Purple Belt

Alex passed his belt test! Because we had Spark Day activities, he wasn't able to attend the belt ceremony. When he told Sifu he couldn't make it to the ceremony, he was given the option of doing 100 push-ups or making Sifu a sandwich. He chose to make the sandwich. So before class, he made a cheese sandwich by himself to deliver to Sifu! The sifus were very pleased with the sandwich and even posted it to their Facebook page! After class they presented Alex with his new, purple belt.

Spark Day 2014

It is Spark Day at the boys' school! This year Phil taught a class about statistics and probability called "What Are the Chances?" The kids played games with dice and drew marbles and tracked the results with graphs.

While Zachary and Phil were charting their results, Alex was upstairs in a Zumba class!

The instructor was great, and very high energy. I think Alex had fun. Mady was invited to dance too, but she was feeling a little shy.

Silly Girl

Mady makes waiting for her brothers after swimming lessons fun!

Purple Belt Test

Alex had his belt test for purple belt today. Here he is during his dagger routine.

Sifus addressing the class at the end of the test.

Everyone striking a pose!

Here is the video of his board breaking and self defense routine.

I feel compelled to say that the crazy lady yelling during the video is not me! Someone was very excited to be at the belt test. But Alex did a great job. In fact, after breaking the board (on the first try!), Sifu Sam checked his heel for foreign objects! We're proud of you Alex!

Zoo Day

Zachary has been wanting to go to the zoo, so we took advantage of the day off and went for a Zachary and Mom adventure. The lion was posing on the hill, probably one of the best views we've had of him.

Of course the giraffes are always a fun place to visit.

At the petting zoo, these little goats were standing on a near vertical wall. One of the keepers was up in a tree at the top of the wall cutting down branches for the goats to eat. These two were trying to get first dibs on the tasty treats. Later we saw another keeper cutting bamboo. Zachary asked her about what she was doing. She was so nice and stopped to talk to him about cutting the fresh bamboo for the giraffes. It was a great experience for Zachary!

Hanging out with the gibbons.

Thanks for suggesting a trip to the zoo Zachary!

Kindergarten Valentines

Mady and I joined Zachary's kindergarten class in a Valentine's Day celebration. Her friend, Christian, was on hand too!

The kids made awesome Valentine bags and had lots of yummy snacks while watching a movie. Before snack time, they gave out their Valentines. All of the kids were so excited to pass out their goodies!

The view from the back of the room was a little scary...all those eyes staring at us!

After school, we stayed to play on the playground with friends. Mady took a liking to this backpack. She walked all over the playground with it. The owner of the backpack was a little concerned about getting it back. But Mady is a good girl and gave it back when it was time to go!

Party Time

For Alex's birthday, we had a Kung Fu party with his friends from school. About half of his classmates attend this Kung Fu school, so it was almost like an extra class!

Mady was very excited to be included in the class. She is always trying to get out onto the floor, so when they actually let her, she didn't want to leave.

After a bit of circle time, the Sifus gave a skills presentation and then put the kids through some exercises.

Here's a look at Alex grabbing a dagger by the blade (you might be able to hear the other kids warning him) and Zachary getting his chance to knock out Sifu.

Everyone in fighting stance! After the class, we took a break for snacks and then everyone was back onto the floor for some free play.

Alex chose a space theme for the party. My fish bowls doubled as rockets!

And starry night cupcakes.

Hope you had a blast!