The Tortora Troop: 2011

We all know Guiliana has an extreme love for dance. She is constantly dancing around the house and stopping to dance when she hears music no matter where we are! She has been dancing every Friday in a little dance class at her school for the last 6 months or so and we have been wanting to get her into something more professional. Well now that she is 3 years old she is now ready to attend our cousin Jessica's Fairy Dust Ballet/Tap Combo class at her studio, Arizona Dance Artistry. Her class is every Saturday morning from 9:30am-10:30am. Her first class was yesterday and she just loved it. We made sure she had all of her required attire. Her required baby blue rhinestone leotard, her tights, pink ballet shoes, and her black tap shoes. She was so excited the first time she put her little outfit on. I am excited that she has shown such an interest in dancing and has found something that makes her happy and smile. I am looking forward to watching my little dancer every Saturday. We also can't wait for her little performance in November! She already has drawn quite an audience. Grandma and Grandpa, Godmother Michele, and Daddy and I all attended her first class yesterday.

We took our first vacation as a family this year. Life has gotten in the way since Guiliana was born so we decided that this was the year for travel! Grandma and Grandpa Tortora, Uncle Paul, Greg, Guiliana, and I all took an 8 day road trip first to Las Vegas and then to San Diego. We originally were only planning on going to San Diego for the whole trip but my in-laws had decided that they wanted to take a detour to Vegas. It is no secret how much I love CELINE DION and so they made my dream of seeing her in Las Vegas for the second time come true!!!
We left on Saturday July 30th in the morning for our long drive to Las Vegas. The 5 hour drive actually went pretty fast. I was a little worried about Guiliana's patience for a road trip but she was so excited that it didn't seem to bother her. Plus, the mini-van that we rented came equipped with a built-in DVD player which really helped.
We stayed at The Orleans a little off the strip and it was so nice. The rooms were very big and ours faced the strip. We were in Vegas from Saturday afternoon until Tuesday morning. My favorite part of the trip was seeing Celine Dion at the Caesars Hotel. Her show was amazing and it was such an awesome opportunity to get to see her again, especially in Vegas. The rest of the time spent in Vegas was of course on the strip. We experienced most of the hotels, the Shark Reef aquarium at Mandalay Bay, and a $30 trip to the M&M factory! You can't experience Vegas without the buffets, particularly the seafood buffet at the RIO Hotel. The buffets were Greg's favorite part!!
We had a great time in Vegas but by Tuesday morning we were ready to head out to our next stop... SAN DIEGO! We did SO much walking on the strip that a long car ride sounding inviting!
The trip from Las Vegas to San Diego seemed like it took forever for some reason. I think after the hot weather in Vegas and the fast pace that comes with that city, we were ready to relax in some beautiful weather. We stayed at a hotel right in the harbor which was nice and centrally located. We weren't far from the Seaport Village, Downtown, Little Italy, Mission Beach, and Old Town. We visited 2 places a day so we were able to see a lot. We experienced a lot of the food that San Diego has to offer. Italian food in Little Italy, fantastic Mexican food in Old Town, and yummy seafood at the Seaport. We spent an afternoon at Mission Beach, and also visited Coronado and La Jolla. We walked around Balboa Park and enjoyed the beautiful weather.
Guiliana has SO much fun!! She fell in love with the Beach in an instant! My favorite part of the trip was spending quality time with my family. I love the bonding that we shared. Guiliana was such a funny girl on this trip. She was always cracking us up! One funny thing in particular was that she kept asking if we were going on vacation and continued to do so for the first few days of the vacation. We had been telling her about going for so long that I think she was confused when we actually were on it.
Guiliana was so spoiled by her Grandparents!! Everywhere we went she was sure to get a little something. I adore how much Guiliana cherishes her them. I am so thankful that she has them in her life. I as well really enjoyed spending time with everyone. We all get along so great and we really do vacation well together!! This by far was one of the best vacations!!
Here are just a few of the 225 pictures that we took!!!