Moline Zoo with Grandma and Grandpa

When Grandpa Eric and Grandma Margie came to visit us in June, we all took a trip to the Moline Zoo in IL. Tori loves animals and had the time of her life. Even though she was exhausted by the time we were done, she did not want to go home.

Above on the left is a picture of Tori with her teddy bear (usually named Aladdin) in front of the monkeys and on the right is a picture of her feeding the geese and very large goldfish. She loves to feed animals - I think she would have done this all day if we would have let her. One of the geese even pinched her fingers a bit when trying to get the food and even that didn't turn her off feeding them some more.

Above are some pictures of her feeding the goats - she loved this even more than feeding the geese and fish. She thinks it's really funny if any animal licks her.

Again, Tori is showing no fear with the animals. We went into the parrot cage with Grandma and you can see in both of these pictures Tori is trying to hold out her arm for the birds to land on her. I do have to say that when they flew close to her it did spook her a little bit - I don't think she would have liked it if one had actually landed on her. Grandma was the lucky one and had one land on her shoulder and start grooming her hair. :)

By the time we made it to the giraffes Tori was a little tired of having her picture taken.

Tori loves carousels and was very excited to ride the elephant with Grandpa.

When Tori saw the tiger she called him Shire Khan (tiger from the Jungle Book movie) and above is a picture of her "roaring" like a tiger.

Tori really had a ton of fun doing everything, but I do have to say I think she liked riding the train most of all. She had fun waving to all the animals and saying "chuga, chuga choo choo" the whole time.

Tori's Orange Pool

While Grandma Margie was here we decided we would buy Tori one of those little blow-up pools, since she loves the water so much. Tori got to help pick it out at the store and was very particular that she get the orange pool, not the green one. She loves her pool and has already used it several times, even though I have to say the hose water we put in it is freezing!

Above Tori and John are blowing up the pool together (we have since purchased a little manual air-pump). Below is Tori with her favorite thing - the hose.

When it comes to water Tori could just fill up buckets and transfer water from different containers all day long. The think she spent the most time doing is filling her watering can up in the pool and then watering my potted basil and onions (I do have to say they are flourishing now). Though, I did finally have to tell her that if she gave too much water to the plants that they would die. The funny thing is a few days later Tori was filling up a cup of water to drink in the sink, and I told her that the cup had too much water and she needed to dump some out. Then she said, "That's because if I drink too much water I will die." I laughed and then explained that drinking too much water couldn't kill her, only plants.

More fun stuff with Grandma and friends

Here are some pictures from when Grandma, Tori and I and some of our friends went to the beach at the lake at Kent Park in Iowa.

Above from left to right - Heather, Jessica holding Riggs, Alisha.

Above, Tori and I are having our lunch on our towels. And below are some pictures of Tori lying in the sand. She loves playing in the sand, digging holes, or just filling her watering can with water and dumping it into her bucket. We have definitely been loving summer and it has been a very nice, mild summer this year.

Grandma Margie and Grandpa Eric visit

In June, Grandma Margie and Grandpa Eric came to visit. It was beautiful weather and we had a ton of fun. Above Tori is all ready to go swim at a friend's house with Grandma.

I was determined to get lots of pictures of Tori with her Grandparents, since I tend to just take pictures of Tori by herself.

Grandma bought Tori a new sticker book and above they are working on it together. Tori absolutely loves any kind of sticker. John brought her home a sticker from work a few times and now when he walks in the door Tori usually asks him if he has a present for her (she calls the stickers that Dad gives her "presents").

Having Grandma around made it so Tori and I could have lots of lazy mornings - above and below are a few pictures she took of us.

While Grandpa Eric was here, Tori loved riding on his shoulders. Below are a few pictures of Tori and Grandpa after we went to the park one day.

Green Eggs and Ham

Tori is obsessed lately with a Green Eggs and Ham computer game that Grandpa Eric gave her a little while ago. It reads the story to her and has some fun word and matching games. She's gotten really good at the matching game and is very serious when she plays it. It's pretty cute to hear her read the Green Eggs and Ham book now doing all the voices and extra lines just like the computer.

On a side note, just a funny thing she said the other day- lately Tori thinks pennies are really cool. The other day we were all getting out of the car and Tori says to John, "Can you borrow me some money, Daddy?" We laughed pretty hard and John was impressed that it only took her 2 1/2 years before she was already asking to borrow money.

First Pedicure

One of the things I received on Mother's Day was a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure. While Tori was at her little preschool, I had my nails done. When I picked her up and she saw my toes she wanted hers done, too. I figured this would happen so I had picked up a little thing of nail polish for kids at the store that came with jewel stickers.

Tori sat really still and loved having her toe-nails painted. Her favorite part, though, was putting on the "jewels". After that she had to show everyone we met the jewels on her toes.

She has definitely become my little "girly girl". Below is a cute picture of Tori and her friend Megan dancing around in princess dresses.

Little Mermaid Song

This is a video of Tori singing the "Look at this stuff, isn't it neat" song from the Little Mermaid. Tori calls it the "Look at this scup, isn't it meat" song and don't try and correct her. In the beginning I tried to help her get the right words, but she likes her words to the song better than the original. She used to sing along to the Disney CD I have in the car to this song all the time. My favorite part is that she actually does the dynamics just like Ariel. The best part is the crescendos at the very end, and she also finishes the song by humming the instrumental part at the end.

Cinderella Song

This is a video of Tori singing one of her favorite songs to sing lately. It's one the mice sing in Cinderella when they are making her dress. I love watching Tori sing this because if you listening carefully she tries to do the voices of the mice. Also, she does actions like kicking that are actually what the mice are doing in the movie when they sing the song. Of course most of Tori's words to the song are made up, but some of them are pretty close to what is actually being sung. Also, at the very end after I tell her "good job" she continues to pretend she is one of the mice going through the wall to the step-sisters' room and then she says what the sisters do in the next scene in the movie.