David Gets His Orange Belt!

On August 13th, David tested to get his orange belt in karate. The yellow belt moves and one steps he had to memorize proved to be more challenging to him than the white belt that he had just completed. That along with the fact that we were gone on a couple different trips made his learning over the summer that much more difficult. However, David did learn and test in the same amount of time (3 months) that it took him to learn and test from his white to yellow belt. That shows that he's improving and taking karate more seriously! Here are some pictures and a video from his testing day.

Warming Up

Getting his game face on!

.....
David stating 5 things he has improved upon at home

Testing
....

Look at the height on that leg!

....

Advancing up to an orange belt

....

Ceremony of David receiving his orange belt!
....



David and his instuctor, Mr. Patten

....

Our new orange belt!

Fourth of July

It's a couple months late but here is what the kids did the evening of July 4th. After going out for ice cream we came home just in time for a summer rain shower. Because it was not lightning or thundering Jason and I told the kids (the 3 younger) to go outside and play in the rain. They looked at us as if to say "Are you serious?" but we insisted and within a minute they were having a great time! Here are a few pictures and a video of their time in the rain.

Below is a video of the kids playing in the rain. David has a wardrobe malfunction at one point (it's PG rated) but it has to do with the fact that he is so thin and apparently I didn't pin his shorts in quite enough!






The rain did slow down a bit and it was just sprinkling by the time nightfall came. We did sparklers outside and then let the kids throw pop-its at the ground.

Sparklers while in their pj's!

Throwing pop-its

Emily was present during this all, but decided not to participate except to watch from the safety and dryness of the porch.

Just as a PS, here are a couple pictures of my garden in late June/early July. I find that this is when a lot of my flowers are in bloom and my garden is looking it's best.

The younger three kids had two fun experiences with Jason this past summer. In July they went to Monster Jam! And in August they went to the Hamilton county fair demolition derby! I cannot tell you how excited Masamo was to go to Monster Jam and see Grave Digger (his favorite monster truck) in action!!!

It was a hot night on both occasions. Jason reported that at Monster Jam David and Masamo were done watching early on in the evening but did have a good time seeing all the different trucks there. The show consisted of head to head racing, a small quad race (to fill up the time, I guess) and free style performances from each of the twelve trucks present. Unfortunately Grave Digger flipped over early on during the “free style” event and was not able to perform the rest of the evening. Despite that and the very loud environment Ella enjoyed the entire show and her favorite monster truck is now Monster Mutt. Another favorite truck of the evening was Son Uva Digger (the son of Grave Digger’s driver drives this truck).

Can you see the sweat pouring off the boys, and this was after 6pm!

Earplugs are a necessity!

Monster Mutt

Grave Digger

Son Uva Digger

Some cool free styling!

Ended the evening with smiles!

The Hamilton county fair demolition derby was not a thrilling event by any stretch of the imagination but it was Masamo’s first exposure to it. He enjoyed watching the cars smash one another up, what boy wouldn’t?! Jason took the three younger kids and happened to meet my sister Jennifer and her family there too! It was nice because the kids were able to sit with their cousins and enjoy the experience. I was told however that David and Masamo did not behave themselves very well and tried Jason’s patience one too many times. I’m just glad I wasn’t there to partake in that evening of fun!

Having fun at the fair?!

Don't let those cute smiles fool you, here is what their attitudes looked like most of the evening.