Time for a Belt Test

Reagan and Cole continue to work hard in karate and to learn and grow. 

Their kicks are crazy high and really controlled.

Their forms look awesome

Their grappling is getting better and the routines are more complicated.

They are getting better and better at sparring.

Their power karate is improving.

They are getting better at their self-defense techniques. 

In Black Belt Training, they have been working with the staff. Their forms are great and they are getting more familiar with the moves they need for the forms.

In Black Belt Leadership, they have been working with the bow staff and I love their forms with this weapon.

They continue to have drills and exercises that increase their strength and flexibility, which helps in each area of karate.

Plus, they get to play games and do back handsprings and learn more focus techniques. 

Every three months, they have a belt test. Now that they are second degree Ban Bu, the belt test has much fewer people and is much more involved. Cole and Reagan practiced a lot to get ready for their test. 

As Reagan usually has more homework than Cole, he would sometimes have to practice alone. I found him practicing grappling one night using our stuffed bear. He said "Well, if Reagan can't practice with me, my bear will!" Love it! The date of the belt test arrived.

First, they had the physical fitness part of their test. Squats, push ups, cross shoulder stretches, and v-sits.

Next, they performed their kicks, punches and blocks.

Then, they showed their forms. They need to know five separate forms (without a weapon).

After that, they grappled.

They showed their power karate.

They demonstrated their self-defense techniques.

Then, they sparred.

Next, they showed their staff form and their bow staff form. 

Finally, they showed off their kicks.

At last, they were awarded their next belts.

We are so thankful for Mr. Page helping them learn and prepare for their belt test. One more belt to go and then they will test for their black belts. Whoa!

As usual, I had to put together a little movie of their test.

Way to go Reagan and Cole - we are SO proud of you two!!!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day & 2nd Grade Speech Festival

Well, we had one busy St. Patrick's Day!!! We woke up to find that the leprechauns had visited us and left Reagan and Cole a pile of chocolate coins.... SCORE!!!

Next, we found some green piece of jewelry or clothing that would be acceptable for Reagan and Cole to wear with their school uniform.

Then, we joined Reagan and Cole at school because Cole was selected as one of three class finalists to represent his class (against the other three finalist from the other 2nd grade class) in the Speech Festival. 

Cole said his speech really well. Unfortunately, he didn't place this time. Since he won 2nd place last year, he was hoping to win it this year. No worries - we're super proud of you for being a class finalist.

We had planned a trip to the park with our friends after school to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. We met up with several friends and had green cupcakes and a veggie tray to balance them out...... :)

We rolled down the hill, played on the playground and climbed trees.

It was super fun to just play in the sun and be with our friends.

When we returned home, there was a package at the door. It was the salmon Steve had ordered from Alaska. It was packed in dry ice so, Cole decided to conduct some science experiments using the dry ice. Love that boy!

Whew! This was one busy, but fabulous, St. Patrick's Day! Hope you had a great one as well!

Carpets Cleaned

It's that time of year again - when we have to have our carpets cleaned.

It seems like no big deal - you make the appointment, you figure you'll clean up and be ready.

Then, you realize that all of the furniture that is currently on carpet in your house can not POSSIBLY fit on the areas that don't have carpet in your house.

So, you stack and you pile and you squish everything onto the tile. Then, you wait a day for the carpets to dry. Ugh!!! I'm glad we don't do this several times a year.

Still Another Lost Tooth

Another lost tooth here.

I'm surprised Reagan has any left to lose :)

Another (very edited) note to the Tooth Fairy. Reagan always explains how she lost that tooth :)

Another pile of glittery money and the tooth remaining in the bag (as requested).

I'm wondering how many more times the Tooth Fairy will be coming to our house....whoa :)

A Bed for Poe?

So, Cole's favorite stuffed animal lately has been Poe. He bought him at Build A Bear and he is a digital camouflage print with brown eyes. When Cole bought him, he had on Poe's flight suit and boots from Star Wars The Force Awakens. Cole LOVES this bear. He sleeps with it every night. He dresses him every morning and undresses him every night. He took him to Hawaii with us. He takes him many times in the car with us and he will seat belt Poe in so that he makes sure he is safe. Each morning, when he comes upstairs, he wraps Poe in his blanket and puts him in a chair to wait for when Cole returns from school. 

Well, one morning, I came upstairs to find this in our family room. Poe was nicely tucked in with Cole's blanket and Cole's Star Wars pillow and Cole's Star Wars sleeping bag from my parents. Plus, Poe had a book next to him so he could read it while Cole was at school. After all, don't all stuffed bears like to read about Galileo? 

Funny, funny Cole!

Maui - Day 7

Today was our last day here. We are so excited to be able to not have a red eye going home. We got up early, Reagan finished some homework while I packed up. We had about an hour before we needed to leave for the airport, so, we headed to the beach.

One great thing about this hotel is that we can exchange our blown up float toys (that HUGE crocodile and the tubes) for new ones in the package that we can more easily transport home. Yeah! So, we traded in both tubes and the crocodile. Then, we hit the beach.

The waves were really big. Reagan and Cole started with the boogie boards, but got too scared to try to ride them. So, they decided to just body surf or play in the waves. Well, they were no match for the waves.

I would see a big wave and Reagan and Cole in front of them - then the wave would come over them and I wouldn't see them for a couple of seconds. I would hold my breath until they came up and then they would surface, come up laughing, but holding their eyes because the salt water bugged them. Reagan would usually call out to me (because her eyes were closed) and she would walk toward my voice until she found me. Then, she would wipe her eyes with a towel and head back into the water. Love it!

After a half hour or so, we knew we needed to get them into the shower in order to leave for the airport on time. Reagan and Steve headed up first while Cole played in the ocean a bit more. He tried to body surf like the girls who had been sitting next to us, but he was too little to seem to do it. Finally, I called it a day and we headed up for him to shower up as well and to finish packing and head out.

We returned the rental car and made it to the airport around 11:15 for our 12:40 flight. It was awesome - much better than that darn red eye. We ended up being on Alaskan Air and it was great. Granted - the plane was pretty small (a 3 and 3 configuration), but they had hot meals for sale (we had teriyaki chicken with rice and veggies) and they waived fees for checked luggage - bonus! Also, they had a usb port at each seat. That way, we could charge our electronics while we watched them. Normally, Reagan and Cole watch their iPads until they run out of juice and then they read a book, do homework or whatever. This time, they could charge their iPads while watching and never run out of juice - it was fantastic! We had an hour stopover in San Diego and then flew home, arriving around midnight. Just a side note - I've NEVER seen the airport so crowded as it was at midnight. Seriously - wall to wall people. Not just in the baggage area - upstairs, by the gates, everywhere.  I don't think it is Sundance Film Festival time, so, I don't know why there were so many people, but it was cray cray. Even though it was almost 1am by the time we got home, it was SO much better than having to fly all night, stop in LA or San Fran at 4am and then get home at 8 or 9 and be a zombie for three days. Yep - this is our new favorite thing!

So, even though this was a shorter trip than we usually have, we made the most of it and had a great time. We enjoyed every day of this trip and didn't do any sight seeing as we knew it would be a shorter than normal trip.

Maui - as usual - it's been fabulous! We'll be back..... soon :)

Maui - Day 6

Today was our last, full day here - BOO!!!! We were scheduled to go on a whale watching sail at 8am and had to check in at 7:30 on the beach across from the Hula Grill. We had arranged to go on the Queen's Treasure. Well, the waves were so big that it was dangerous to board the catamaran from the beach. All the other whale watching boats cancelled for that morning, but our boat transported us in taxis to a boat dock about 10 minutes away. Then, we boarded a Zodiac raft for them to take us out to the harbor where our catamaran was waiting.

It was great! We had a two and a half hour adventure and we saw lots of whales. The boats aren't allowed to get too close, but with my stalker lens (as my friend calls it), I could get some great pics. Reagan and Cole had a great time. They ate the continental breakfast, hung out on the nets at the front of the catamaran and watched the whales. It was a great morning and Queen's Treasure took such great care of us!!!!

After we returned to the hotel, we were pretty wind blown. We decided to hang out and rest for a while and to do some homework. We headed down to the pool. It ended up being sort of cooler and windy. Nothing bad - it's still beautiful Maui, but it was cooler than the other days. As a result, we had the pool largely to ourselves. We stayed at the pool for a couple of hours and then headed back to the room to clean up and rest. That turned into the rest of the afternoon :)



We planned to have a nice dinner (to substitute for our usual Mama's Fish House run), but our resting and snacking ruined it :) It was after 6 and it didn't make sense to wait an hour for a meal that we weren't very hungry for. So, we shopped a bit and picked up the last of our souvenirs (Reagan chose two charms to put on a bracelet and Cole chose a necklace with a shark's tooth on it - one for him and one for his friend) and we picked up something at the Whaler's Village Food Court and headed back to the room. Tomorrow we leave. I'm sad, but it has been a wonderful trip!