Tori's 1st Dance Recital

Tori had her first dance "recital" at the county fair last Thursday (on the 18th). It was so funny. It was the first time the little girls had worn masks, and so they were a little out of sorts, but that's what made it even funnier. Tori informed us later that she wanted to be the zebra, "but it broke". I am assuming that it broke at the last minute because her monkey mask wasn't on quite right.

Later that night, Bry told me he didn't think Tori is cut out to be a dancer.

"Is it because she isn't super coordinated, because she's only 3 and it will improve"

"No, it's not that"

"Is it because she was talking to the girl next to her?"

"No, that was because she was trying to help the other little girl do the motions 'cause she hadn't moved the whole dance."

"Well, then why?"

"Because she's the only girl who had her mask on crooked the entire dance. She tried to fix it, but it was still on crooked."

In Tori's defense - notice her left ear...it's folded down and the mask was probably stuck that way - all skewumpus. It was hilarious! I am trying to download the video so you can see it too, and if you listen closely, a little kid is asking their parent who the monkey is :)The monkey...Is our little Tori with a crooked mask, but great dance moves! Here she is patiently waiting for the song to begin (trying to see out of her mask).
Someone at work pointed out that she's the smallest girl on stage, but it looks like she was dancing the most - I don't know about that because I was videotaping and laughing so hard, so I didn't notice the other little kids. Excuse the video when I veer off...I was either laughing or trying to look up at Tori :)


(If the video doesn't work, I apologize. I have spent the last 2 nights - at least 6 hours- trying to download it from the video camera and then trying to save it to my computer...I am on my 2nd try at uploading it to the blog - the first try lasted about 45 minutes without results, so I'm trying it again...if you don't see a video below, it means it didn't work - sorry)

Summer Daze at the Cabin and misc. pics

We were able to spend a much needed break at the cabin for a week. It was a lot of fun, mostly just 'cause we relaxed and spent time together. We went into Yellowstone 2 days and had a lot of fun spotting animals. One day we saw a herd of bison and Tori was very excited. She even saw a baby taking a drink from his mama and thought that was cool. Laeni heard Tori talk about it, so Laeni kept saying, "drink, drink, yook, drink."

Here is a picture of part of the herd crossing the river.

We also saw a mama bear and 2 cubs VERY close to where we spotted a bear last year. Here is a picture of one of the cubs. We drove down the road a little farther and saw another bear. Then we saw a grizzly bear through the scope (a long ways a way) hanging out in a field very close to a herd of elk.
After the first day of driving, the girls started to settle down and not whine so much. They loved coming back to the cabin for a little time in the sandbox, or blowing bubbles.

We swam in Gardner River (I think that is the name). There is another river that cascades into it with HOT water - so you just need to find the right place to sit that isn't too hot or too cold.

One of the favorite things for the girls was climbing up to the loft to sleep each night. Laeni especially enjoyed being a big girl and climbing the ladder (although it scared me every time!).

Another favorite stop was the candy store in Virginia City. The girls each got to pick their own stick sucker. You would have thought it was a race to see who could finish first!

Here are a couple of other misc. photos.
The girls dressed up in their princess dresses - they taught themselves to hold them like that - I swear!

And just so you don't worry...we still bake around our house and the girls still LOVE to help. Look at Tori's tongue sticking out in concentration mode (just like a Parry).

Laeni was the first to pull the chair over. Anything in the kitchen she tries to help with.

This last weekend, we went to a storybook birthday party and the girls were able to dress up like their favorite storybook character. Tori wanted to be a witch, so we re-read "Little Witch's Big Night" before we left, and Laeni just wanted to be a ladybug - we don't have a story about a ladybug yet. This other cutie in the picture is my girlfriend's daughter who can sing The Star Spangled Banner all by herself!