Katsu Challenge

Today was E's first ever karate tournament! He practiced all month to learn his new kata. He didn't win, but he sure did a great job and had lots of fun! He enjoyed himself so much that he wants to do another tournament this summer :-) He visited the regular karate class last week (he's been in pre-karate up until now) and should soon be moving to that class. Hopefully he will be ready for his first big belt test at the YMCA with the rest of us. Carole also competed and got a silver in kata and gold in kumite (sparring) in the 18-34 year old division. She's looking forward to being the young one in the 35+ division next year! Once we got all the video ready we'll post some clips.

Butterflies!

For E's birthday, Kris, Bud and Ella got him a butterfly "growing" kit, complete with a butterfly house and an order form. We got the little "wormies" (as E called them) and started documenting their growth. They were really small at first, but quickly grew and crawled to the top of the cup. They hung upside down and within a day had already started growing their own little cocoons. We waited and watched every day, and finally one came out! By the next day we had all 5, and today we let them loose in the back yard. It was tons of fun and we plan on ordering more :-)

E the Easter Explorer

Another beautiful spring day in Gainesville! Remind me of days like this when it's the middle of summer and I'm complaining about the heat :-)

So today was Easter, which started with E finding a cute Diego "explorer" basket, complete with a terrarium, where E can collect bugs and keep them for a little while...outside. He also hunted down some sports themed eggs, which interestingly were filled with candy that was exactly the same as what we had left over from his birthday party. Smart Bunny.

We went to E's friend Alex's house for the second year...and we hope to keep going back for years to come. They have a huge gathering where E can catch up with his friends from his old school and we get to eat lots of food...and chat with friends of our own. The egg hunt is the highlight of the day, and it was so much fun to watch the kids run around finding eggs all over the front yard. E actually found $7 in addition to more candy! All in all, it was a fun day. Happy Easter to all!