The Thompsons

Gymnastics Superstars Show

About a month ago I was sitting in the living room watching some tv and I saw a commercial about this show.  I was quick to get online and order tickets.  It's hard to get used to the idea that we now live in Atlanta.  No offense to my friends in Alaska but there aren't many shows/musicians/tours that make the trip to Anchorage.  :-)

The pictures I took at the show are awful.  I'm going to blame it on the fact that they wouldn't let me use my flash (they actually told me they'd take my camera away if they saw a flash) and the lighting they used was awful for pictures.  But I'm sure it has something to do with how I really don't know how to use my camera.  Just so you can appreciate the pictures that follow I'm going to post 2 examples of what the majority of the 339 pictures I took look like.

We got situated in our seats before the show and started to get excited.  About 5 minutes before it started the row behind us filled in.  There were about 7 girls around the age of 12.  And they were VERY EXCITED about the show.  SO EXCITED that they felt the need to SCREAM when anyone was announced - especially JONATHAN HORTON!  And if he even glanced up to where we were sitting it was, "OH MY GOSH!  HE LOOKED AT ME!  DID YOU SEE THAT?  HE WAVED TO ME!"  Brandon and I were seriously disturbed as we caught this glimpse into our not-so-distant future.  My ears were ringing after the show because they were really that loud. 

So now for the pictures.  The show was so fantastic.  I wish my pictures would have captured what we were seeing.  Taylor was completely into it.  She watched all the gymnastics coverage during the Olypmics so she recognized a lot of the names.  It also helped that they did their routines to music by Bon Jovi, Hannah Montana, The Jonas Brothers, etc.

Nastia Liukin on the bars (just take my word for it).

Jonathan Horton on the high bar.

Nastia Liukin

Shawn Johnson

Cagle Dairy Farm

We got to visit the Cagle Dairy Farm with our good friends Matt, Jody, Westin & Hudson.  Westin's preschool was going there for a field trip but had 2 people cancel at the last minute - so Taylor and I joined in on the fun.  It was a rainy day but we still had a blast feeding the baby cows, learning about milking, learning about how the milk is processed, on the hayride and feeding the goats.  Apparently this dairy farm is the only one like it in the state of Georgia - where they raise the cows, milk them, process the milk and ship it to the grocery stores - all in one place.

Thanks to Jody for the pictures - I didn't bring my camera.

Taylor turns 5!

Taylor turned 5 on September 16th and we had her party last month at a park near our house.  The weather was great, Taylor got lots of fun things and all the kids got to play after the official party festivities.  She thinks 5 is pretty big stuff and doesn't mind saying so.

Showing Off

Taylor loves to do gymnastics.  She hardly ever stands still and even if she's telling you a story, she's usually doing cartwheels, handstands or round offs between breaths.  She wanted us to take some pictures of her one day when she was "practicing".

We scored this balance beam off Craigslist.  It's awesome!

She's getting better at her one-handed cartwheels.

And she's done.... no more pictures, Mom!

Soccer photos

We signed Taylor up to play soccer this season.  It's a hoot.  Here are some pictures from various practices/games.  She doesn't quite get the concept but that's ok.  She's perfectly content to just follow the ball around the field.  She runs behind whomever has the ball and just watches.  She has yet to score a goal but she gets ecstatic when one of her teammates does.

As we were walking to the car after her first game, she turned to me and said, "Mama, since I did so good at my game, can we go to Starbucks?"   That's my girl.

Did I mention we were having house issues?

Making some changes

Bear with me as I update the look of the blog. It's not done yet but I am.  Good night!

Updates

We spent some time in Panama City with my parents after our big adventure.  We didn't take many pictures but we had a great time.

Granny & Papa came for a visit after we moved in!

We took this picture on Taylor's "meet your teacher" day at school. 

We went to the Georgia Aquarium.

On Taylor's first day of school we woke up to tornado sirens and horrible weather.  It cleared in time for her to get to school but in all the craziness, I forgot to take a picture.  I tried to get a picture when I picked her up but as you can see, she wasn't in a picture mood.

We signed Taylor up to play soccer.  We went and got her cleats and shin guards and had to try them out.

So that's about it for now.  We're still dealing with house issues but we'll take some pictures as soon as we can.

Day 17 - GEORGIA!

We arrived in Georgia on July 17th as planned but I'm just now getting around to updating.  Sorry about that.

We arrived at our house and took a picture from the street because we couldn't move in until August 1st. 

We drove a total of 5,823 miles.

This is how Sydney spent most of the time in the car.

Brandon and I have remarked on several occasions how great this trip was.  Honestly, we didn't expect it to go nearly as well as it did.  We did a lot of driving but saw so many things that we may never get to see again.  As a matter of fact, I just asked Taylor what her favorite part of the trip was and she said, "Seeing the Presidents on Mt. Rushmore!"  

We were able to move into our house on the first and encountered a few issues.  We're working through them and I really think we're going to like the area.  Brandon started classes yesterday and Taylor will start her last year of preschool next week.  She's also taking gymnastics twice a week and is signed up to play soccer.  So we'll be busy but that's how we like it!  I will post pictures of our house soon.

Day 16 - Nashville

Today was a long day of driving.  You can tell that we're nearing the end of the trip - Taylor "needed" to stop about every 50 miles.

We left Illinois this morning and drove through Indiana.

Then Kentucky.

And now we're in Tennessee! 

We didn't take any people-pictures today so I took this one after Taylor took her bath. 

Tomorrow is the big day.  I can hardly believe it.  Or as Taylor would say, "Can't you believe it??"  I just might shed a tear when we cross that Georgia line.