Brian's Birthday Trip to Chicago

On Brian's birthday he got a home-made STL baseball cake, but I think Tori may have enjoyed it the most :)

Then a few days later we left for Chicago!  Brian's big gift was tickets to a Cubs vs Cards game at Wrigley field.  He's never been there before and we have started a little tradition to going to a different stadium every year so he was pretty stoked about the game. 

Tori is becoming such a little baseball fan.  When we walked into the stadium and she saw the field she started bouncing all over the place and knew exactly what we were there to see.  She does great at games, she actually watches the game and dances to the music. 

Playing with daddy by the field.

We asked an employee to take a picture of our family....and this is what we got :)  Oh well at least we got a picture together....

The stadium

Across the street from the stadium the buildings have bleachers on the roof and they sell "tickets" to watch the game....how weird!

Another shot of the stadium.

Then the next day we took Tori to Sesame Street Live!!!

<3 Elmo!

What a show!  When Elmo came out on stage, all the kids (of course including Tori) freaked out!

Elmo!!

Learning how to do the hula!  All the kids were dancing and yelling, its was super cute!

Tori dancing the hula

Tori gave Elmo a hug before we left :)

One pooped kiddo!

On to Legoland!! 

Who wouldn't love a Lego-Einstein?

The Lego Jungle was awesome!  Tori freaked when she saw the monkey!

Hehe

Scary gator!

Yes folks, that's my husband!  ha ha, he's really just a big kid in an adult body.

They has lots of tables where you can build Lego cars and race them.

Brian asked me to post this picture :)  There was a play area and Tori did great climbing all the way to the top but panicked and wouldn't go down the slide....so mama to the rescue!

Playing with the giant squishy Lego's.  Brian built a fort around Tori!

Brian as a Lego man.....

Nerd alert!!  Lego's and Star Wars go together like pb and jelly!

I knew my munchkin would love the activities we had planned for a mini-vacation but what I wasn't expecting was how much she would love the hotel pool.

This summer is going to be so much fun!!!  Tori has such a personality and does so great with traveling.  Our big summer vacation in coming up in a few weeks and we can't wait!! 

Playin' in the Dirt

I love that Tori is finally in the "helping"phase!  She wants to do everything that her daddy and I do, and for the most part we let her experiment with most activities even if it means her "helping" will double time it takes to complete.  She loves to help me cook, especially stirring and adding seasonings.  She will whine and cry while Im making dinner until I pick her up and put her on the counter or let her stand on a chair and help.  She "helps" me put on my make-up, brush my hair, and put on my shoes in the morning. 

One of my favorite things in life is to share the things I love with my daughter and today was one of those days.  Every year I look forward all winter to getting outside and planting flowers!  I figured Tori would run around the backyard and play while I got some work done in the garden and planters.  I should have known she would want to "help" but I had no idea she would actually help!  She helped make the holes, put the flowers in, and patted the dirt down.  I think I loved it just as much as she did! :)

"Helping" daddy mow the back yard.  [I should warn you, these pictures and video were taken on my iphone so they're a little over-exposed and blurry.]

 Filling the flower pots with dirt all by herself!

 Such a big girl!

We found a worm and she was very interested to watch it wiggle around in my hand but as soon as I put it in her bare hand she screamed and dropped it.  :) 

 One of the finished baskets!

 Window boxes and hanging baskets are all ready to grow like crazy for a beautiful display this summer.

A short video of Tori helping plant flowers.

I am so glad she had so much fun because I found a great sale on flowers and bought way too many!!  I could definitely use her help planting them all!

Easter Part 2

The Easter Bunny came to Tori's house!!!  It was an Elmo and bubble themed basket this year.

 She didn't really understand when we were telling her a bunny was going to come in the middle of the night and bring her a basket of goodies but boy did her face light up when she came down stairs and saw it :)

Then Nana and Uncle Jeff came over with another basket of goodies!  The picture is of her trying pop-rocks for the first time!  Her reaction was priceless.

 Nana spoiling Miss Tori with lots of goodies to eat.

 Yummy Easter breakfast at our house.  Then we went to church, which was a beautiful service!  It was like a party celebrating Jesus' rising!!

 Next we went to Grandpa Jim and Grandma Gina's house for lunch and a real egg hunt.

 Looking for eggs!  She did a great job looking for the eggs and would get so excited and sqeek when she found one by herself.

 Holy Cow!!!!  Jackpot!!

 Another big egg!

 Tori with her monster eggs :)  The orange one is almost as big as her!!

 With her cousins Olivia and Fletcher with their loot from the egg hunt!  So much fun!

Then we finished up the night at Grammy Pam's and PaPa Eddie's house for dinner and another gift bag for Tori :)  Mommy was tired from such and crazy weekend so I slacked off and didnt get any pictures!  (Bad mommy!)  We had a great weekend spending time with family and watching Tori rip into her toys and eggs.  She gets spoiled every holiday and loves it!  She makes every day more exciting and so much more fun!  We love her so much and so enjoy being her parents!!