Florida Part 2

Day 3 continued...

Surf, then big family dinner at Schooners. Uncle Don, Aunt Bet and Gaga joined us for dinner. Check out Julia's cake!

Florida Part 1

Ok, in the first of what will likely be a multi-part series...

Day 3 photos (I guess it takes me a couple of days to unwind to the point of wanting to take out my camera...). We had breakfast at Juno Beach Cafe, hit the newly refurbished Turtle Center and then hit the beach. Massive surf that day. Kids really wanted little to do with body surfing due to surf and shells that hurt your feet (I ended up with a lovely collection of scrapes from the day). As Dad H. put it "You couldn't get Neil and Kelly out of there." Lots of fun body surfing and getting crushed by waves. Good practice for the Outer Banks this summer I suspect.

For Katherine and Bruce

As I dilly dally in uploading the hoardes of photos I took on vacation in Florida I'll add this funny thing from tonight.

Getting Julia into bed, reading stories. She loves George and Martha (two hippos, think Babar look alikes). This one story was about Martha trying to walk a tightrope. Julia didn't get that this was a difficult thing to do. I tried to explain the need for balance (strike one for me) and comfort with heights (a big strike 2 for me) and that finally started to sink in. She couldn't get over the fact that she was HOLDING something (the pole to balance), how easy could it get??

Well, after a satisfying discourse about tightropes she announced that she knew someone who could ride a unicycle. I said, I do too! I reminded her of the wedding we went to in Thailand and the bride and groom knew how to ride them - and play hockey!

Well, I wish I could have had a camera on her face, you would have thought I told her that Hannah Montana was downstairs waiting to take her shopping in a limo. Her mouth was wide open, matched only by her wide eyes and she said in her best cool 6 year old voice, "No WAY!"

Oh yeah, way. So Kath and Bruce, that one's for you!

And in the land of monkey see, monkey do...

Well, you had to know this post was coming. Julia insisted that we remove her wheels as well. So, no sooner were they off, and off she went. No hesitation, no fear. The idea of her teen years scares the heck out of me.

Devin went out today and looked like he's been doing this his whole life. He had about a half day of ramp up and bang, off he went. I was astounded by his rapid progress. I guess they just decide it's time, and then that's it.

They each had a good spill to cause tears today, but we talked about how there will be many of those, so just expect a few good scrapes and bruises.

There are no more training wheels at the Hartzog house today. Snif snif.

BIG Day for Devin

It's a day every parent dreams of and every kid can't wait for. After trying and trying (and then getting a brand new bike for inspiration) Devin decided TODAY was the day he was going to ride a two wheeler! A few stop and starts and HE DID IT!!!!!! (I wish I had photos, but I was running madly next to him.)

The biggest thing is that he was convinced he couldn't do it, so this has been a huge confidence boost. I suspect we'll be seeing his tail light in the distance come June...

Purple Belts!!

The kids made a big leap forward yesteray in their karate training by earning their purple belts! Moving from the orange to the purple means a few things. First, you are officially no longer a "beginner". You take classes at a different time with the upper belts, and (most importantly to the kids) you begin sparring. Sparring is where you wear all the crazy protective gear and actually start making physical contact with your opponent. (Yes, I'm cringing as I type that.)

This graduation was with Master Dickman, who the kids have had for graduations before. It was definitely not a touchy feeling day like their last belt. This was their first look into somewhat hardcore discipline that was a little startling at first. I'm pround to say the kids handled themselves amazingly well against the added pressure. They were on their A games and showed excellent respect, self-discipline and self-control.

To give you an example, there is a karate tournament coming up in May. Both the kids are signed up for it and are excited about their first tourny. When you take class, you use your class Kiyah (the loud yell you make when you yell, for power) but you use a different, louder one for a tourny. Master Dickman demonstrated this louder kiyah (releasing the tiger from its cage as he referred to it) RIGHT in Julia's face, about 4 inches away. She didn't even flinch. That's our girl!

Stipa, Mima and Auntie Heather came to cheer the kids on. Mima got so into it that she showed us some "moves" afterwards. Picture also with one of the instructor's assistants, Jessica, who we all adore.

It was a good look at what's ahead as they work towards their black belts, and we still couldn't be prouder!

Snoozin' with the kitty

Julia has fallen in love with the cats again. She pets them, follows them, picks them up all the time (just ask poor Harley how his weekend in Florida was with us there!).

Well, last night we let Julia fall asleep in our room and when we went up to move her, she was sound asleep right next to Oreo. She must have fallen asleep while she was petting him because her hand was still there when we came up. What's more amazing is that he seemed just as happy and content!