clayton loved these walls of push pins...those are his little handprints!

Machines area!

Water area!

Dino Dig!

Riding the bike in the sky

This museum was so neat! We spent several hours here... I took way too many pictures, but these are  just a snap shot of the fun we had there.  SO many cool exhibits for all ages!

Next up on our agenda was the Birminham Barons baseball game.  We got there really early so that Dawson and Carter could watch them practice and warm up (their requests), and Nora Kate and Clayton could play on the inflatables.

It was SO hot.  It felt like all the good memories of going to Huntsville Stars baseball games when we lived in Alabama when we first got married.  Always so hot, and a beautiful evening sky!

A quick visit from the mascot!

Baseball selfie got photobombed by Nora Kate.

Go Barons!

Because it was the 4th of July weekend, they did an amazing fireworks display after the game!

The kids loved walking through the Birmingham tunnels during the day, and REALLY wanted to walk through them as they lit up with so many different colors at night after the game, so we did!

Then we headed back to our hotel and all crashed after such a fun long day.

The next morning we toured Sloss Furnaces!  This was a really neat place.  I don't know that I've even been anywhere quiet like this.  This was what built Birmingham...all the iron production.  It was really interesting how they let you climb up on and around all the old production pieces to check them out-it was kind of surprising that it was "safe" to do this actually.  It was neat to show this to the kids though and read them facts about how hot it got in certain rooms.  They only type of production places they have ever seen are the places John has worked, so it was neat to be able to show them how much (thankfully) working conditions have changed!

Sloss Furnaces

After leaving Sloss we ate some Hot Chicken at Hattie B's and then headed back to North Alabama.  We got back home at an odd time-too early to put anyone to bed, too late for naps, but everyone was kind of tired.  We had been wanting to take everyone to see Toy Story 4, so we decided this would be a good afternoon.  This was our first movie for all 6 of us to go see in the theater together-it went great! So fun!

(it was a million degrees, but Nora Kate insisted upon bringing her hoodie because "I always get cold in the movies" and then Clayton saw her and that boy loves a hoodie, so here we were in July 98 degrees with a 3 year old in a hoodie.)

Clayton learned to ride a real bike this month!!!  He's the youngest Zorio kid to learn to ride a bike!

Clayton is surprisingly good and fast for a three year old...and he's so proud.

On the hottest day of July these two decided they were ready to have their training wheels taken off their bikes and taught to balance...so we did....and they caught on super fast and were very brave!

Now Carter and Nora Kate joined the no training wheels club! Wahoo!  AND it's amazing how riding without training wheels makes them want to ride their bikes even more.  Carter's never LOVED riding his bike (like Dawson and Nora Kate always have), UNTIL NOW!  Now all four kids want to ride bikes all the time!

The kids love cooking and baking with me.  One day the kids twisted their own pretzels.  This was a huge hit!

Dawson had his buddy, Matthew, over to spend the afternoon and evening one day in July.  They had a blast and we ended the evening with swimming and pizza.

It wouldn't be July in Athens without a visit to the Kiddie Carnival!

So fun and we ran into several friends there too.

The next weekend John surprised the kids by telling them the exciting news we had known for quiet a while...we were getting a Ranger...that day!  He told everyone to get in his car that we were going somewhere, then he got in the car and told them what we were going to the dealership to pick up and I snapped this picture as they heard the exciting news...love their sweet smiles and excitement!

And there it is! All trailered-up and ready to leave the dealership!

We had our friends Jude, Jasper, and Winnie over to swim in July.  It ended up being a really overcast morning, but they didn't care in the least! The kids had a blast!

We made several visits to the dinosaur playground and the duck pond this month...always a hit!

Back in May, we let each of the big 3 kids select a camp to do this summer.

Dawson picked golf camp!  He did a one week day camp at Canebrake Golf Course, and he loved it!

Carter selected to do a day camp called Slime Academy.

He brought home 2-4 different kids of slime every day. He absolutely loved this.

They made soap slime, glow slime, bubble slime, edible slime, scented slime, and the list goes on.

He was so excited to show us his slime every day when we picked him up.

Dawson and Carter's camps were the same week, so Nora Kate was beside herself in having to wait until the following week to go to her camp...but it was completely worth the wait because she selected Art Camp for her day camps and she LOVED IT!

Nora Kate made this fabulous elephant mask from paper mache.

And she did this Egyptian painting.

We have some friends who have a great boat, and the invited us out on it one Saturday.

We had a fantastic time.

We all tubed-all 4 of our kids LOVED it, of course! Clayton especially-thrill seeker!

Then Dawson, Carter, and Nora Kate tried to water ski for the first time ever.

Dawson stayed up for a few seconds-maybe 15 or 20? Carter for maybe 10-15 seconds? and Nora Kate couldn't quiet get up, but she was exhausted by that time.

Me, on the otherhand, I have to brag-hah! I got up and stayed up for the longest I ever have in my entire life (and it's been over 12 years since I have skied).  After staying up for several minutes I had to let go, and I felt so good about how well I had done...until the next day when I was SOOOOO sore.  Haha I guess that's what I get for being so proud of myself, but here I am skiing...

We went back to school shopping...Nora Kate was excited to pick out her backpack for kindergarten!

We are still getting tons of squash and zucchini from our garden.

We went to the Apollo 50th anniversary parade and walked in the parade with this replica of the moon rover!

Slip and Slide fun in the front yard.

Me (at least 100 times in his life time): Clayton, do not climb on the bed.

Clayton: Mommy, I'm stuck!

Towards the end of July Nana and Grandad came to visit.

The kids had fun playing games with them.

We showed them downtown Athens where Grandad bought a grape NeHi soda and offered Clayton a sip-to which he drank the entire rest of the bottle haha!

We took Nana and Grandad to the Dinosaur Playground and duck pond to show them some of the kids favorite places.

And then when we were all hot we went to Kreme DeLite for a treat!

Nora Kate has really gotten into the Wellie Wisher books lately!

July was a great month! I'm excited that school will not start back until August 13th, so we still have some summer break left even as July draws to a close!