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.