VA trip 2

One of my favorite places to visit when I go home - the National Mall in DC. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time. Above Tori is doing her impression of the Washington Monument.

We loved the Natural History Museum with it's butterfly exhibit and Tori loved the precious jewels exhibit and getting to see the Hope Diamond. Her first comment when she saw the diamond was, "That's a small diamond." I pity her future husband. :)

James liked eating the tickets to the butterfly exhibit and Tori was determined to get one to land on her finger. They really were beautiful.

My childhood favorite was always the Air and Space Museum. Tori was excited to go there, too, since she says she wants to be an astronaut when she grows up.

Above is how James spent most of his time at the Air and Space Museum.

Above Tori is flying around on her Grandma plane. Below we are all riding the carousel on the mall. It's a pretty fast carousel and it was quite a long ride - fun way to end the afternoon.

The National Zoo

During our trip to VA we visited the National Zoo in D.C. The above picture is of Tori, Aunt Danielle, Olivia and Audrey sitting together at the zoo. All the girls had a ton of fun. Tori had a blast seeing all of the animals. On the drive to the zoo I told Tori where we were going and asked her what animal she wanted to see and she said "a cow". I was expecting a little more exciting answer especially since we can drive down the road at home in Iowa and see all the cows we want. I didn't think the zoo would have any cows, but it actually had two, and Tori was very happy to see them.

Mom and Tori standing in front of the lion.

Tori sitting in front of the sea lion.

Tori and Audrey looking at the sting-rays. Tori and Audrey were very cute together and at one point just started running around in circles and singing.

Uncle Dan, Olivia and Tori looking at the fish.

Grandma and Tori watching the panda eat his lunch.

Trip to Virginia

In the middle of March we all took a trip to Virginia to see Grandma Margie and Grandpa Eric, Ryan, Amber and Audrey. It worked out really well since Danielle, Dan and Olivia came to visit from Utah at the same time. It's the first time in several years that everyone in the family was together, so of course we took a picture (above).

Tori had a blast playing with her cousin Audrey and with all the really neat toys at Grandma's house.

Tori also loved trying to teach her cute little cousin Olivia had to say "whoosee ga ga".

Above is Aunt Danielle holding Olivia. Tori and Olivia also enjoyed riding next to each other in the car a lot.

Grandma bought the girls adorable Tinkerbell outfits. If I play any kind of music in the house Tori has to be wearing her Tinkerbell or Cinderella outfit and then she dances non-stop.

Below is a picture of Tori right before church. I never leave her hair completely down because it is so long that it gets into everything. She just looks so old in this picture with her hair down, I can't believe how fast time is going.

Trip to Virginia

Back in the beginning of June, Tori and I took a short trip to Virginia to spend some time with family. We had a blast and now over a month later she still talks about it. Here are pictures of some of the fun stuff that we did.

Tori helping Grandma make dinner.

Tori and her cousin Audrey racing baby strollers.

Tori and Audrey eating Grandma's homemade popsicles.

Tori on the "Sit N' Spin" (she fell in love with this toy!).

Tori feeding the goats and sheep at the zoo.

Tori riding the little carousel at the zoo.