I Love You MAY!

Undeniably, May is my absolute favorite time of the year (mosquito's aside).  All the early flowers stop in for a quick hello.  First the daffodils then the narcissus and now the iris' are showing off while the front flower beds are also coming to life with Mountain Bluet, Forget Me Nots, Spider Wort and the promise of Poppies to come.  We are wearing shorts, hats and sunscreen and I have not had to wear socks in weeks.   Biking and visits to the parks are intensifying that summer feeling.

 Happy Feet in matching sandals!!!

 May 26th marked the official opening of the pool.  Sid was in it last weekend when we were filling it, but as of this Saturday, the ladder and stairs are in, the chemicals are balanced, the bottom is clean and clear. I had to take my inaugural dip to complete the ladder installation but was thrilled to discover the temperature was 76!  Perfectly wonderful when wearing a wetsuit!

May 26th also marked exactly one year since Sid and I set foot in the Karate Club.  May 26th 2011, Sid went for her first free class.  A year ago I would not have believed it if I had been told she would become a dedicated student anxious to train, compete and pursue the art of Kajukenbo.  What a fun adventure it has been so far.

May is also the time for crazy wicked storms.  Last year at this time I came home to find our trampoline over the fence and damaged due to almost tornado strength winds.  This Friday as the clouds darkened, we ran home a bit early from the park to tie down the trampoline and to put all potential projectiles away.  Bikes in the sheds, garbage cans in the garage, lawn chairs stored away and we were ready.  There were tornado warnings in the city and Ken got massive hail and rain fall at the office.  We were lucky and only got high winds and strong lightening.  Everything was back to sun and smiles by the next morning!

 At least the days of May rain provide us with lots of time to work on indoor projects.  This is one Sid came up with on her own.  I am not sure what it is but she worked at it for two days.  She chose rocks carefully, coloured them and set them up.  After she added the elastics and was pleased with the results.  I would love to spend a day in her head.  She had two hilarious dreams in the last week too.  I was told that in the first dream we had found a small bulldog puppy that fit in our hands and while she was holding him she heard this funny noise in the bushes.  She peeked through the bush to find chickens sliding down a waterfall.  Some of them were even riding on each others backs.  She said it was really cool to see.  ROFLOL!  The second dream was a touch scarier.  She told me someone cut off her leg with an ax and she couldn't get up and then a large donut with PINK icing tried to eat her.  Eeek that would scare me off donuts for life ;)  It was terrific and horrific all at once.

Anyhow, it is 26 degrees out and we are having barbecue chicken burgs for lunch then a swim before the promised rain.  Perhaps even a visit to the park this afternoon!  See you next week.....

A Loooong Hot Weekend!

Victoria Day weekend was better than we could have imagined.  Heat, heat and more heat.  The weather station read 34 on Sunday and 32 on Monday.  Saturday was blistering too and perfect for yard work and outdoor play.

To add to the summer feeling, we had a fridge stocked with popsicles, watermelon, fruit and corn on the cob.  Barbques and corn each night with fresh veggies brought back that true summer feeling.  Our little one has had a wiggl tooth for some time but the corn on the cob really did a number on it and it is super loose now.  We are expecting a toothy grin any day now.  Here are a few pics of a full mouth of baby teeth!

Soon to have a gap in the bottom front!

Dad and Sid worked hard at the garden this weekend.  Tomatoes, carrots, beans, zucchini, cucumbers and peas ready to go.  (there are several more boxes, this is just one of them!)

Gardening Papa!

Sid and Dad moved the playhouse and kitchen for the dog restaurant.  It is now closer to the house and we are hoping that will free our picnic table up.  The picnic table was the kitchen and restaurant!  Above Sid demonstrates a true Monty Python moment.  It is in her blood ;)

Pool Man Ken

Pool Girl Sid

Pool freshly filled with hose water.  Couldn't be much above 60 but with the temp outside being in the high thirties with the humidity, Sid HAD to jump in!

Look she can touch the bottom.  The pool isn't full yet but it going to be a safer year now that she can swim and touch the bottom near the edge.

Storm coming... best get in before the thunderstorm.  There will be plenty of time for swimming later in the week with the promise of 28 degrees.

Best ice cream in the area.  Pronto in Russell has soft serve (choco or vanilla) made with real cream. Soooo delicious but also so rich.  Get a small, or even a kiddie cone and I dare you to try and eat it all!

It was a glorious weekend filled with laughs, swimming, ice cream, gardening and family time.  I love holidays :)

Mud Lake

Mother Nature put on another show for us.  The weather was sunny and perfect.  Every time we turned around we saw something new and exciting. 

 Mama duck and her ducklings.

 This was an awesome find.  Usually Mud Lake is awash in poison ivy so straying from the main path is foolish. Since it is still early in the season the poison ivy is still all over the place but at only 3 or 4 inches high we were not overly worried about contact.  We followed a smaller path towards the water and came to this interesting spot.  Can you guess what we found?  This is a dragonfly nursery!  After some pictures and a bit of web research we found out that the dragonfly nymph (or larvae) is actually a water bug.  The water bug crawls out of the lake and perches on a sunny dry spot and presto, a dragon fly emerges leaving the empty shell of the nymph.  Above the dragonflies hang while their wings dry.  If you look at the very first bug on the left of the log you can see he is actually pulling himself out of the nymph.  Soooooo cooool!

 This one is about ready to fly.

 Here are some empty nymphs.  They were everywhere!  It was more of a crypt than a nursery :)

 A little further along we found another path and could see a dock type structure on the water.  As we followed the path through the woods, two geese came waddling towards us.  It is a very odd sight to see geese walking in the woods.  They quickly summed us up as potential feeders and walked right up to us and demanded food.  It worked.  I pulled out some crackers and fed them.  Then they followed us to the dock and joined us for lunch.  I had to shoo them away a few times so they finally hopped off the dock and approached from the water.  Food?  Food?  Food?

 When we were feeding them crackers, I was shocked to see they had tongues just like a dog!  Again, another science surprise!

 While the geese begged for food, they were joined by some ugly little friends, catfish.  Again Mother Nature was pulling out all her tricks!

 After lunch we headed to the bridge and found a preening duck pair.  They were very cute and I got the picture above which I call Which Way Up?  Duck Yoga!!!!

 Of course turtles, turtles, turtles everywhere too.  They were enjoying the sun as much as we were.

 Then as we turned to head back, Magda spotted him.  A beaver!  What??!!  Two beavers in two outings.  I love it!

 For our final treat of the day, about half way back we spotted this fellow.  An adult Black Crowned Night
Heron.  Before today, I didn't even know they existed.

PHEW what a day.  Mom's were filled to the brim with photography and good company.  Kids were filled to the brim with exploration, questions and games.  How can this keep getting better??
Cheers.... and have a fab long weekend :)

Kata 8

Sid Learns Kata 8

This is here for a reference more than anything else.  Tonight Sid was taught her first kicking form and has been told to practice it.  This is a rough video so we can get to it easily for practice sake. 

Stay tuned, I have some great pics and anecdotes to post from the past week!

Canadian Nationals Karate Tourney!!

Two tournaments in 6 days was not something we were expecting but welcomed the events with energy and enthusiasm.  The club arrive on site in Gatineau for 9:30 to find out that the opening ceremonies weren't until noon.  After registering, the kids had several hours to keep themselves busy while they kept their competition nerves in check.  At least it was warm and sunny so they played outside and enjoyed the morning together.

Closer to noon, they were back inside huddled around a DS while waiting for things to get going.

Shortly after noon the kids were pulled out into the hallway and arranged by size for the opening ceremonies.  Sid was the shortest one there and was originally placed right in front to lead everyone in.  When the kids were set to enter the gym, Sid quickly worked her way back to be beside Noah for the parade.Watch the parade here:  Parade of Champions

 First up were the 6 and under kids competing in ring 5.  It quickly became apparent that unlike regular competitions, these kids would compete against each other regardless of belt ranking and gender.  The only parity in this group of kids was age.  Gender and experience was thrown out the window to find the best of the best. Usually it is whites against whites, yellows versus yellows ect. and fighting is boys versus boys and girls fight girls.  Not today.  There would be only two champions in the under 6 category, one for kata and one for fighting.  Whoa.
Above, Sigung has his final talk with the three under 6 kids from the club and got them psyched up for the Kata competition.

 Here they line up and you can see Sid is clearly the tiniest champion there :)  but she is fierce!

 First up for Kata was Dylan followed by Johnny, both from our club.  Next was Sid and she stopped the crowd around the ring once again!

 Punch and Kiai!  Love how everyone behind is watching.

 Elbow shot.  Look at that horse stance!

 Finishing off with her final x-block and Kiai.  Now she's got every ones attention.  Sid held first place through the next 5 competitors and the final kid came up and beat her by .1!  She was so close to winning and did so well.  A second place finish at the nationals is an amazing accomplishment for a little kid who hasn't even been at this for a year yet and is still a white belt.  The guy who won is a green belt and his dad is the sensai at the dojo he trains at.  His kata was exceptional!  We are very proud of how Sid did.

Watch Sid preform her Kata here:  Nationals - Kata 6 yrs and under

Immediately after the Kata's was fighting.  We had to grab Sid,  pull her medal off and both Ken and I dressed her in her equipment as fast as we could so she could get back into the ring.  It was a whirlwind and gave us no time to regroup. 

The fights are 3 points if only one person scores but go up to 5 points if both participants score.  Sid was called up for the second fight in the division and opened up with a wicked spin kick.  Her opponent charged her and pushed her over.  She flew to the ground and banged her knee on the hard gym floor with no karate mats to soften the impact.  No points were scored but Sid's knee was bruised and she was a bit shaken up.  Sigung picked her up, checked her out and gave her a huge hug.  He gave her some quick instructions "Sidney, use everything! Backfist, punch, kick, combos, get in and out.... but no more spin kicks!"  He gave her a big smile and they high fived and off she went. 

Whoa again. We have never seen anything like this.   She went out and scored 3-0 in under a minute.  That was that, first fight over!

Watch: Sid's first fight.

 

She sat and watched Johnny fight then was called up for her second fight.  Holy.... 3-0 again.  First two fights against boys, one a yellow belt, one a green belt and she was dominating. 

Watch: Sid's second fight

Her previous two victories carried her to a third fight for the championship. The fight went 5 - 4 for her opponent Drew.  It was an exciting fight and we were so caught up in the moment we forgot to record it!  So here are some shots I captured!

Point to Sid.

Second point for Sid!

 OMG it was so nerve wracking.  She was up 4 - 2 but Drew came back and won 5 - 4.  What an event! Both Mom and Dad were a bit of a wreck and Sigung was jumping with surprise, pride and joy.

Last week, at the Rockland tourney, Sid fought Ashley who kept scoring points with a hammer fist on top of the helmet.  All week long Sid trained hard with Sigung, Reece and Johnny to block and jab so she could finally beat Ashely.  Sid didn't have to fight Ashley at this tourney but all the training seemed to pay off since all the sudden Sid is the backfist Queen!

Mathew and Arianne, teens and high colour belts at the club, hug Sid and tell her how proud they are of her.  They watched her compete and cheered her on the entire time!

Sid got two second place finishes in both events, she did so well!  We couldn't believe she had to compete against high belts and fight the boys but she rose to the challenge and blew us all away.  Not only was the entire club proud of her, she was really proud of herself.  We won't be going to New Jersey in the fall to represent Canada (this year!) but 2nd in Canada for Kata and 2nd in Canada for point fighting in the 6 and under division is a spectacular accomplishment.  Well done girl!!!

Here Sid poses with Noah who got first in both Kata and Fighting in his division 7 - 9 and Caleb who got first in both Kata and Fighting in his division 10 - 12 

Here is a group of club members that stayed around to watch all the events and cheer each other on.  Again, the club did very well and everyone was so proud and happy for each other.

 Back at the club on Monday, a few of the champs showed up for class!  Above, Dylan tries to take Mathews trophy

 Champs!

 Some of the kids in class on Monday

Sid and Sigung!

Saturday was a fun and emotionally charged day.  No news on when the next tournament will be but the kids are being taught new things in class. Last week Sigung had Sid, Johnny and Dylan learning the soft forms from Noah, these are like Kata's but more of a tai chi style, and this week they are going to start to work with sticks.  Recently Sigung has been talking about Sid's belt test coming up soon and after the success and determination she showed in the last week I suspect by the end of June we might just have a yellow belt in the house!