Zoë is 6!

 This year we celebrated Zoë's birthday in grand style -- at the beach in San Diego, CA! 

- You absolutely loved the beach and the ocean! You were in the water as much as you possibly could be, even though the water temp was in the low 60s! You played on the boogie board and caught a few good waves. You had fun shopping and buying some new jewelry and accessories. We decorated our condo's room with a birthday banner and brought some candles from home so we were able to sing to you! On your birthday we ate donuts for breakfast and ordered black/white and white/black cupcakes from a little bakery called Pure Cupcakes. They even came with pink sprinkles! You chose pasta with meatballs and cucumbers for your birthday dinner.  

- I love this picture! You were having such a laugh! :D 

- We ate all our dinners outside because the weather was so lovely! 

- Your big birthday gift from your family came about a week before your birthday, so we let you open it ahead of time since we didn't want to lug it on the plane. 

- Your new sleeping bag!

- One of your current favorite things -- whistling! You are quite good at it, you have good tone and I think before long you'll be able to whistle songs. You would do it a majority of the day if I didn't shut you down quite a bit. 

- 4th of July party at Bryan Dolinar's farm! 

- When we went to CO to visit Grandma at the end of June, we visited Mehaffey Park where we celebrated your 1st birthday. It was a lot of fun! And we even were there when the little waterfall turned on. 

- Our first trip to Smithville Lake for swimming this summer. I loved this swimsuit we picked out for you this year! You have gotten SO TAN! You have a done a great job swimming in the water and being very comfortable above and below the water. 

- For our summer bakery, you helped me make brownies! You love chocolate so it seemed like the right choice for you to assist with. 

- We had fun attending Miriam's dance recital in May! You are getting ready to take another session of dance this Fall. 

- Slimy things don't bother you a bit! You and Levi brought up this {lovely} worm for me to see from the backyard. 

- You were such a great helper with your sister at our W+F Field Day at the end of April! I was busy coordinating the day; you chose to participate with the younger group going through an obstacle course and playing with different balls and jump ropes and such. 

- You LOVE art! You do some every single day. Whenever we clean your room, it is covered in paper with drawings, colorings, paintings, writings. Daddy is teaching you how to water color on Sunday afternoons. We have an entire rubbermaid devoted to art this year for school. 

- Easter at Aunt Teresa's house! 

- You love animals! Playing with the new kitties at Heather's house. 

- You got your first major haircut in the Spring! I thought it might help because you were putting your hair up in a ponytail every day. But alas, with short hair, you wanted your hair up even more! So we've been letting it grow out. You said you never want to cut it short again! It's finally getting to the point where it will all fit up in the ponytail, so we are happy to be back to that point again. I'd be curious if you'd like a pixie cut sometime so you don't have to deal with it at all. But for now, I'm not willing to go through the growing out process again... for a long while :) 

 Birthday Interview -- August 20, 2021
What is your favorite color? Pink
... movie? "Bolt" 
... TV Show? "Sofia the First" 
... Book? "My Princess in Black book and From the Desk of Zoe Washington and Anna and Elsa" 

Favorite thing to eat? Cupcakes
... Fruit? Strawberries
... Animal? Kitties
... thing to do every day? Draw 
... about Naomi? "That her be's nice." 
... Levi? "umm, that's a hard one. *giggle* when I was a baby, I liked Levi." (They had gotten in a an argument earlier that day.) 
.... Zeke? "That he builds things kind of like me." 
... Mommy? "That her reads to me." 
.... Daddy? "That he is nice." 

Who is your best friend? "The one that I've known longest is Miriam" 
What do you want to be when you grow up? "An artist and a teacher." 
What do you like most about homeschooling? "The new books that we got. The handwriting books." 

What are you looking forward to most about being 6? "That it was my birthday. And *whispers* am I getting that suitcase? We get to play a lot." 

Zoë Kayte, you are such a joyful, fun-loving, strong, athletic, artsy girl! I love spending time with you and listening to the way you view the world. You have been listening to the Ramona Quimby series on Hoopla for months and like to bring in her stories to our dinner time conversations. You tried jiu jitsu for the summer, but I don't believe you've been converted. You tried one CrossFit class back in the Spring and loved it, so I think after your Fall session of dance, we will put you in a session of CF. You seemed very natural at the moves, so I'd love to support you in that area. You are doing a great job taking care of Dora and proving that you want an animal of your own. All last year you asked for a kitty, recently you've mentioned a puppy a time or two, so we'll see what we can come up with in this coming year! You want to get your ears pierced soon and I just know it will make you look more grown up. But it will be fun to wear earrings together! We've finally figured out that you like to wear athletic clothes the best. After months of struggling where you won't wear most of the clothes in your dresser, I tried some organic cotton clothes from Pact and some of the athletic clothes from Target and now you don't have any problem picking out clothes for the day. No more dresses for you! I'm just thankful we finally have an answer for what you like to wear. I am looking forward to the year ahead with you! Love, Mommy