The Zorio Family Update: August

Over the past several weeks we have stayed very busy!  Saturday, August 13th, we had a surprise going away party for our friends, the Heaton's.  They moved to Illinois, and we are going to miss them a lot!  I know John will miss golfing with Eric, and Dawson and I are going to miss having playdates with Jack, Gabriel, and their mom, Heather.  It was fun to get together one last time before they left Alabama, though.  I think there were 10 adults and 5 kids that were at their going away party. 

Dawson has continued to LOVE checking books out from the library each week.  A couple of weeks ago we checked out a book titled On Our Way Home.  It is about a Daddy Bear and a Boy Bear and what they see on their way home.  On one page the bears are high up on a mountain watching the sun set, and for some reason Dawson LOVED this page.  Every time we read this book he would stop on this page and ask, "Dawson go on the mountain, please?"  He couldn't stop talking about the mountain and wanting to go.  Finally we took him up to Rainbow Mountain (not a real mountain compared to those in East Tennessee, but it worked).  We walked along a very short trail on the mountain, like the bears.  We also played on the playground up there.  Dawson claimed he saw a frog two times, but John and I never saw it!  Then John and Dawson climbed up on a big rock just like the Daddy Bear and Boy Bear in the book.  Dawson was thrilled with Rainbow Mountain, and he has continued to talk about the mountain ever since.  It's so funny what he becomes interested in!

Last week I took Dawson to feed the ducks at Dublin, and he had a blast!  We have been saving and freezing our bread ends for a long time for the ducks, and we still have enough left for several more visits to the ducks.  Dawson had a ball feeding the ducks.  After spending about 30 minutes at the pond, we went up to the Kid's Kingdom playground there where Dawson always has fun! 

Dawson continues to love to play with his grill he got from Jeannie for his birthday.  He grills hot dogs and hamburgers for me, John, and Bentley....all topped with ketchup!  He loves to wear his little apron while he's "cookin'" (as he calls it) and warn us continually that the grill is HOT! 

John has been working some different hours recently (just temporarily), but it left Dawson and I to find fun things to do over the weekend.  I was so excited the Huntsville Botanical Gardens was having their Green U on Saturday.  It was the third time they have held this, but the past two years we have been traveling so I was excited to get to go this year!  It was all (obviously) outside, and there was surprisingly a nice breeze blowing.  We had fun visiting all the different booths.  Dawson had fun making a bird feeder out of a pine cone, Crisco, and bird seed.  We're planning to hang it outside this afternoon. 

Dawson also dug some worms out of a dirt that we brought home to add to our garden.  He was very careful not to get dirt on himself, though!  (That's my boy!)  Dawson also got to make recycled paper.  We shredded newspaper, used a hand blender (I did this part), poured it over a screen, let it dry, and got to bring a piece home.  Dawson was very proud of his paper!  Dawson also had fun playing in the sand with all the other kids there.  Probably the highlight of the event for Dawson was getting to pet Mighty the turtle.  We have talked about Mighty A LOT since visiting Green U, and that was the first thing he told John when he got home from work. 

That does it for now!  We have a lot going on in the coming weeks so we will have more updates soon!  Enjoy the pictures below...

This picture is a little blurry, but I still had to share it.

Dawson and Jude always have a blast playing together.

We went over for a playdate a couple of weeks ago,

and the boys had fun riding their tractors and trucks

to work.  When asked where they worked, Jude said

he worked in Heaven (so sweet!).  Dawson said he

worked at Target.  :)

Daddys and boys at the Heaton's Surprise Going

Away Party.  Above:  Dawson, Daddy, Eric, Jack, Hunter,

Jude, Gabe, and Jasper.

Dawson swinging with his friend Jack.

The other day Dawson came walking

into the living room wearing my

orange heels.  He could walk surprisingly

well in them, and it was hilarious that

he picked the pair that matched his shirt.

SO FUNNY!

He probably won't like these pictures

when he's older, but I couldn't miss

this photo op!

Daddy and Dawson walking on a trail

on Rainbow Mountain.

Standing on a rock just like Daddy Bear

and Boy Bear in the book!

Dawson claiming he saw a frog and

running around to find the frog!

Throwing bread to the ducks at Dublin.

Chasing the ducks.

More feeding the ducks.

Such a big boy!

Bentley watching Dawson grill.

Waiting for her burger or hot dog from

the grill.

Dawson sharing a burger with Bentley.

Dawson loves playing with Bentley.  I wish the sunlight

wasn't in this picture.

Petting Mighty the turtle at Green U.

"Deere Lawn Mow" and More!

Last Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we went to Tennessee for a short visit with family.  When we arrived in Maryville we had dinner with Dawson's Nana, Grandad, Aunt Emmie, Cousin Drew, Lolly, Pop, and Uncle Logan.  When we pulled in the driveway and let Dawson out of the car all of his grandparents were standing with their arms outstretched so Dawson could run to them.  Dawson started running toward them from the car, and I wanted to see who he was going to (I was guessing it would be Grandad or Pop since Dawson always likes hanging out with the men!).  Dawson kept on running right past them all though.  He was so happy to be out of the car that just getting to run was the most fun to him!  Dawson loved being the center of attention while we were visiting.

After dinner we headed to Lolly and Pop's house where they surprised Dawson with a John Deere tractor which Dawson calls his "Deere Lawn Mow!"  Every time we're in Tennessee Dawson obsesses over riding on Pop's John Deere mower, and this time Dawson had one of his own.  He rode it the entire rest of our visit!  Now that we're home all he wants to do is ride it, so sometimes when it's about 100 degrees outside we have to let it "charge."   :)  He absolutely loves this mower though.  He can ride it on the drive way and in our grass, but his favorite place to ride it is in the cul-de-sac because he can get up more speed!  He rides big circles around the cul-de-sac, and all of our neighbors have commented that if the mower had a blade they would happily allow Dawson to mow their yards.  Haha!

While we were in Tennessee I gave John's mom a few aprons I made for her bakery.  I had so much fun sewing these aprons, and I, of course, took some pictures below.

On Thursday John had to head back to Alabama for work, but Dawson, Bentley, and I stayed until Friday afternoon so we could have a little more time to visit with everyone.  I took Dawson by the elementary school where his Lolly works to have lunch with her/show him off to all her friends.  :)  After leaving the school Dawson requested to go to "Nana's Bakie" to eat a cookie.  (He calls her bakery a bakie).  So we stopped by for a chocolate chip cookie before going back to spend a little more time on the John Deere.  We also got to visit with Dawson's Great Mamaw, Great Aunt Carolyn, and Great Aunt Phyllis before coming back home on Friday.

This weekend we have been riding the "Deere Lawn Mow" during every free moment.  Saturday morning I also took Dawson to his friends, Ethan and Austin's third birthday party.  He had fun playing with his friends and has been singing about their birthdays since the party!  Yesterday we went swimming in the evening which Dawson loved, as usual. 

Here are a few pictures...

 As I've mentioned before Dawson LOVES

to read, and he has become really excited

recently about his library books!  Here he is

looking through all his library books in

the yellow chair in his room.  (That's a sucker

in his mouth that was a reward.)

Dawson runs his fingers across the words

on each page and pretends to read.

He was "reading" one of his favorites,

Rat-a-tat-tat and just suddenly started

laughing.  I guess it was a funny part

in the story to him!

Showing off his sucker and talking about

his books.

Dawson's first ride on his "Deere Lawn

Mow" at Lolly and Pop's house!

Look what a big boy!!

This is my favorite apron that I made for the bakery.

The pocket on the apron above.

Another apron for the bakery.

Another bakery apron I made.

The apron above had two pockets like this on it.

Isn't this pretty fabric?  It was easy to make a cute

apron with all this cute fabric!

I gave this apron a pocket at the top!

The last apron I made for the bakery.

Dawson Says the Darndest Things

John and I have been wanting to get this post together for quiet a while now.  Dawson says the funniest things to us.  Since he always keeps us laughing we wanted to record it so we would remember, but we also wanted to share the laughs with you all!

Dawson is all boy and much of his humor is potty humor!  When I was about to read the book pictured below to him, he pointed to the dog and said, "Doggie poopin'!  Gross!"  Well, the dog is obviously running, but to Dawson it looked like something else!

Dawson does a great job remembering to use please, thank you, and excuse me; however, sometimes he gives too much information.  On a regular basis now he will say, "Excuse me!  Toot!"  I have tried to tell him that you don't have to explain why you're saying excuse me, but he doesn't get it (or doesn't want to).  He will also say, "Excuse me!  Burp!" or "Excuse me! Big loud burp!"  Silly boy!

More potty humor...see I told you he's all boy!  Sometimes Dawson will come up behind me or John and touch the back of our pants.  When we ask him what he's doing he'll say, "Poop?  Noooo!  Jus' checkin'!"  This makes me think I "checked" him one too many times while we were potty training! 

I have stopped allowing Dawson to have "gummies" (fruit snacks) at home because they are not extremely healthy, and he becomes obsessed when he knows we have them.  Anyways, the other day he got in his Cozy Coupe and said, "Bye bye Mommy!  Dawson going to Target!"  I asked him what he was going to get at Target, and he looked at me, smiled, and said, "GUMMIES!  Need wallet!"  No, Dawson I will not give you my wallet to support your gummies habit! :)

If something is dirty Dawson always says it "needs a-washin'!"  I have no idea where he got "a-washin'" because neither John or I say this.  It just cracks us up because it sounds so country the way he says it.

Although Dawson sounds country when he says that, he sounds like he's from New Jersey when he says, "markers."  He asks for his "markers" (use Jersey accent) all the time, and I laugh every time!  I will have to video it sometime soon!

Last weekend Dawson was beyond thrilled to have his Daddy home from work.  The three of us were playing in the playroom until I left to make lunch.  I guess the guys were having more fun without me because when I rejoined them Dawson said, "No, Mommy! No, Mommy!  Go back kitchen!"  John and I both died laughing, and John promised he did not tell Dawson to say that!

We might have a "Dawson Says the Darndest Things volume 2" before long, but these are some of the funniest and most recent quotes from our sweet boy!

And here's the book!  The dog Dawson was talking

about is in the bottom left.  This book belonged to

John when he was little, and Dawson loves to read it.

Unfortunately, now he always has to point out the doggie

on the cover!  :)

Mid-Summer Update from The Zorio's

The lack of blog posts lately is due to our super busy summer!  Since July 4th when I last updated the blog, we have had numerous play dates, traveled to Tennessee, and overall just enjoyed the summer!

We have had a few playdates at our house and a couple at The Play Place which has several inflatables.  Dawson loves climbing, jumping, and being wild in all of the inflatables with his friends.

The weekend of July 16th we traveled to Tennessee so I could attend the wedding shower for Cassie, my best friend from high school.  I had fun at the shower, and it was SO wonderful to see Cassie since i had been a while.  In high school we cheered together and took a couple trips to Charleston, South Carolina together!  We always had fun together, so it was great to have a reason to get together and celebrate her upcoming wedding!

John and I only stayed on night in Tennessee, but Dawson stayed a couple nights longer.  John's parents, Dawson's Grandad and Nana, offered to let Dawson have some "grandparent time."  We took them up on the offer.  They said Dawson did great.  John and I missed him so much.  After being away from Dawson for a couple of days, I began to wonder who actually had more separation anxiety...Dawson or me?  I always talk about how Dawson still gets upset at church or anywhere we leave him and this separation anxiety, but perhaps it's not just him!  :)  It was nice to have some time to go out to dinner and see a movie with John though!  Dawson is still talking about the fun he had with Nana and Grandad, so I know he was happy!

Dawson also had to have another hair cut recently, so we decided to take him somewhere fun.  There's an awesome place in Jones Valley called Spoiled Rockin' Kidz.  They are a kids salon and barber shop.  The whole place is really neat, but the seats were Dawson's favorite.  Instead of the boring barber chairs, Dawson got his hair cut in a yellow race car.  The other chairs were trains, planes, and boats!  The lady who cut his hair was wonderful!  She gave him a spray bottle of water to "wash" his race car with while she cut his hair, and he LOVED it!  She did a great job cutting his hair despite getting sprayed in the face with the spray bottle!  :)

This Saturday we attended Dawson's friend Jasper's 1st birthday party.  Dawson had so much fun at the party.  Now he talks about it and says," Jasper birthday! 2?? NO 1?? YES!!"  He also has been singing happy birthday to his friend, Jasper, all week!  The party was an adorable dog theme, complete with a dog wash for the kids to play in!  Everything was adorable, and Dawson had a ball with his friends!

We have also been spending a lot of time swimming lately.  It has been so hot outside, but Dawson still wants to play outdoors.  Heading to the pool has been the perfect option.  We are so, so thankful for our wonderful friends who allow us to use their pool ALL THE TIME!  Dawson and I have been going over to go swimming at their house about once a week.  He has turned into such a little fish!  He wears his vest and swimmies and just jumps right in and kicks his legs to move around in the water.  I love seeing him swim, and he loves swimming! 

One new thing we have been doing lately is biking!  We got a bike trailer for Dawson to ride in, and I've been riding about 5 miles a day in our neighborhood.  Dawson really enjoys the bike trailer.  Our neighborhood is so wonderful for biking because it's mostly flat.  There are a few hills, and I've taught Dawson to yell, "Feel the burn, Mama!" as we go up those hills!  With him yelling this, I can't help but laugh and keep pedaling!  :)  As he rides along his favorite thing to do is sing.  I wish I had a little tape recorder to stick in the bike trailer because he just sings and sings back there!  It's so sweet to hear as I pedal along.  He also loves to point out absolutely everything we bike past, from animals, to cars, to people.  He talks about the bike trailer and calls it "Dawson's bike."  I'm glad he likes it so much since it's good exercise for me while giving Dawson the outside time he loves!

Over the past few weeks we've continued to go to the library like always, but Dawson has become more interested in getting to pick books to bring home.  When we went this Tuesday morning, he probably picked out 20 he wanted to bring home.  Thankfully we narrowed it down to 6, and we have read those 6 books a million times already!  I love that Dawson is still so interested in reading.  

Dawson continues to keep us laughing.  Before too long, I am hoping to write a "Dawson Says the Darndest Things" blog post with a short list of some of the things he cracks us up by saying.  

He has continued to do extremely well with potty training, and I would say that he's potty trained now.  John has been staying busy with work, but managing to squeeze a few games of golf in here and there.  Dawson is in a big "Daddy phase" right now, so any extra time John has had has been spent playing with Dawson.  Dawson loves to play with me, but right now when John's around he only wants his Daddy to do everything.  

Even though we've been to Tennessee so many times this summer, we're headed there one more time soon, I'm sure I'll have a blog update after we return complete with pictures.  

For now, enjoy these pictures below... 

Dawson after church one Sunday

wearing one of the bow ties I

made for him!  Look at that sweet

face!  :)

Dawson in his race car at

Spoiled Rockin' Kidz.  He was

diligently watching as the lady

was getting him a sucker and

a spray bottle.

Dawson getting his hair cut

while enjoying his bribes-a sucker

and a spray bottle.

Dawson getting his hair cut at Spoiled

Rockin' Kidz.

Me and Cassie at her wedding shower

in Tennessee a couple of weeks ago.

Dawson relaxing with Daddy

in a recliner at Lolly and Pop's

house in Tennessee.

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!