Sunshine State Games

This weekend we traveled to exotic Winter Haven for the Sunshine State Games karate tournament. On the way we stopped at Lakeridge Winery. They were having a festival complete with a wine (and juice for E) tasting, great music, and some grape stomping for the kids. If you like muscadine grapes, you should check out their wines...especially the Southern white or red (very sweet) and Sunblush.

Elijah did well at the tournament. He was outperformed in kata, but he did a great job. In kumite (sparring) he was in the 6-7 novice/intermediate division with two other boys (note that he's just barely novice, not at all intermediate), and he was in the ring I was assigned to...the ice rink. It was new and very, very slippery. He lost his first match, and got upset in the middle when he was punched. Also had a rough time in his second match as the other kid liked to punch him in the face. The best part of being punched in the face is that it gives one free points due to penalties. E also threw a great punch when the other kid stopped at the 30-s warning buzzer (happened at the last tournament too!). He won the match and got the silver medal. In the end, he said he had fun (minus the slipping and getting punched too hard :-) Afterwards, the kids enjoyed the hotel pool, then Han took them home. I stayed with Wendy to help judge the next day's tournament. Some of our favorite moments include dinner w/ some of the karate "kids" and their parents, adventures in opening and practically breaking down hotel doors (it was like a thin sheet of very weak metal that kept getting stuck at the lock, though we could easily push in the top and bottom and see inside our room), and our GPS's creative instructions ("take a left on I St., then navigate off road"). Scroll down for a video of E in action.

Trip to Wilmington

After last weekend's belt test, we went to Wilmington primarily to find a place to live. We were successful and found a very cute house to rent in a great neighborhood.

We also went to the beach, and Merete got to see the ocean for the very first time! The boys had a wonderful time. Scroll down to the bottom for a little video of Merete experiencing the receding water for the first time :-)

E's Belt Test

Last Saturday, we had our last belt test at Katsu Dojo. Elijah tested for his blue belt, and I got to sit at the front with the black belts for the first (and last) time. I had great company, and a great view :-) Here's a little video of E in action.

E's last day at Littlewood

Today was Elijah's last day as a kindergartner at Littlewood. He has had a wonderful time, growing in so many ways this year. On of his favorite school activities has been the Morning Mile, where the kids get to walk or jog before school starts. They keep track of the number of laps they run each morning. E ran over 150 miles just during the morning mile!! Even after a small accident yesterday kept us at the ER until (little cut on the head = lots and lots of blood, but turned out to be not a big deal), he still got up early enough to get out there and make it around one last time.

His last day in Ms. Kelly's class was highlighted by a pizza party, where he and Ms. Kelly enjoyed a vegan pizza of her own making. E has really enjoyed being in her class, and I've loved her teaching and management style. The fact that she's all knowing about food allergies and what E can and can't have was a special bonus :-)

E also enjoyed his time at the afterschool program at Littlewood. It was a little rough at first, being with the big kids. Soon though E found his courage and made friends of all ages.

As for me, I only have a few more things to do as treasurer of the PTA, then I suppose it will be time to say goodbye. We bought our house right next to Littlewood, knowing it was one of the best schools in Gainesville, and we certainly haven't been disappointed. I only wish we could have spent more time here, but hopefully we'll find a great school for the boys in Wilmington.

Swim Class

Thursday was the boy's last swim class for this cycle. They both did well, showing lots of enthusiasm and working hard. Neither are ready for the deep end just yet, but they are having a great time.

Here's some footage of the boys in action.

Merete's Birthday Party

Today, little man M had a Spiderman themed birthday party, complete with pinata, cake, ice-cream, and many, many friends. He had been looking forward to this party since (at least) E's party. Since then, he debated his theme, what cake he wanted, etc. for months! The great day finally came, and he seemed to have a blast! Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated M's first ever birthday party :-)

ABA Phoenix

Last week I went to Phoenix for our annual convention. I had fun and really enjoyed some of the talks and catching up with friends and colleagues, but being without the boys for that long was not so much fun. I did get out of the conference ghost town one afternoon and made it to the botanical gardens. There were glass art displays throughout the gardens, which just made it that much more beautiful.

Update on China

I recently got a few questions about our China adoption, so I thought I'd update our status. It's been 2 years, 4 months+ since we started the whole process. We have a log-in date of 7/2/07. At that point, the backlog was about 595 days. Since then, the backlog (with regard to getting to us) has gotten down to 469 days. They are referring about 4.2 days per month. According to some calculations, at this rate we can expect a referral in 2017. By then, E will be 14 and M will be 12. I have no clue where we'll be in life at that point, whether we'll want an infant (as we originally requested), etc. Our options are to just wait it out and see how long this actually takes, switch our request to a special needs child, or drop out of China altogether. There's no charge for waiting, so I suppose we'll stay in line and see how long it takes to inch forward and go from there. If things speed up, I'll give more frequent updates; otherwise, once a year should probably do it. Sigh.

First Swim Class

Today the boys had their first swim class. Actually, E had a few classes a couple years ago, but it wasn't enough at the time to get him swimming on his own. Both did very well, no fear, just jumping in, and in E's case, lots of dogie paddling. Hopefully we'll have some video of the little fish later this summer!

New Mother and Mother's Day

The last couple of weekends have been very eventful and special. First, little Colin was born last Sunday. He is ridiculously adorable, and Cristina is an amazing mom already!

Yesterday the boys and I meet some friends out at Kanapaha for their (once every 3 years?) luminary walk. Cara was kind enough to delay our movie night and come along. It was beautiful and fun, though I feel we now need to go back during the day so we can more of the gardens. Later Cara and I saw the new Star Trek movie, which was amazing.

This morning we went to Lake Alice for some pictures and then to Emelianos for our traditional Mother's Day brunch. Boy am I going to miss their crab cake eggs benedict!

Merete Mathewos Van Camp-Goh

It's official, Merete is now officially a Van-Camp Goh! Today we finalized his adoption, a tad over 6 months after we brought him home. Judge Davis was very nice, and Mrs. Connrad even gave the boys some toys :-)

Afterwards we headed down to the farmer's market for snowcones, snacks, and fun times with Camille and her kiddos.

At this time I'd like to give a shout out to Camille, who has become a master on braiding hair:

After the kids got tired from all the dancing and playing, we headed off to Emilianos, our favorite celebratory restaurant.

A very exciting and full day (although we didn't have time for ice cream, so I still owe the boys that treat - because of course that's one thing they'll never forget!)