Monday, August 31, 2015

Bat Loopsy

This past summer Tori got bored with some of her toys.  Eli was bored with his.  So, the two put their heads and toys together and made up Bat-Loopsy or Lala-Man.  It is a mash-up of Tori's Lalaloopsy minifigures and Eli's Batman buildings.  Eli's interest waned after the first few times.  Tori's lasted most of the summer.  She even took her creation to Sharon's and played it with the girls there.  Apparently it was a hit with the other girls and Christian's girlfriend Rosalynn.

It seems the start of school was the demise of Bat-Loopsy.  Maybe on a rainy boring day Bat-Loopsy will rise again.  Until then it'll remain in the memory of this blog and maybe Tori and Eli.

Saturday, July 04, 2015

Orlando

Our family went to Orlando for our first vacation.  We went to Legoland, SeaWorld, the beach and Disney World.  For Tori Disney World was the best part.  Lego land was 2nd and Sea World was kind of a bust.  There were several rollercoaster's for Tori to ride and rides that were just the right speed for her.  So it was a passable trip for her as far as amusement parks go.












Sea World was bust for everyone.  We started of getting on Journey to Atlantis and the Empire of the Penguins.  Those were probably the highlight of the day and it was the first thing.  Luckily, we got there just as they were opening, so there was no wait.  We then went to see the Sea Lions.  There you can feed the animals food.  We purchased food for them and as soon as the kids saw that it was real fish, they all screamed NO!  That wasn't happening.  So, Uncle Tony and I fed the Sea Lions.  It was pretty gross.  After that we saw a show and some of the kids sat in the splash zone.  They barely got wet and Tori was crying after because her eyes hurt.  After many tears, lunch, shark tank, wild arctic ride and the shamu show, the kids were all done around 3 pm.  We headed back to the house for swimming and relaxing.





Next day was the beach and all the kids enjoyed it.  It was nice to relax and not have to rush everywhere.  We did go to see Hope and Winter from the movies and then to the beach.  We had a bit of a rain delay, but overall, they had a good time.  We now have sea shells from the Gulf of Mexico.  The kids rode a banana boat and got a face full of salt water.  The day was interrupted by a few storms, but nothing too bad except for the storm on the way home.  It was so bad it cost us an extra hour for our trip back to the house.  Luckily no one got much of a sunburn and were able to enjoy the rest of the trip.



Finally it was time for Disney World.  2 days of fun!  It started out that way.  We road the Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain to start the day.  We got through quite a bit of the park.  At noon Tori had her hair done in the boutique.







After that we had lunch and went on a few more rides.  We finished the day with a brief storm, The Haunted Mansion, dinner and the electrical light parade.  They were done and didn't want to wait for the fireworks, so we headed home.











The last day at Disney was a follow-up day.  We finished a few rides and shows, Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain and Hall of Presidents.





At about 2, everyone was done.  We headed back to the house for some swimming and relaxing.  Overall Tori had a great time.  They only ran into a few lizards and 1 frog in the pool, but that might've been their favorite part of the trip.  Maybe we'll try another trip in a few years.

Gymnast

Tori has become quite the gymnast in the last 6 months.  She's already passed her first level of requirements and is moving from red to orange.  She's also started to accumulate the leotards and shirts with gymnast slogans.  She's gotten pretty confident in her ability and is able to do most activities without much effort for her level.

She performed in the year end showcase in May.  She performed as part of 4 activities, floor, beam, bars and one other activity.  It was her first showcase and she was nervous, but by the time it came to perform, she was composed and ready to go.  Once it was over, she was really glad she did it.


She also had her birthday party at the school where she takes her gymnastic classes.  There were 10 girls and they all had a good time.  Here's some of the pictures from her party!











And of course, we have to have her best Mckayla Maroney picture.